Dear realtors, 'online brand managers' are not the answer

Real estate companies seem to have finally found out that online is the best way to boost their image, which has taken a severebeating after disgruntled buyers started teaming up on social media to vent their displeasure.

According to a report in the Economic Times, the companies are seeking the help from online reputation managers to deal with the situation.

For home buyers facing delivery delays of over two years in certain instances, online forums have become a convenient meeting place to share their issues, as the country is yet to get a real estate regulator.

[caption id=“attachment_538371” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption]

However, it would be interesting to see how thesereputation managerscan deal with such online complaints as the home buyers are likely to see it as a mere PR exercise that seeks to divert attention from the core issue. Given that they are called ‘reputation managers’ rather than, for instance, ‘customer grievance officers’.

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First, it would be better if these companies can seize the opportunity, and use networks like Facebook and Twitter to become more transparent or provide regular updates and take steps to prevent buyers from being cheated.

Second, branding only works if a developer has a reputation which promises to deliver. Many developers in India constantly misguide buyers with an artificial pricing policy, where prices are inflated to benefit builders, politicians and investor s. Y ou can read all about the builder's manipulative pricing policy here.

“PR agencies cannot change the momentum or angst towards builders, only the builders can do that by checking their own self conduct and not cheating buyers from their right to deliver,” says Pankaj Kapoor, MD at real estate consulting firm Liasas Foras.

Most real estate companies display Photoshoped images and promise world-class facilities. On delivery, buyers find the flat is no where near the promise. In most cases, they may have to be content with poor-quality raw material, smaller carpet area and half-done job, with onlycosts exceeding expectation.

At the crux of this debate is the vast unsold inventory lying vacant while developers continue to undertake more projects which are again delayed due to regulatory and funding hurdles, but continue to demand a premium value. A survey by Liasas Foras found that nearly half of the 323,000 homes to be delivered in 2013 are lagging behind construction schedule.

The _Economic Times_report quotes Hareesh Tibrewala, joint chief executive officer of Social Wavelength, as saying “Consumers in India are very forgiving. They are fine if their voice is heard and responded to. A solution may take time, but being heard takes care of most of the problems.”

Again, he has failed to fathom the real problem. Merely being heard is not going to satisfy the consumers. They want answers and more importantly, transparency in transactions.

Until there is transparency on the house cost with builders margins, no amount of branding can clean a builder’s image. Until then, it will be seen as an unwanted marketing expenditure which will in the end have to be shelled out by the home buyer himself in the form of hidden costs.