By Sean Cutright
Delta Media Group

I’ve spent a good amount of hours in the New Year looking to revamp myself, how to market my product, and my knowledge on the real estate industry.

Naturally, that has involved hours upon hours researching the industry, trends, competitors, and other companies that are influencing the real estate market.

What I’ve discovered is a disconnect between seller and real estate broker/agent. As real estate vendors, we all seem to assume we know what brokers in the industry need, while rarely asking or providing assets that are actually catered to the way real estate business is conducted.

Over the past two years I have heard several inquiries about products, features and functionality, and when I ask how this will be implemented, the inquirer’s answer is simply, “I’m not sure, but I was at a conference/speech and this speaker said that’s what we need for the future.”

In looking at these requests and how I’ve positioned myself among them, I realized whyDelta Media Group is a profitable, growing business, and has been since 2000 under the same owners and management…philosophy.

Delta Media Group’s online real estate solutions were not designed by features, but by a business model. It just so happens, that business model has been immensely profitable everywhere it has been correctly implemented.

For reference, relate real estate Web systems to race cars. I can sell you a Dodge Neon with nice rims, a sporty spoiler, custom paint job, and an array of additional after-market accessories that spice the car up visually, and may even add a few horses. But in the end, no matter how flashy, you’re still driving on a 140-horsepower base engine that was never designed to race the way race cars need to.

On the other hand, I can sell you a Dodge Viper. You might not spend much additional time or money adding accessories, but you’re running on a 600-horsepower engine. Sure, it may cost you more, but the ROI is much higher, considering you’re actually getting an immediate bang for your buck instead of a glamorized piece of standard equipment that was never meant to actually benefit you in your field of competition.

The Viper’s engine was built by engineers that understand the philosophy of race cars, and know what it takes to build one. And that doesn’t mean that everyone who buys a Viper will go 200 miles per hour, or 0 to 60 in less than four seconds (as the 2008 model claims), but those that give a nice step on the gas pedal will.

Real estate tools are only as good as the broker that implements them. In today’s age, a brokerage will no longer be able to profit by having a website just because they’re supposed to have a website. Instead, it will be the Dodge Vipers of the industry that drive their owners to victory, and the race car drivers of the industry that purchase Dodge Vipers.