Beijing Real Estate Broker HomeLink At Risk Due to Market Share Strategy

Homelink (链家) is a real estate broker that pursues a market share strategy. The firm focuses on currently accounts for 3.8 of every 10 property sales in Beijing. The firm's pursuit of market shares leads to higher costs at the expense of profits, a strategy that may backfire if the housing market continues to cool.

Around 2006, the company switched to a market share strategy as part of a strengthening of internal management, but this criteria has come to dominate its business evaluation, to the point that it has become an obsession. Since the firm does not operate in the outer suburbs and commercial property, it only targets about 70% of the market, so its 38% market share actually accounts for 51% of home sales. The firm has already registered 85% of its target market.

The path to profitability is in question. Some brokers are starting to offer some financing for existing home buyers. Another possible path is property management; the firm currently oversees 130,000 tenants. However, this is not a strategy at this point.

死磕市场占有率放任利润率 链家走“窄门”

when a chain of home broker, walked into the communities he is responsible or pick up the phone, and when to start selling those owners who want to contact, and his mind, would emerge an idea: the community, Sellers owners want the moment, I have linked to it? I strive for the chain of home to the largest amount listed on it?

The same is true in the field of trade. Target market share is their goal.

Chain hotels have done it a little. Currently in Beijing throughout the second-hand housing market, the 10 housing units per transaction, it is about 3.8 units traded through the chain of home.

But that does not seem to make the chain of home satisfied. They are also willing to invest the cost in order to obtain a higher market share.

Market share rather than profit

"In recent years, our profit margins have been declining." Chain of family property, said a person in charge of the Economic Observer reported. But profit margins, has not as performance evaluation criteria, the core index is market share.

Around 2006, the chain of home real estate began to strengthen internal management, and since then, the "market share" has been repeatedly strengthened and become the company's most important to the overall operation of assessment indicators.

Attention to the chain's market share has reached "obsessed" the point, perhaps not too much to say.

Chain of home business layout, are coming around to seize market share.

Currently, the chain of home real estate transactions throughout the Beijing second-hand housing market, accounting for about 38% per transaction Suite 100, 38 sets of transactions through the chain of home.

In the assessment of the chain home, there is a concept of the target market, namely 100 housing units in this transaction, the chain of home only participated in the competition in which 70 suites, as its business is temporarily not involve the outer suburbs, commercial buildings and other areas, so their participation in the competition's 70 suites, is the chain of family target market. In this target market, the chain of home share is about 51% in the first place, will remain stable at about three times second place.

Chain of home market share assessment point from the surface, a layer of down, including the city, the target market area, a single cell, must do share in the first. And in the specific job, you can make a more detailed classification and assessment, such as a store group, corresponding to a cell; single one broker, corresponds to a building.

Currently the chain of home business structure in Beijing, were divided into 29 regions, each headed by a large area director; Director Management Region 7-8 zones, each consisting of a number of stores, store manager is the person in charge, And each store group constituted by several brokers.

From region to region, to the store, to the group, has its corresponding target specific markets. To store manager, for example, the stores will have specific responsibility for real estate, as the manager for market share on the assessment criteria. The area where the store may radiate to several close estate, called the scope of such a disk drive, the disk range trading stores can do, but even if there is turnover, not included in the assessment of the share of managers. Such a chain of home settings, is to ask the store to focus on the responsibility disc, you can not lose market share.

Specific objective assessment indicators of market share, then broken down into multiple, including the offer rate, offer turnover rate, rates, with a look at the proportion of clients entrust rate.

All offer rate is quoted listings, how much is the commission chain of home sales. Homelink calculation methods for this indicator is the month in which network to sign listings, there are too many in the chain of family registration. Currently, the rate of chain hotels offer the target market of about 85%.

Offer rates below this target, will be further broken down into activities and other indicators, the so-called activity will be specific to the number of brokers, making the number of actions that can add a listing commission.

Region Director of every quarter, including the president of the company, including the CMC conduct debriefing, vice president of the company every month to conduct debriefing report changes in the market.

In this case, the work of the company's operations and functions of the department, will be around to expand its market share.

"When the overall market share of the company is focused on the assessment of the time, the work functions only with the company's performance goals tied tightly together, in order to create value sectors and all functions will think about it, we can do for marketing What do share some of the services will be everywhere move out. "Chien, vice president, said the chain of family property.

To port services, for example, the department needs to help broker on external sites such as search room, live-off, etc., publish listings and obtain the maximum amount of commission.

Colleagues port services, will release listing broker told when and how professional description to attract people to buy a house to pick up the phone and contact the broker. Professional description, including the title, pictures, text and other auxiliary.

