There is one area of technology that always sees America playing catch up; cell phones. Several years ago I had a trip planned to London and contacted my cell phone provider, let’s call them Verizon, to ensure my cell phone would work. I didn’t know whether to laugh or get angry when they told me I’d have to rent a telephone from one of their stores on arrival. Take into account that at the time global cell phone service had been available outside North America for almost a decade.
Texting, or SMS, is the same. Sending text messages is finally becoming common place here but it’s been ubiquitous in Europe for many years.
Earlier this year AgencyLogic announced free texting/SMS service with it’s single property Website sign riders. The first time we received a call from a customer asking “What are all these numbers on the sign rider?” we explained that buyers at the road side could request photos and information about the home by simply sending a text message from their cell phone. Seconds later they receive photos and listing data directly on their cell phone. We added that it is also a great lead generator; the listing agent receives an email notification about the inquiry that includes the persons cell phone number.
“But what’s texting?” was the response. I have to admit we were surprised, not only by this follow up question but also by the fact that we received multiple other calls from Realtors asking the same question.
Best Buy recently commissioned a fascinating survey about smart phone usage in America.
The survey identified:
Anyone that has been reading this blog for a while knows I’m a lover of trends. I also don’t buy into the oft heard statement “that’s only for the younger generation”.
That’s why the following chart is so important; it shows a trend towards using cell phones to get information over and above traditional media. Specifically people are using their cell phone rather than reading a newspaper, using a computer even watching TV.
Of particular note is that iPhone users spend more time using the device than reading newspapers. If that is a trend for all cell phone users ( and I believe it is) and isn’t limited to “the younger generation” (whatever that means) today’s Realtors need to have have some level of familiarity with texting and the benefits it offers. I expect to see listing data in more and more places; that includes cell phones. Is your listing data available in mobile form?
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I could not agree more!
The cell phone is the most popluar device in the world with subscribers numbering over 4.1 billion (more than half the world’s population). People are accessing and exchanging more information than ever before on their phones, mainly through text messgaing. Texting is the most commonly used application worldwide with approximately 3/4 subscribers as active users. This is sure to increase with phone technology and increased multi-media available oncell phones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone