In the less complex world of years gone by it was easy to believe that we could do everything ourselves. This was particularly true in the real estate business, where the consumer had to come to us for all of the information in the pre-Internet age. Let’s be honest, the bar was set pretty low back then, and as the gatekeepers of information we really didn’t require much outside assistance to provide an adequate customer experience.
Fast forward to today, and the vast array of information and how it is assimilated and displayed for the consumer to digest has never been more important. Today’s consumers demand all of the information to be available at their fingertips so they can dream and collaborate and make informed decisions about the next stage of their lives. Of course, this means our role has changed significantly, as we shift into more of a trusted advisor, the human being to assist homebuyers and sellers in putting all of the decision pieces together.
This also means that choosing the best technology partners has never been more important. While we as agents and broker-owners work hard to improve our core competencies, providing that human touch and identifying and choosing like-minded strategic technology partners has become almost as important.
Many franchisors and broker-owners — but not all — have come to the conclusion that our customers are best served by leaving technology to the technology experts. Spending time seeking out and identifying cool new products and developing partnerships where our industry expertise is complemented by someone else’s expertise in new technologies is time better spent than trying to build things ourselves. What a revelation!
The end result of this type of collaboration and partnership is that the consumer will have a far superior experience. And that is exactly what they should have as they dream and plan for the next phase of their lives.
Sherry Chris
President & Chief Executive Officer
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate
Sherry.Chris@bhgrealestate.com