Keep Consumers in the Fold
Dooley came to real estate after extensive work in marketing and advertising, where her mentor was Barbara Biancalana. She brings that marketing approach to her sales, where her mentor has been Janet Thomas of The Hudson Company.
“In terms of what I have learned, I think it is truly understanding consumer behavior, and that every person is looking for something different,” Dooley said. “When you hear from people that they want a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house, I ask everybody at the beginning about their objectives. We talk about a lot of factual things.”
Adapting to new technology is necessary for agents, a fact highlighted by the transition of the MLS from book forms to early computer formats to their current iteration.
“When I first started in real estate, the MLS was still based on the DOS mainframe,” Colagiovanni said. “We’re talking a blue screen and a blinking cursor. There were no photos. Selling today, the market conditions are certainly much different from when I first got into the business in 1998. Knowledge is what everyone wants.”
According to NAR, an agent’s constant accessibility was considered most important to 3 percent of sellers, including 5 percent of those age 34 and younger. The ability to use technology was listed by 45 percent of homebuyers when asked about skills and qualities they felt their agents should possess. Seventy-eight percent of buyers reported that they were very satisfied with their agents’ ability to use technology effectively.
Dooley said that her company likes to treat the Internet as an online office. “The same level of expertise, knowledge, quality and information that you deliver to people on an individual basis should be available to them online. Your online presence should reflect you as a personal meeting would.”
Relationships Matter
Adapting and adjusting to an increasingly wired society is a reality of the industry. Still, there’s often no substitute for knowing a property and having facts on hand, or for maintaining good relationships with other industry professionals. “The real estate world is very small,” Dooley said. “You’re going to bump into these people again. If you treat everybody with respect, you’ll go a long way in life.”
