How Siri Finds Real Estate Agents

Have you seen the new television commercial that displays Samuel L. Jackson commanding his iPhone to find a grocery store that carries organic mushrooms, or asks it how many ounces are in a cup? The ad itself is fairly entertaining and in case you aren’t totally up to speed with the latest mobile trends, the iPhone application he’s using to find the answers to all his questions is called Siri, and there’s little she doesn’t know or can’t tell you.

In fact, along with finding us basic food measurements and local businesses, Siri can also help find us locate people as well. No, I’m not saying an iPhone app is able to pinpoint someone’s exact location at any given time, but if I happen to be searching for a local real estate agent for example, she’s certainly capable of finding some us some quality options.

And just how does she do this, you ask? Well, to the delight (or disappointment) of many Realtors, Siri will actually gather her list of suggestions from social websites, such as Yelp, that allow users to leave reviews and feedback. The process is actually quite simple. The more positive reviews you have, the more likely Siri will respond to a command with your name or real estate brokerage. Similarly, should you happen to have a high volume of negative reviews attached to your real estate business, Siri will skip right over you and move on to the next agent with better feedback.

While this may not be the most accurate way to find a good real estate agent, it does at least eliminate total randomness. So if you’re an agent who has yet to embrace social media, it might be a good time to create a Yelp account and start asking your clients to provide some positive reviews in your direction. The odds you may actually get a phone call from a Siri-referred client may be slim, but as with anything in the real estate business, it’s a numbers game. The more cards you have stacked in your favor, the more homes you’re ultimately going to sell.

Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and possesses a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working in the market research sector and authoring published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and co-owns Real Estate Web Creation with his partner, Ted Guarnero, a 25+ year real estate veteran.