Adjusting to cultural trends helps Realtors® increase business

Cultural shifts are requiring Realtors® to adjust how they do business, according to Jared James, international speaker and trainer.

James says the culture shifts are coming from the change in the age of the average consumer.

“More than 50 percent of the first-time homebuyers are between the ages of 26 to 31,” James said. “Of those consumers, 67 percent of them preferred to work with someone closer to their age, not because of age necessarily, but because they want someone who knows how to communicate with them.”

Gone is the day when a Realtor® can avoid texting. “While the average age of Realtors® is 54,” James said this isn’t reason for despair.

“We all need to adjust to the trends and learn to communicate with different people in different manners,” he added. “When statistics show that the average 14 year old sent 3,500 texts and only three phone calls last month, we can see how communications are changing.”

James said Realtors® should consider these cultural shifts:

• Social media: People don’t fully understand the impact of social media. It’s culturally changing how we communicate. The last generation was a cocooned society. Social media has taken the old style of everyone knowing everything about each other and added a twist. It’s been a big adjustment for businesses that were used to “pushing” their messages out to their consumers. The businesses who are the most successful at using social media are engaging people and making themselves an option. Realtors® should position themselves as a person first. With 600 million users, businesses need to get involved or they’ll be going out of business.
• Communications: Communication is the number one change according to several polls and statistics. Younger people think older Realtors® don’t know how to communicate with them and since they have so many options, they’ll pick someone who will contact them the way they want. Unfortunately since many younger agents have marketed themselves and established great presences on the Internet or in social media, consumers assume they have experience. Suddenly someone speaking in a video on a particular topic can position himself as an experienced agent because perception is now reality.
• Behaviors: Older generations used to be about loyalty but young generations are more about status. They put lifestyle first, before savings and long-term financial wealth. They come from a 50 percent divorce rate so they tend to be very tribal and generally hang out with many friends. This is important to know because they respond to what motivates them.
• Attitudes: Most of the younger generation is technology oriented and they engage and carry on great conversations online, however they may not be as good at having a conversation in person.  The cultural shift is to learn to bridge the gap between technology that works and eventually knowing how to meet them in person and have them like you.

James said, “I like the fact that we’re getting back to a society that people connect with each other, finding friends after high school. You’d be surprised at how many of your old friends bought and sold houses in the last five years but didn’t consider using you as their Realtor® because they didn’t think of you in that role. Social media allows us to be in front of these contacts in a non-intrusive way.

“As Realtors®, we need to understand the cultural shifts and discover where the opportunities are,” James added. “We need to then understand what’s not working and figure out what will work instead. People still want to work with a trusted advisor to buy or sell a home and our overall goal is to sell houses.”