An Experience Named Eric

Over the past years, this column has presented and commented many times on the subject of consumer experiences. It has discussed a wide range of both positive and unsatisfactory consumer real estate experiences. Hence, it is with the greatest of satisfaction that we now get to tell this story of an absolutely spectacular real estate service experience.

Many industry decision makers and leaders believe that the challenge of the century for the contemporary American real estate industry will be its willingness and ability to create and deliver a real estate transactional experience that meets the needs and expectations of the broker, the buyer, and the seller.

What is a real estate service experience? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes an experience as something personally encountered, undergone, or lived through. For the purposes of this column, the term experience is used to describe the sum total of the elements, both intentional and unintentional, presented to a buyer or a seller as they make their way through a real estate transaction from search to contract, from contract to closing, and from closing to ownership.

There are many industry insiders who find the whole subject of real estate service experiences to be a non-subject. These folks believe happenstance, luck and environmental factors rather than professionalism and brand management determine what matter of experience any particular consumer might have on any given day.

There are others, however, who believe that a perfect real estate experience is the result of a carefully considered series of well planned, properly executed and masterfully managed tasks, interactions and challenges.