"It would broker requests, we must first read the house, the second is not talking about false things such as a housing commission unit price 38,000 yuan, while the average price of similar recent transactions listings for 40,000 yuan, the brokerage which people can specify in the title, this is a relatively low-cost houses, including behind the description should highlight of this house, this understanding of the cell's agent, for example, this house is located in a residential facilities September 30, when the renovation is completed can, what effect after the renovation is completed, the district or school district which currently places the school district finds how he really saw this suite, he must be able to speak The kitchen was out of this house, what brand in Germany and we would encourage brokers to write these things, he went to see this house if not, then he basically could not speak. "Chien said.

In the photo, there are some brokers do not take pictures, when he Qukan Fang, will be facing the toilet shot; Some brokers will use a sample room photos posted up very nice, but not the real scene. "So we have church brokers how to take pictures, the light should be how to put a good photo shoot from the angle of a few degrees." Chien said.

These skills, port services will (likely to cooperate with the Training Department) through training, PK tournament, etc., to improve the ability of brokers.

"We are usually the first to teach, first training. Training is over, we will have some small internal PK tournament, we come to race with the best written description of who, who both real good photo is taken." Chien said.

Some brokers in the business line method discovered, is also changing the chain of home workflow. For example, a person may also buy several real estate agents to find a good look at the house, how to buy a house in order to impress people prefer chain home? Brokers believe that after reading rooms of customers, there must be some of the deliverables to the customer, so the vast majority of customers now after reading the room through the chain of home, will receive listings information; For the owners, too, have a number of companies brokers and owners to contact the owners how to give a different impression, brokers found that the owners should give something, they gave the owners of the same district, the transaction prices of similar residential listings.

After the chain of home itself like some market data reports, brokers make this request, departments will develop out of the broker to use. Initially, the market turnover data may take up more than 30 pages, the broker does not so much time to introduce the owners do, you want to print out and waste paper, waste of time, by the late improvements, the data from more than 30 pages becomes twelve, in the chain of home network can achieve four seconds to download, brokers have become willing to use.

Walking through the narrow gate

"The idea chain home is to do one thing, first pushed himself dead end." Chien said, in fact, sometimes Homelink not 100% ready, but we think that if 100 percent ready for customers to do fishes service commitments, that process is too slow, so sometimes the chain of home only prepared for 70%, 80%, I do pledge to customers first, if not, do damages, so the internal Forced company for customers to do enhance risk control ability. For example Murderer, our database is not in Beijing Murderer coverage of 100%, of course not, but I'm only going to make the commitment to internal quality management as I have a ring, if a customer accidentally buy the haunted house, I want to pay the corresponding responsibilities, then I pay in order to avoid this type of liability, to avoid customer complaints of this class, I want to do my very complete service system.

Chain of family houses sell for losses caused by the seizure carried payment commitments, as well. Beijing has been the establishment of a full house mortgage data, which is almost impossible. Currently, Beijing pledged to query whether the presence of housing, very convenient, but I took the real estate license requires homeowners to check the Construction Committee, the homeowner did not have the power, in the case of a query can not be confirmed, the chain of home only strengthen financial supervision, including the supervision of the first payment, once a problem, at least to ensure that the buyer could get the money back.

The range of services are required cost. Since last November, the chain of family commitments happen Murderer, sealed housing, excessive electromagnetic radiation, property arrears from trading loss to buy a house, the chain of responsibility carried home payment. Currently Homelink has expended over 100 million Pei Fukuan.

Shop the rising cost of rent, the Internet port cost has doubled last year, in addition, the chain of home in order to increase market share in a range of services to enhance the core aspects of investment, but also further enhance the cost. Chien said that in recent years the chain's profit margins have been declining home.

"That's why we charge so high, do not want to discount and we want to do, but also the hard discount, customers have to choose me." Chien said, "This is our own choice of a road, this road is called the chain of home called Walking through the narrow gate. "

Regardless of the cost, to seize market share. Chain of family play, and Internet companies to seize the early first client resources, to seize market share approach surprisingly consistent.

Meanwhile, the peculiar chain of family, but also because of the employee's request.

One of them is the recruitment of new employees, do not hire people who have experience in the same industry. This means that if a broker has worked in other real estate agents, sub-investment chain hotels, it is impossible to be hired. Chain of family believe that this is the home team in order to maintain the chain of pure descent.

As early as this practice had already started around 2005, but then put a certain quota, for example, 10%, 5% quota can hire recruitment industry experience. But up to now, has been completely recruit peers experience.

