In a recent post I promised a lot more information on one of Intero Design Group’s core competencies: Awesome web design for the real estate industry.  To get things started down this road, I’m going to generally touch on the most important aspect of your organization’s digital presence - delivering on your customer’s expectations.

All small business marketing on the web is about delivering on a customer’s expectations and being able to capture their attention based upon that delivery.  The challenging thing about real estate on the web is that the customer’s expectation is continually evolving in an area of increasingly advanced technology - it’s hard to keep up.  To a certain extent, this could be said for any business, so let’s explore that a little further:

2000 Customer Expectations:

• Fortune 500 Companies - You need a website.  Nothing fancy, but I want to be able to see some updated news and find out a little more about your products.
• Real Estate Agents/Brokerages - You have a website?  Fantastic!  I get to see your photo plastered on (yet) another place so I can feel good about what a hot shot my hot shot agent really is.
• Dentists, Doctors and Veterinarians - Sounds risky mixing my health and my computer.  I probably can’t trust health information online, but I guess that WebMD site did recently launch…
• Car Dealerships - You should probably invest your internet marketing dollars in text-based classified ads on Trader.com.
• E-Commerce Stores - Give me a decent selection, these great prices I hear about and please don’t come through my computer and steal my identity.
• Restaurants - Why would I need to look at your website?  We have one computer and we don’t eat at the computer in this household.
• General and Other Small Businesses (Accountants, Mechanical Contractors, B2B Outfits, etc.) - You have a website?  Huh.  I’m a little impressed - you must be big time.

2008 Customer Expectations:

• Fortune 500 Companies - I don’t want to just read about your company anymore, I want to experience and explore it on my terms.  I want to get a feel for the culture.  I expect to find a well stocked PR department with the “official line” about what you’re doing, area offices and lcoations, your stock price and financials, videos, career openings and a blog maintained by the head cheese - your CEO.
• Real Estate Agents/Brokerages - I want the biggest and most photos, the fastest search and maps of where my future dream home is located.  I want to access this information from your website, from my home or office and from my cell phone while driving around for hours looking at houses.  I want demographic information tied to the homes and neighborhoods I’m interested in.
• Dentists, Doctors and Veterinarians - I want information and I need it now!  My child feels warm, can I chat with a nurse in a secure, real-time environment?  I work a 9-5, make it easy for me to schedule my next appointment online or track my pet’s immunization history.
• Car Dealerships - Real time inventory and pricing.  I want to cross reference the year, make and model I’m interested in with recent customer reviews and information from Edmunds, KBB, etc.  I want to make you an offer and hear back within an hour.
• E-Commerce Stores - Cross-referenced and timely inventory.  I’m looking at books on marketing my small business, show me books on forming an LLC without me asking for it.  Update me when my item ships and give me a way to track my order.  Invite me back via timely email correspondence tailored to my previous purchases.
• Restaurants - What’s cookin’?  Let me see the full menu, photos, rotating specials and make a reservation.  If you hold events, I’d like to be notified via email and/or text message.
• General and Other Small Businesses (Accountants, Mechanical Contractors, B2B Outfits, etc.) - I want to get in touch, schedule a maintenance request, manage my account and pay my bill online.  Anticipate my needs and make your website useful for me to do business with you!

In my next post, I’ll delve more in to the specifics of what’s up in real estate and engage in some shameless self promotion on how Intero Design Group is helping keep small real brokerages and individual agents on the cusp.

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