Matthew Ferrara & Company » Podcasts
By Matthew Ferrara & Company
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Podcast Description
Building Real Estate, The Next Generation
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Podcast: Marketing Trends in Real Estate | Listen to Matthew's interview with the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors discussing marketing trends for attracting buyers and sellers. Hint: newspapers still don't work. | 7/28/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Podcast: Matthew Ferrara Talks Technology | Listen to Matthew Ferrara's recent interview with the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS exploring ideas on how to use technology to cut costs, grow market share and innovate in today's challenging real estate market. Jump start your productivity in the new year with some straightforward and easy-to-implement ideas for leveraging technology to make 2009 a great year to be in real estate. | 1/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Podcast: When Companies Should Fail | America has become so obsessed with its financial crisis that people are forgetting the basic lessons of economics. You remember economics, don’t you? It’s the science of how markets work. Yet everyone is acting like it’s a “strange reason” why companies are losing money, people are losing their jobs, customers are fleeing their products and services. We all know that “customers are sitting on the sideline,” but nobody is willing to really ask why. We all just assume it’s because “credit is frozen,” whatever that means. And everywhere we turn, people are saying somebody must do something – fast, soon, now – because the market downturn is assumed to be “a fluke” – it’s “happening” to good companies and good people through no fault of their own. As if the laws of supply and demand – and the customer – didn’t apply to the “modern” economy. Nobody is asking the basic question: Should these companies fail? When can it be said that a company “should” fail? When customers say so. It’s really that simple. Customers are the perfect feedback system for your company’s performance. Their decision to purchase your goods and services – or not to – is the instant, immediate and only meaningful evaluation of your organization. Surveys, marketing and testimonials are useless. Nothing happens unless you can make a sale. It is therefore an economic principle that your profits – or lack of them – are the most objective measurement of your company’s performance. And the only indication of whether or not you should continue to be in business. Take the airline industry. They love to blame everyone else for their problems. Regulation. Soaring oil prices. Their competitors. And most pernicious of all: the customer. Has anyone ever asked that the reason customers won’t pay more – or at all – for airline service is that they can barely tolerate (and frequently decide not to) the service offered? A concrete example may help. A half an hour ago I tried to check into a United flight in Boston. My office had purchased the ticket – directly from United’s website – using one of our our company credit cards, two weeks ago. We do this every day, nearly, and have for more than fifteen years. In fact, it’s the system the airlines have set into place – it’s their process. They didn’t want to pay travel agents; and they don’t want you to call and speak to someone on the phone. They discourage every other form of ticket purchase and virtually require you to purchase online. In fact, I just got off another plane a few days ago – another internet purchase – and today makes my 50th flight this year. Needless to say, I know the drill. Not today, however. United’s process failed its customer at every level. First – because they don’t want to hire people to actually interact with the customer – they force you to “self-service” check in. So you go up to a computer (while actual people are on the other side of the kiosks but don’t look you in the eye; they only want to interact with your baggage) and you have to print your own tickets. The “usual” procedure is to enter your confirmation number or slide any credit card into the machine; verify your name and flight. Presto – you have a ticket. Not today. Today, United decided that if I didn’t have the ACTUAL credit card used to purchase the ticket, I’d have to miss the flight or purchase another FULL FARE LAST MINUTE ticket. Here’s how the interaction went: Computer: Sorry – I can’t help you. See a real person. Customer Ferrara: OK, excuse me, real person? The machine can’t do it’s job. Can you help? United Rep: Oh, did it ask you for your credit card? Cu[...] | 9/25/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Podcast: Why do Brokers Hire Sellers? | Ask any broker today what his "number one" problem with the market conditions, and he'll tell you either there's too much inventory or it's all overpriced. Granted, if sellers want to put their homes on the market, nothing can stop them, with so many "for sale by owner" options out there. But that still leaves the issue of the overpriced homes that are represented by brokers. And that begs the question: Why are brokers hiring sellers to sell their own homes? | 9/24/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Podcast: Market Rebounds – Managers Find Spines | In the news today, the real estate market soared as buyers finally concluded that the prices of houses on the market accurately reflected their needs and desires, plus their ability to pay, given the broader conditions of the American economy. When asked how quickly they might begin making offers on current inventory, John Q. Public, spokesman for the Common Real Estate Buyer (CREB) said, "Looks like we'll see a lot of offers being made this month, now that REALTORS have stopped trying to get our members to pay too much for their next home. Looks like the managers in most offices have finally started taking control of their companies and rejecting overpriced listing agreements from their agents." | 7/28/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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6 |
Podcast: If Zillow Zestimates are Zilly, why is REALTOR.COM doing them too? | Been having a great discussion with the fellow over at 4REALZ.NET over the new REALTOR.COM Home Estimator tool just released - and quite quietly, we might add, since even we techhies missed the press release (so we suspect the public did too.... and about half the REALTORS who don't even know REALTOR.COM exists...) | 6/16/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 6 Episodes |
