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The future of real estate is tied to ICT
ICT enables a business to reach out to target audiences in an effective way. Graphic by Stano Olonde
What you need to know:
The use of information and communication technology (ICT) has become more integrated into our daily lives. It also been adopted in real estate marketing, where it continues to gain an edge over other non-computerized promotional materials such as brochures, posters and billboards because of advantages it has in promotional messaging.
The use of Information Technology is slowly but surely changing the Real Estate business landscape all over the world. Take Netherlands for example. According to Koen Fasten, a real estate expert, the country has evolved from using the old fashioned methods like an advert in the paper or word of mouth from one satisfied buyer to a potential client to more sophisticated technology savvy methods.
In a monthly Association of Real Eatate Agents (Area)meeting at Kati Kati Restaurant in Lugogo, Fasten told the attendants that all Dutch homes for sale are listed on this website(www.funda.nl) so that a buyer can scour the website to check out and see if the houses listed match his specifications.
It is common to appoint an agent to do much of the legwork tracking down appropriate houses, arranging viewings, suggesting areas where there’s room for negotiation and advising on potential pitfalls. This is the norm in The Netherlands, which is a far cry from the way real estate business is conducted by many agents in Uganda.
If one is looking for land or a house in Uganda, the process is far from smooth as Drake Ouko (not real names) a communication specialist learnt.
“First, getting land in the area I liked with the specifications I wanted was quite a challenge. Then I was nearly conned twice by unscrupulous agents. Then there was the land buyer who could not sell me land because of my tribe. It was a daunting hassle. that I would not like to go through again,” he says
The real estate brokerage business is in the midst of dramatic changes brought about by online technology, increased automation and enhanced accessibility to information. And if the advantages that come with technology are maximised, troubles in selling or acquiring land can be minimised.
A GSM Association report in 2011 revealed that the number of mobile phone subscribers on the African continent has grown by almost 20 per cent each year for the past five years, and it expects there will be more than 735 million subscribers by the end of 2012.
In Uganda, an increasing number of people have access to the internet through either their work places modems and their phones.
By June 2011, former Information and Communications Technology Minister, Aggrey Awori revealed that the number of Ugandan mobile phone subcribers were atleast 14 million.
Business survival is becoming more closely tied to real estate firms’ abilities to adapt to technological changes and to use technology to attract customers.
What does this mean for the Ugandan real estate industry?
Customers expect much more from a real estate broker than in the past. Potential clients are well informed since they are able to harness the power of the Internet to access information. Many clients will not part with Shs300m for a house if a real estate agent is doing a sloppy job. They expect real estate professionals to raise their service offerings and use a professional approach to meet client needs. This becomes almost a necessity in case of high value clients who rely on online information and prefer consultants with a good brand image.
The implementation of information technology plays a key role in bringing down operational costs, improving customer relationships and reaching out to prospects. At the Area meeting, Joachim Magoma of Mtn Mobile Money, an ICT enabled money transfer service said that mobile money saves both money and time as busines is conducted on one’s handset.
Information technology can add a lot of value to Real Estate businesses by helping them with Customer Relationship management, online advertisement and brand positioning. Such realtors can manage their business efficiently, market properties using digital channels, increase sales, and provide a noticeably higher level of service to both buyers and sellers.
Online promotion is cost-effective. By sending emails to customers or suggesting a product to friends on social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, a business may end up spending far less than it would through traditional approaches such as placing an advert in a newspaper. Alternatively, a business also can save money by sending bulk short message service (SMS) and multimedia messaging service (MMS) data to customers. Uganda has very many SMS media companies that can provide such services.
The Internet, SMS and MMS enable a business to reach specific consumers. For example, an email promoting the sale of affordable plots of land around Kampala can be sent to thousands of young aspiring builders at once. This may be a better idea than placing an advert in a place that would get it ignored .
A website also enables a business to reach out to a target audience through search engines. For example, if one typed, “Two bedroomed apartment, Ntinda” on the Google browser, then information about the houses that have been previously listed and their specifications engines will emerge(common sense really).
The Internet and mobile phones are highly interactive promotional tools compared to advertising done with brochures or billboards. Advertising products on a website could allow consumers to comment and offer valuable reviews of products and services. Additionally, emails, SMS and MMS allow businesses to send out custom-made multimedia messages or alerts to a target audience that can facilitate direct responses.
There is anytime, anywhere marketing. The portability of ICT forms such as a mobile phone or laptop allows a business to promote products or services 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world. This means goods or services can be advertised when your target audience may not have the time to go through a newspaper or a brochure. Promotional messages also can be tailored to fit the needs of customers at particular locations.
