In October of 2013, we wrote a post on this subject.  Almost 5 years later, we revisit the same concept of the double-edged sword of finding the balance between high tech and high touch.  High touch remains the winner

Not a day goes by without someone bringing up a new fix, a new link, a new SEO tip, or a Google change to lure leads into their website. And every day a new company pops up with some lead generation program promising leads, phrases and keywords, zip codes in order to make you rich. While some of these fixes may and do work, they do not guarantee success, or high placement on Google. This is true both in the luxury real estate and other real estate marketing segment.

The companies that offer all this stuff can outspend any real estate agent or independent agent on this planet, and they do.  And they are busy outspending each other in order to gain dominance for the same pool of buyers and potential listings.   The big box companies have also entered this game, and some of the companies are planning to go head to head with the three major aggregators.

Recently one of our friends in Los Angeles listed her magnificent estate with a high profile successful independent firm.  As we were reviewing the presentation on line, we noticed that it was difficult for us to find who the listing agent was.  What came up, when we looked up the listing by the address were the usual aggregators followed by the big box firms. The listing company was way down on the first page of our search.

Why did our friend list with an independent, when she could have had all the google juice with a big box firm and their star agents?  She was not impressed with the big box stars who strutted their stuff and their high-tech knowhow, nor their global and Hollywood connections.  

What made her sign that listing contract was the compassion and understanding of her situation that these two agents exhibited.  She knew that they had access to the same tools and contacts that any other agency has.  She felt comfortable with them as well as comforted.  She left town knowing the home was in good hands. 

We agree with the Dalai Lama’s statement, “I think technology really increased human ability. But technology cannot produce compassion.” In our experiences with high producers in the high-end market, we have found that the secret ingredient in their success was not how much they spend on tech, it was their innate compassion when working with their clients. Compassion cannot be bought or faked.