Build A Hot New Market Sector And They Will Come by Lesley Hensell
Who are they? Any number of hangers-on who wish to exploit others' good fortune. These come in the form of pundits, marketers, suppliers and many others including - most dreaded of all - association junkies. Case in point: this week, the roster of non-profit business associations added a new member to its ranks - the Online Real Estate Association. This group, including real estate, mortgage, news and technology players, claims to be "devoted to improving the consumer experience and developing more protections for both customers and realtors." "The coalition will share common practices and work closely together to bring online real estate to new levels of customer focus and satisfaction," a statement from the organization said. Amusingly enough, the statement said that several of its members were "long-time" industry players. How on earth did they accomplish that, since the industry itself has existed in force for less than 12 months? Regardless, big-name members include Microsoft's HomeAdvisor, Intuit's Quicken Loans, HomeGain, ImproveNet, Inman News Features, John L. Scott Real Estate, and dozens more. "By working together, we'll be able to better serve our customers and innovate with technology much more than if we worked apart," said Bradley Inman, who founded the association. "This new group of the industry's more dynamic executives will allow us to more effectively communicate with each other and share what we've learned, all with one goal in mind -- better and safer service and products for our customers." Pardon my frankness, but what a load of garbage. Share? What companies in their right management minds are going to share at this critical juncture in the marketplace? I would have understood such cooperation among competitors a year ago, when few in the real estate marketspace had an online clue. But I think we all know better than to believe that, at this point, these folks are going to be sharing much of anything. Take a step back and look at the marquee members. Hmmm. Can you say, "networking?" Or, "marketing to association members?" Don't get me wrong, I see value in associations. At some point in every industry's life cycle, important functions such as self-regulation and lobbying are much more effectively undertaken by an association, rather than by individual corporations. For example, the association said its members will work government bodies to ensure that real estate transactions may be undertaken electronically. In addition, members will encourage new policies to allow greater cooperation between all transaction-related parties and tighter security standards to protect private financial information. Associations also are valuable inter-industry marketing tools. There's absolutely nothing wrong with groups of like-minded individuals sharing a modicum of information about their products - typically just enough to be considered a sales pitch. And what better forum for developing alliances and true online partnerships? But at this point in an exploding new industry, even self-regulation or the purported "sharing" of information among industry heavyweights serves only one purpose: to protect first-mover advantage and place hurdles in the way of the smallest real estate companies trying to establish an online business. The great danger of industry associations is that power goes to the heads of those involved, who then decide to try and control more than is proper. Here's the statement that should scare you, courtesy of the Online Real Estate Association: "With literally hundreds of real estate sites operating on national and regional levels, the Online Real Estate Association will work to establish new standards of professionalism and performance for everyone associated with real estate on the Web." One sensible voice did come out of the group's first meeting. "If we expect consumers to trust us with the largest and most important investment of their lives, we all must be committed to making online real estate and mortgage transactions easier, safer and more convenient," said Allison Mnookin, group product manager for Quicken Loans. "We must continue to innovate and ensure we can wow the consumer every step of the way." That's more like it, as long as the "we" includes only Quicken, not every realtor trying to get a handle on the Internet. | 
