This is the first in a series of blog articles discussing topics from our 2nd Annual Enterprise Network Conference. This week, we are focusing on the importance of putting the customer first. With the theme of this year.s event being Winning Customers and Influencing Markets, Active Website understands that the driving force behind our success is the customer. Make sure to keep checking back this week for more blogs on this topic!

At our conference this year, Rich Sands, Real Estate Speaker/Sales Trainer from Rich Sands Seminars Inc. gave a presentation on Tomorrow.s Realtor Today. Visit Rich Sand’s website by clicking here.

Rich focused on five key factors in understanding today.s consumer. These concepts were:

1. Understanding that the world is constantly changing, and so are the people in it.
2. The skills needed for the next stages of technology are different than what we currently know.
3. The way people learn and use the Internet is crucial.
4. Expertise rules.
5. It may be the same game, but we have to learn to adapt to the changing equipment.

Rich gave us a great example of how this affected the travel industry. In 1996, Jonathon Webb spoke at the National Convention for Travel Agents and was quoted saying, .Given the complexity and personal touch involved in our profession, we do not believe the computer to be a threat to our industry..

Obviously, this wasn.t the case. As customers become more immersed in the online world, the way they searched for airline flights changed as well. Online travel sites such as Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, and Travelocity.com are now household names because they adapted to meet the demands of their customers. It.s about the NOW factor – people expect immediate results. All the information you need to book your own vacation or business trip is in the hands of the customer. Think about yourself, where do you go to search for flights – Your local travel agent or one of these online companies?

While people probably won’t be buying homes online by themselves anytime soon, they still come to our sites with certain expectations. It’s all about instant gratification and we need to make sure we.re meeting this demand. With or without us, customers are leading the future for the real estate industry and we must seize the opportunity and become a more customer centric business. If not, we run the risk of being left behind. In short, we must evolve when our customers evolve.

Reiterating this point, we leave you with an animation stressing the importance of the customer centric model created by Enterprise Project Director at Active Website, Ido Zucker.

Find more videos like this on Active Enterprise Network Portal