With the rise of virtual goods and social games, gamification is becoming a hot topic. Why? Because it’s effective. It makes complex things simple. That’s why the real estate industry has been quick to embrace this trend with open arms.
Most recently, businesses are using these tools to do everything from motivating their sales team to improve performance to rewarding consumers for loyalty and bringing customers into the sales funnel.
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What is Gamification?
Gamification can be defined as the application of game mechanics and game design techniques for non-game applications. Therefore, gamifying means to take something with rules (like a game) and apply them to something where there are none (such as a business).
Not surprisingly, this often leads to more satisfying user experiences. After all, playing games is fun; which is why we do it. Often, people would like the task they are doing to be more enjoyable (or at least more interesting).
How Realtors Can Incorporate Gamification Into Their Business
Gamifying real estate transactions are about engaging users and motivating them in everyday interactions with real estate companies’ brands and products through playfulness and fun. The goal of successful gamification is to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, and in turn to create more opportunities for business transactions.
Here are some ways real estate businesses can incorporate gamification to their platform and/or mobile app to make the buying and selling process easier.
1.Create a Satisfying User Experience
Make the needed information easy to access. Users want everything at their fingertips, and they want it fast. That’s why the real estate industry has started giving consumers access to things such as virtual tours, listings, and floor plans to make their job easier.
2.Create a Sense of Accomplishment
Incorporate badges and awards to provide incentives for the consumer. By giving users a set number of things they can do, people feel a sense of accomplishment when they reach a goal. This is why every real estate company that incorporates gamification into its business model needs to have an established system that rewards customers’ efforts. For example, if someone successfully shares your listing on Facebook, give them points towards free services or products.
3.Encourage Social Interaction
Social media is not just about marketing to consumers; it’s about building relationships with them as well. It has become increasingly important to provide ways for people to share information across their social graphs (i.e., family, friends), and to reward them for their efforts. Consumers want more than just information; they want social interaction as well.
4.Give Users Control
Customers like to be in control of their interactions with brands, so give them some power over the system. They want self-management, so allow them to work on things themselves instead of having to find an agent every time they have a question or concern. Incorporate tools that help people do things on their own and let the agents answer questions only when necessary.
5.Shorten the Time Frame
Any real estate company that offers gamification has to shorten buying and selling cycles because it’s not fun if it takes too long. One way these companies are doing this is by making listings available to the public as soon as they are put on the market. Imagine if you saw a house online that interested you, but it gets sold before you were able to see it in person. It would be frustrating and something needs to be done about this very real problem.
Gamification is one of two major trends driving customer experience innovation in real estate.
The second trend is the rise of online video, which has generated a huge increase in consumer interest in virtual home tours and neighborhood walk-throughs.
Relying on both trends together makes it possible to innovate faster while also becoming more efficient. Zara Raza is the Head of Marketing at Sunvera Software. She has written several technology blogs covering anywhere from software to emerging tech trends.
