“Forced Registration”: Pros and Cons
By Kaya Hardin | February 13, 2008
There is a debate going on among real estate professionals –
To force registration, or not to force registration, that is the question. How you chose to answer it says a good deal about what your business philosophy is. Is one choice better than another? Let’s look at the pros and cons.
Why do you have a website in the first place? Typically a realtor won’t go through the hassle and expense of creating a website only to let it languish. This is your sales booth, your office outside of the office, the one that can reach people from around the globe. When consumers or would be consumers visit your site, you know that they are looking for something. Maybe it’s just a chance to daydream about “what if”, but most of time, they are there because they are getting ready to sell or buy. This is your chance to reel in new leads, and the question becomes, do you sit back and hope they make that steady progression towards you or do you toss them some more bait and encourage them to bite?
With forced registration, you as the realtor or broker can make sure that whoever visits your site basically “pays” for the privilege of accessing your property listings information. You can decide what details you want, from name to shoe size, anything that will help you to better determine their needs and how you can best meet them. Sounds good, doesn’t it? You pay for the MLS data; doesn’t it make sense for the consumer to give something in return? Maybe, but first let’s look at the ways a forced registration can hinder the process.
Dummy information can be worse than no information at all. Yes, people aren’t always honest and when being asked for their information, even assuming that they have come to your site looking for your services, sometimes they just don’t want to give it up. So watch out for “John Doe”, “Mary Poppins” and “Yo Momma” as they can be a bit frustrating if you aren’t prepared. Others won’t even bother entering pseudonyms, they will simply move onto the next site that lets them in without a gatekeeper. With the slow down in the real estate market lately more and more websites are loosening these registration requirements, making it easier for consumers to seek out a non-restricted site much quicker and easier. This makes forced registration up front, a thing of the past…or does it?
Also, if you are a Realtor who prefers to have your customers come to you on their own time instead of tracking down the leads, then forced registration probably isn’t for you. Some Realtors also assume that a content-rich site will do all the work for them, or that email leads are from those who are less serious and may be a waste of time. Again, this depends on your point of view and what end result you are looking for. Forced registration can be seen as a “hard-sell”, but once again, that depends on your approach. Do you follow up with two calls a day, hounding them hard, or do you take it a steady pace, contacting your potential lead and assuring them that when they are ready, you are at their service?
Now let’s look at some of the positive aspects. Requiring registration gives you something to work with. Not only does it allow you to better predict the needs of your customers, it allows you to utilize traffic reports and lead generation tools. The flip side of the screening process is that those who do register can be seen as the more serious leads, the ones willing to put the ball in your hands, so to speak. With this information you can tailor the search even further, making sure that the consumer gets it packaged and presented in the most beneficial way possible.
What if, instead, you looked at this question in a different light? Instead of “forcing” registration, why don’t you establish trust and a relationship with your user before you “force” them to do anything. How refreshing would it be to move about a search page and find active listings in the market with no barriers to the data; until you have established that trust. Establishing trust online these days is critical, people are no longer willing to provide you any details about them until you first prove to them you have what they want. Your site and subsequently, your search tools need to establish trust in order to be effective. Internal studies at IDX, Inc. have shown that the percentage of quality leads increases dramatically with those websites that allow users to view a set number of property details before asking them for additional contact information. Although markets vary, quality leads increased over 70% when agents allowed their users to view a minimum of 5 properties before asking for more information. At this point, the term “forced” no longer applies, instead the user “wants” more info that you have to offer.
Pros:
- Needed for follow up
- It’s what the internet is all about
- Teaser sparks interest acts as a lure
- Registration screens the serious from the non serious
- It’s a sales transaction, info for info, business is not a charity and taken more seriously
- Games and software require it to screen out piracy
- An open mls creates a passive scenario takes away the realtors power/control over the process, can’t interact, has to wait idly
- Makes it easier on searcher, they can wait while the info they want is packaged for them
- Forced registration is flexible and can be added at any step in the site visit
- Can provide incentives to register, saves, contact info, detailed housing info, mapped searches
Cons:
- Some will simply choose to find a site that doesn’t require registration
- Time consuming – many users on the net are looking for a quick fix, don’t want to be held up by registration
- Idea that a content rich site will attract leads all by itself (and keep them)
- Providing information for registration doesn’t mean that they are interested in your services- could just be your information that they want
- Assumption that email leads are less serious
- Benefits mostly gained by realtor, low incentives for user. Visitors trying to avoid the hard sell by visiting site, (in lieu of an open house) Registration can be seen as hard sell
- Fake information
- Idea that page views increase when barriers are dropped (gateway instead of barrier)
Incentives:
- Auto email updates
- Relationship and trust building
- Advanced searches
- Extra detail (pics of yard, etc)
- Map based searches
- Ability to leave a comment
- Access to forums
Popularity: 4% [?]
Author's Website: http://idxbroker.com
Topics: Identity Management, Lead Acquisition, Websites |
16 Responses to ““Forced Registration”: Pros and Cons”
Comments
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February 13th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I think that registration is on its way out. I don’t like it and there are many ways around it. Lots of people have hotmail or yahoo email accounts that they use just to get into protected sites. Or there are free services like this one that provide “disposable email” - http://email.bugmenot.com/
Providing access to listings is not where a Realtors value is. Any Realtor can provide access to listings. I think a Realtors value is in the interpretation of the data, no the data itself.
