Over 600 Lakes!

Over 600 Lakes!
Bat Lake - Minden

Monday, January 12, 2015

The Digital Divide??

I was sitting watching a show on Biztv the other day. The Guest Speaker was Vanessa Judelman, President of Mosaic People Development, and her topic was The Digital Divide. Interesting! The general concept, sorry for simplifyng Vanessa, is the differences between people born in the 1980's with screens in front of them and instant information, and those that had this technology come to them at a more mature age.
Vanessa Judelman has studied and done a short documentary on the subject. It sounded really interesting, and got me thinking about how this technological gap or difference affects my business, real estate.
My Messy Desk
As with any real estate company, our office has all age groups. Those born with technology and can't live without it, those embracing it and learning as they go along, and those nervous of what they are unused to, and not quite sure how to tackle it.
Does this affect their selling skills? Are they less or more productive at selling real estate because of the category they fit in? It is not that simple. I attended a seminar two years ago about technology, where the speaker said he would not list with an agent who was not on twitter.......harsh!!
Here is the nitty gritty.....I know agents who won't touch technology, and are at the top of their game. Years of experience has provided for them an amazing repeat and referral business. They are good at what they do, and technology has not affected them one bit. I also know agents with all the technical know-how in the world, but lack business/sales skills.
This is not a simple subject....there are way more variables than just technical know-how. An excellent agent needs to have some experience behind them (or access to great guidance), they need to have enough technical skill to know how to take advantage of today's media - or recognize the need and have someone in their team to look after it, they also need to know their market...trends, competition, what is happening in your neighbourhood. And they need to see the value in your property. I don't mean give you the list price you want (they need to be honest - even if they know you won't like it) - but believe and understand your property so that they can present it in the best possible way. It is all about RESULTS!
I do believe that the technical divide is making things more difficult for some agents. This is a reality, but not true to everyone. For me, the ride is quite enjoyable. I think I am "in the middle", learning as I go along. Using different social media accounts, ipads, smartphones, paperless offices (ha ha), youtube, blogs.....and I find it all quite fun. Technology has opened up a whole new world for me.....I am less anonymous, less of a small dot amongst a cluster. My voice matters.....so does yours. Let's embrace this change together, smartly, cautiously, taking advantage of the best that social media and the internet have to offer!