The “Big Data” effect on Real Estate

In late 2013, NAR announced to the real estate world that they would create a new department to invest and produce products around the concept of “Big Data.” If executed correctly, the introduction of this technology could be the most significant development in the industry since the mobile phone and the Internet.

The term Big Data is defined as a data set so large that it is difficult to analyze without specialized tools and reports. As a standard consumer, we personally create hundreds of pieces of this data on a daily basis that companies can track and keep on file. In the pre-digital world, the type of data available was rather limited. With the onset of the digital age and the new social landscape, the variety of data has become almost endless. All of this data, however, is useless without the right tools to analyze it.

Business intelligence is where all of that data is transformed into useful reports and data sets that help an organization drive better business decisions and direction. It has been the secret weapon of other industries for decades and is responsible for better performance and large profits. For the real estate industry, this would mean moving away from simple spreadsheets and antiquated reporting to a true “predictive modeling” and an evolutionary leap forward providing tangible insight into the behaviors of both agents and consumers.

The good news is that while most of these tools are in the early stages of development some are already here and ready for implementation. Sales Intelligence, a sub-sector of BI, is a new, powerful tool for providing brokers and managers’ visibility into the activity of their agents that has previously been unobtainable. For the first time, it is possible to view, in real time, what and how agents are conducting business on your behalf. Previously unanswerable questions can now be provided instantly through a state of the art reporting portal in the cloud.

Questions such as:
How is the agent representing my brand to the consumer?
When, if ever, did the agent call the lead that was given to them?
Are we getting incoming leads from our new advertising campaigns?
How many calls, on average, do my agents make?
Who are my top performers?

But that’s just the beginning.

Analyzing this localized “Big Data” will allow for better oversight and allow managers to coach to a set of standards and, ultimately, a more cohesive team vision. Once this is fully implemented a brokerage will see a profound, positive impact to their revenue, spending and overall market share. The plain truth is that early adopters will benefit immediately from this new insight and see their learning curve shorten as innovative, more effective tools become a reality and are more widely accepted by the industry. The brokerages that adopt these technologies will quickly flush out those individuals whom ignore the new tools, or are late in adoption, which will eventually lead to a corporate landscape that values information and utilizes it as a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

At Gryphon, we specialize in Sales Intelligence reporting and how best to use this data, and understand how critical it is to make better decisions that will affect the short, intermediate and long term successful and viability of any sales organization, especially larger, disperse organizations where this level of visibility has historically been lacking.