This means that the chain of home recruiting new employees, there are only two choices, a rookie out of school early, the current recruitment requirements are a college graduate entrance examination, two previously worked in the chain of home, there is no other agency to work after the leave, Now people want to come back.

"Human chain operators responsible for the system, there can be airborne, all start from the chain of home broker, promoted up." Chain of home real estate brand director Xu Donghua said that a large area director, at least 7-8 years to develop out.

"On the other hand, in fact, is not willing to peer chain of home, because there are too many rules up." Xu Donghua said.

House rules prohibit chain, red, yellow line of the points. Touch the red line once fired and never hired; touch the yellow line twice, two yellow and one red, expelled and never hired.

From conflict with the client, academic fraud, concealment industry experience, all belong to the red line, to meet one of which will be dismissed. Previously a chain of home district manager did five or six years, in a customer complaints, with customers from the conflict, pushed a handful of customers. It belongs to the practice of touching the red line, but because of the long working life of the district manager, the style is very strong, very high market share in the region, the chain of home was an internal discussion on how to handle, but finally expelled from the district manager. After the expulsion, the market share of the district plummeted.

In 2012, the chain of home interior did a degree of verification and found that hundreds of people have academic fraud. Because of the large number of chain announced to a family an opportunity to correct the initiative to admit may be exempted from expulsion. But there are still more than 300 people did not recognize, so then all the 300 people expelled.

The new broker chain home after recruits will train four and a half days to the training base, will conduct the examination of professional knowledge every day, only to pass the exam before formal entry. In addition, the chain of home agents also need to be twice a year, "the chain of home entrance," such as this most recent one was June 27, at the end there will be one. Questions covering aspects of the company, market, policy, brokers exam conducted in stores, regional manager level, because few in number, will be centralized.

"Walking through the narrow gate," the chain of family property, from a mature business model, profit model, there is still a long way to go.

A responsible person Homelink Economic Observer newspaper said, before there was news that the chain plans to market home, but in fact there is no such chain of family planning, on the one hand our cash flow position is very good, on the other hand, we still do not So concerned about profit margins, at least unwilling to improve margins and reduce investment in service standards, infrastructure. And even if listed, the chain of home investment initiatives are now a lot of hard to get to understand the stock market, such as Haunted House did last year, sealed housing Xianxingpeifu commitments, bringing the direct effect is to increase the payment amount and cost, looks profits rate will fall.

"There are rumors that the chairman of the left-Hui before a private aircraft, which is impossible, many of our Regional Director to open the car, the car better than the left-hui." The official said.

The chain of home after many customers Fabric resources, what is the next step of the profit model innovation is now unclear.

From the second-hand housing transactions, the extension of its industrial chain, mainly in financial services, providing customers with a number of small to buy a house in the short-term financing. And this service, other brokerage firms are doing.

Homelink's friends freely shared house brand, even more in the early growth stages are invested. Founded two years of the current friendly home with ease of service tenants 13 million people. Homelink a responsible person, when possible tenants to 100 million people, and perhaps it may be profitable.

"If the tenant to reach 1 million, will significantly reduce marketing costs, ease off by this group since you can drive new customers, the effect will be more obvious in this regard. Moreover, we are also envisaged to provide some online services for tenants, such tenants found no toothpaste can be ordered directly on the platform ease of course, is still in the conceptual stage. "the official said.

In addition, the chain of home real estate absolute advantage in terms of market share in Beijing, can be copied to other cities, this is also a problem. Chain in the development of Beijing's home after many years of accumulation, the site has been relatively stable share, and Beijing housing prices rose rapidly in recent years, a large amount of a single set of housing transactions, to ensure that the agency's source of profits. On this basis, a lot of the cost of inputs, there are sources of income support. But other cities do not have these basic, is not easy to support a series of idealized chain of home investment.

"The biggest problem we face now is consistency." Xu Donghua said that poor staff service consistency issues, the discrete nature of very large, good staff is very good, do not do marketing, direct by word of mouth, old customers recommend, you can do well, but there are also doing good.

Do not recruit with the industry, setting red and yellow lines, and a series of chain hotels entrance approach is to ensure the quality of staff, but the housing agency industry is still a large amount of mobile industry, and in the past has accumulated more negative evaluation, which is a real problem. Chain of home to go to college recruiting, some of the graduates prefer to vote for the 58 city resume, but also do not want to chain hotels. This allows the chain of family heads are helpless.

In order to achieve consistency of concept, the chain of home even when recruitment began face value, are more likely to recruit those who face good, positive sunshine person.