Just my two cents.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
I’m not big on hating the idea of registration for information on sites anymore. It seems that most understand what permission based marketing is all about anyway with the appropriate opt outs. I don’t really see the point in real estate sites using this method since like other trades almost all information is coming down outside the might paywalls of past. As far as listing information. Wouldn’t it be great if all accurate listing information was aggregated, shared, and readily available for home buyers?
February 14th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Kaya, would you like to bring this debate over to Real Estate Politics for our Great Debates series? While you present both sides here, you seem more Pro than Con, although I could be mistaken. We could pair you up with someone on the other side for a new installment in our Great Debates series. Take a look at our recent one — Russell Shaw v. Brian Wilson in “Realtor.com: Friend or Foe?” — and let me know if it’s something you’d be interested in. Our email is realestatepolitics@gmail.com — Thanks!
February 14th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Kaya, Enjoyed your post - we have this debate at our house all the time (my husband is my RE partner) - We’ve done it then deleted it now adding it back with RSS feeds of listings like you suggst - I have mixed feelings but like everything we keep testing and tweaking.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
I think the best way to do it is just to require the minimum name and email address. But still give the option for filling out more info. Also instant registration instead of getting an email with user name and password is the way to go. Also they can volenteer any other info such as address or #. People who leave there number usually are people who actually want you to be contacted, otherwise they would use fake info, its like as if someone is raising there hand. Fake info is also actually good. It tells you who is not interested in being
contacted.
To me Fake information is a good thing it means they dont want to be contacted but still using your site(good)
Brian Barringer
February 14th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
I’ve never required registration. The first hint of it came last week when I added password-protected maps of REO homes in various cities around the Phoenix area. Response has been lukewarm.
I’m leaving the passwords on for another two weeks; if there’s no noticeable difference, I’ll probably take them off. The risk is having my work stolen by other agents, but so be it.
February 15th, 2008 at 8:04 am
@ Brian - I find lots of times our agents don’t know that it is fake information as there is just a name and and email and they spend time emailing and trying to communicate with that email address.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Lots of great comments here, obviously this is an issue that strikes an emotional chord for both sides! In reply I would like to point out that I am not necessarily suggesting a correct way to do it, as every market is different based on the competitive dynamics of your specific online audience. Rather, I wanted to point out some metrics we have seen in our business that may tilt the argument in favor of a delayed registration, but this may not always hold true for all markets and professional styles.
If all your competitors are doing aggressive online marketing and offer free access to the MLS listings in your area, having a registration page may not work to your advantage. However, if your market does not include as many web savvy competitors or many of them have forced registration, perhaps delayed registration after building “trust” will work better. On our end we have seen a significant rise in the quality of leads for our clients when they use the delayed registration request, as described in my original post.
Regarding a great point in the comments, Realtors’ value is not just in providing access to MLS data, I’m glad this point was mentioned as I think we can all agree that this is true. MLS access on a website via IDX is simply a method to introduce yourself online, where most users prefer to stay anonymous. Once they make the first move and “want” to provide their contact information, this is your chance to start building a relationship with this potential new client. The website and IDX tools are simply that, tools that the realtor uses to assist their clients. It does not replace the work of the service professional. Because this is the case, conversion rates and registration options will vary greatly based on the individual employing these tools.
February 16th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
For it’s not emotional or controversial, it’s a matter of what’s worked the best by thoroughly testing different methods.
I require registration of name, email and phone number with a questionaire asking if the want information on buyer agency, if the they want relocation information and whether they want to be contacted by phone or by email.
Registration has worked better and fake emails are 10% — the leads gathered are so much greater with registration, it’s a no brainer for me.
and leads to transactions increased by 50% last year. I’m now getting 5-7 registered leads a day.
February 16th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
excuse my bad typing, maybe you can read it.
February 17th, 2008 at 5:20 am
I ran an experiment in 2004. Two web sites, same template, two different agents but I ran both sites. One required sign up, the other did not. The one that forced the sign up got far more leads but none of them generated a sale during the 12 months of the test. The site that did not require sign up bot far fewer leads but generated two closed deals during the 12 months and a listing that never sold. The problem with forced sign up is that most people with half a brain just move on to a site where they can search without sign up. When running a “forced” sign up site the owner ends up with the folks that don’t have half a brain or who have email addresses and names like “mickey Mouse”
February 17th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Well no wonder “mickey@disney.com” keeps bouncing back.
I’ve experimented on my own site with and without registrations. Not for as long a time period as T, but with basically identical results.
Here’s a post I wrote on this subject from almost a year and a half ago. Still applies for me…
http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/mls-registration-required-not-here-folks/135
February 17th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Whoops, cut myself off there…
I think the decision to require registration or not may be quite dependent on the local market. Basically if you are in a market where most sites do not require it, you probably shouldn’t either. If most do require it, then you may do better with it.
Bottom line: test it.
February 17th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Thanks to all of the seasoned agents above for sharing there thoughts on the subject first hand. My hat’s off to you. I’m paying close attention.
February 17th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Forced signup gives consumers a bad vibe. It would probably be similar to a mall retailer asking for ID at the door. Would anyone show their drivers licence just to look at a pair of jeans?
February 17th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
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