Here in the United States, 95 percent of Americans own a mobile phone of some kind. The share that owns smartphones is now 77 percent. (Pew Research) Our mobile devices have become part of our lives.
We wake up in the morning to the alarm on our phone and immediately check texts and emails. In fact, Americans check their phones 150 times per day. (*) And so, more and more households are choosing smart phones, tablets, and e-readers over traditional desktop computers.
Because phones and tablets are so portable, home buyers aren’t sitting still. No longer tied to a desk, folks are shopping for homes while they are at restaurants, waiting in grocery lines and driving around to look at potential homes. At home, people use phones while watching TV or using other devices.
And this trend continues to rise. Mobile shopping has grown year-by-year and is expected to continue on an upward trajectory.
Mobile Devices – What does this mean to you?
For one thing, it might change how you get your leads. We have seen a difference in how home buyers inquire about properties. On mobile devices, they are more likely to click-to-call than to type a long email. Texting is so popular that we added it as a feature to our mobile site earlier this year (The text leads are then emailed right to you).
It also should change how you respond to leads. In this new mobile-friendly world, people’s attention spans are shortening. They expect responses right away. They don’t want to wait.
Knowing that buyers aren’t the only ones using their phones, MHVillage added the MHVFastlead feature – so you know the minute a lead is sent.
Because more and more shoppers browse on their phones, we’ve been working hard at updating the mobile experience at MHVillage. We have programmers working constantly to improve the mobile interface. But don’t worry, we aren’t leaving you out of the mix! We’ve got some exciting announcements for our Professional users that will be coming out in 2018.
We can’t wait to share them with you!
(*) Source: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Beyers
