Are you QR-ious?

It seems every now and then a new technology comes along and gets everyone in the real estate biz excited.  In fact, after close to 16 years with a Blackberry Smartphone, I finally gave in to the impulse to ‘get me’ an iPhone.  Why? Because of all the easy web apps that now bring me up to speed with my clients. 
Well, for the latest technology has to offer, it’s the buzz you are hearing about QR Codes or the curiosity about that that black and white UPC code on steroids is doing hanging out there and I think there is good reason.
Managing so many Open Houses as I do and watching when that car pulls up and then pulls off without anyone getting out of the car to check out the home has always frustrated me, especially when I know that there is real value in the home.  My suggestion for a Realtor (or the seller to make this request of their agent) is to put QR Codes to best use and enable them to do what a yard sign and a drive-by won’t do:  INVITE YOU TO SEE THE INSIDE.  This can either be a URL that points them to a movie, as I most often do, or to a website with a virtual tour or simply a slide show of pictures and floor plans.
A quick note before we go further, a QR code, or QUICK RESPONSE Code in layman’s terms, is simply a bridge to a website that when scanned with a mobile device—you need a QR Reader and they are free--takes a consumer on a journey beyond the paper it is printed on; thus saving a great deal of time and error keypunching in the URL.  In fact, it was created by Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave in 1994.  The QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes and is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background and, as opposed to a 13 digit UPC code, QR Codes can contain up to 7089 characters.  The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.
But what is the best use for a Realtor or home seller today?
Lawn Signs.  Consumers like to get as much information as humanly possible before calling a sales person (you BTW).  By placing the QR Code on your sign riders you will be providing potentially the hottest leads, those driving around looking for homes to buy, with all of the information needed about that property instantly.  Price, interior photos and community info are typically things that a lawn sign does not provide and by leveraging a QR Code you are really giving the consumer what they want when they want it.  I know some Realtors would argue that there is no longer a need to call you if you give away all of that info through the QR Code on the sign.  I would argue there is already no need to call you to get that information (think online portals like Realtor.com, Zillow and Trulia all of whom have mobile apps that provide those details).  People work with people they like, they will like you more if you give them more of a reason to and stop holding back data that is easily obtained without you.

So stop being simply QR-ious and be Quick to Capture the interest of potential buyers you could be losing to those that don’t like your choice in exterior paint color, etc.