I love the work Richard Millington does at FeverBee. I know most of you have not heard of him, but Richard is a subject matter expert on a topic that has profound implications for the real estate industry.

Building Community.

Building community became a high-profile issue a couple of years ago when large technology companies such as Microsoft made big investments in the world of online social networking for business applications.

At the time, Richard predicted these large-scale investments would not produce the growth and the return on investment (ROI) many companies hoped to see.

Why did Richard make that prediction? Because communities don’t grow and flourish as a result of technology. They grow and flourish because of people. People join and participate in communities based on the rules of sociology—not the rules of technology.

There has been decades of research done in the arena of sociology, but most of this research has been ignored. The exception, of course, was Richard who took what he learned in sociology class and turned it into a very successful consulting business.

Why Does Building Community Matter for the Real Estate Industry?

Every real estate agent should be an expert on understanding how communities operate—not from a technology perspective, but from a human perspective. Understanding how communities operate is critical because most real estate business is still done inside a community framework.

People live in communities. They form relationships in communities. They raise their children in communities. They express themselves (usually through a hobby or special interest) in communities. And yes, they buy and sell things through communities.

It only makes sense that every real estate agent would benefit from learning about the nature and the purpose of communities.

I will write more on this topic later (there is much to consider), but today I will give you a quick example of how the rules of sociology impact something as common as the way you choose to communicate with those in your community.

The Importance of Social Presence Theory

Have you ever wondered why “face-to-face” meetings are so important in the business world? Over the years, Sociologists have asked the same question. They made the question the topic of multiple research studies dating back to the mid-1960s.

Social Presence Theory emerged in the mid-1970s and was recently highlighted one of Richard’s blog postings:

If members only interact [via an online platform], it will take far longer to develop the community. This is because the level of social presence in the discussions are low.

See the hierarchy of communication mediums below (top is highest, bottom is the lowest).

Members communicate in person.
Members communicate by phone.
Members communicate by voice-chat.
Members communicate in IM/SMS.
Members communicate in chat-rooms.
Members communicate by social networks.
Members communicate via Twitter.
Members communicate by forums.
Members communicate by blog posts/videos/UGC.

Notice that forums, videos, and blog posts rank last. You have no idea if and when anybody will respond. This is a big problem. By driving and confining communication to a platform we’re deeply restricting the ability of people to feel a sense of community with one another.

Here’s the bottom line: Building, maintaining, and working inside communities is the lifeblood of any real estate company. Understanding how to optimize your communication choices (should you pick up the phone, connect via Facebook, or schedule a face-to-face meeting?) will help you effectively operate in your communities.

Richard Millington is a master at digging through sociology research and finding applications for communities. I’ll share a few more of these applications in upcoming WorkPuzzles. If you would like to investigate this topic on your own, take a look at Richard’s website.

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