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ASK MR. INTERNET
Michael Russer answers your Internet marketing questions

Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an Internet speaker, trainer, author, and consultant. You'll see his column on REALTOR® Magazine Online every month and in the magazine quarterly. Send your questions to help@askmrinternet.com.


Consumers in charge
21st-century Practitioners Learn to Give up Control to Consumers

Internet-empowered consumers won't take kindly to traditional real estate sales approaches. They take finesse.
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    DEAR MR. INTERNET:
    I'm a high producer in traditional real estate but I'm a little frustrated in working with clients online. I don't seem to have as much control with them and it reflects in the amount of business I'm doing online. Any suggestions?
    Iggy Dybal
    RE/MAX Best Associates
    Overland Park, Kan.

    DEAR IGGY:
    Welcome to the new world of Internet-Empowered Consumers (IEC). They represent a sea change in the way we, as real estate professionals, deal with potential clients and customers. In fact, for the first time in the history of the real estate profession, the consumer is in control.

    IECs have control of their situation because the Internet provides them with
  • A shield of anonymity, which protects them from unwanted, intrusive, or pushy behavior.
  • A buffer from the nonverbal communication that occurs in face-to-face conversations. Experts say about 80 percent of our in-person communication is nonverbal—the look on our face, our body language, our gestures, and so on. IECs even have a buffer from telephone communication, in which a powerful sales personality could dominate them with the right pacing, tone, or temperament.
  • Nearly unlimited amounts of information concerning properties, financing, and the overall transaction process, which gives them the confidence to feel they aren't helpless.

    The coming of the IEC creates an interesting business irony. Many of us have been taught to take control of face-to-face or phone meetings with prospects. We probe, ask qualifying questions, mirror, request their name and contact information, and try to get them to work with us exclusively. Although this process can work well with the traditional real estate consumer, it can be counterproductive with the IEC.

    In fact, the very things we've been taught to succeed in sales with the traditional real estate consumer, will actually work against us with the IEC.

    It's about relationship, not control
    Once you give up the notion of control, the only thing left is the relationship, which is a much more powerful way of working with clients and prospects. To create an online relationship, follow these four principles, which imply a behavior or attitude shift from the traditional:

    1. IECs are in control and they like it that way. Don't push IECs to move faster or reveal themselves sooner than they're ready. Otherwise you're likely never to hear from them again.

    2. IECs hold their online privacy sacred. Build trust by explicitly reassuring IECs that you'll respect their privacy via a privacy statement link on all your Web site forms.

    3. IECs value their time; saving money; and having choices. Be flexible and ready to tailor your services and fees to meet IECs' needs--such as through fee for services--rather than force them into a one-model-fits-all situation.

    4. IECs won't do business with you until they trust you; feel that you have their best interest at heart; and know that you have the expertise to help them. Build relationships in a way that let's them know you're the expert and by giving them information and advice without requiring them to reveal themselves.

    I refer to the process of creating online relationships as The Art of the Thread of Relationship in one of my full-day seminars. Internet-savvy professionals who've mastered this process often report that their online client relationships are stronger than if they had met them face-to-face or on the phone first.

    Old habits die hard
    Real estate professionals who're accustomed to conducting business in the traditional way, by taking control of salesperson-client interaction, may find it difficult to successfully transition to doing business with IECs. The desire to take control can be a hard habit to break.

    However, if you already work from a relationship position in traditional real estate, you'll find the transition to working with IECs natural and satisfying. Chances are you're already enjoying success because business comes to you seemingly effortlessly.

    Learning how to work with IECs effectively is one of the most important skills you can acquire in the new millennium. Once you do, you'll realize more business and cultivate clients into friends.