The National Association Of Realtors' annual survey revealed that 87% of home-buyers purchased their property though a real estate agent or broker, and 88% of these would be happy to recommend or re-use the same service.

This is positive news for those firms which secured a recommendation or repeat client, but what of those in the remaining 12%? While a variety of factors may be responsible for their customers' decision to go elsewhere, poor service could well be to blame. Realtors must use every technique available to them to provide maximum satisfaction for customers at all times.

For an estimated 74% of prospective buyers, going online is the first step in searching for a property today, and websites are a powerful tool in attracting customers for all businesses – including realtors.

Video chat is one online marketing-technique experiencing positive growth. A Gartner Report into customer service predicted that twenty percent of the world's 500 biggest companies will use video chat by 2018.

For real-estate firms of all sizes, establishing a mobile presence and offering video chat to your clients offers a variety of benefits, to your firm and your customers. Because you’ll be able to give more tours, to a much more broadened market, you’ll be selling more houses, faster, with the possibility of doubling your income. Not only will you sell more, but because it cuts down on several expenses you’ll save time and money as well!

To offer these advantages, you’ll first need to go mobile…

Your Clients And Prospective Clients Are Mobile

People are now searching and browsing on their mobile devices more than they do on desktops, and that’s according to Google. In order to succeed in this increasingly mobile landscape, your realty firm needs to be fully on board, and take full advantage of new technologies that help set you apart from the firm down the street. 

This means you need a strong mobile presence and a mobile platform with robust functionality. Not only do you need a strong mobile presence for your customer’s sake, but without one Google actually penalizes you in mobile search results.

Creating a mobile presence means developing either a responsive website (which adapts from desktop to mobile devices) or a mobile app. Responsive websites are less expensive to implement, however features and buttons that work on your desktop website don’t necessarily translate well to mobile devices, which can make things hard to navigate. Developing an app, however, has become way more affordable and easy to do in the past few years, with many app designing programs out there that require no technical know-how.

Now that you have a mobile platform and presence, you’re able to take advantage of video chat for your firm. With new SDK’s (Software Development Kits) from video chat companies like Agora.io, integrating live streaming video functionality to your mobile platform is no longer either a difficult thing to do nor is it an expensive thing to do. Since all it takes to do, is copying and pasting a few lines of code into the back end of your mobile platform, and just like that, you have a high quality click-to-call video streaming embedded into it, for your firm and your customers to use.

Now that you have this technology in your hands, how can you take advantage of it?

Giving Home Buyers Personal Real-Time Tours Of Homes

Viewing images of a property on a realtor's online portfolio is a definite help when searching for potential new investments, but they can be misleading. Buyers want to get a feel for the property, for its size and layout – and static images can only help in this so much.

Granted, visiting the property in person allows buyers to enjoy a closer look, but this is a time-consuming process, particularly for those considering moving to a different city or state.

Using video-streaming technology, realtors can provide dynamic real-time virtual tours of a property, either live or pre-recorded. This gives buyers the chance to see everything the location offers in greater depth at the earliest stage, and paints a broader picture for them to inform whether or not they view it in person.

Live tours also allow for interaction between realtor and viewer, accommodating requests to zoom or spend more time in a particular space and answer any questions as if your client was there.

Reliably Expanding Your Reach To International Buyers

Video chat can broaden your market to anywhere around the world, the same principles of video tours for stateside buyers can be applied and marketed to anyone around the world. However, when communicated globally, connection, reliability and clarity issues arise.

According to Tony Zhao, the CEO of video chat company Agora.io “Showing real estate via real-time video within an app or site can be challenging if either party is mobile and/or on opposite sides of the globe.  Integration of real-time video must address inconsistencies in Wi-Fi and 3/4G networks, as well as any speed bumps the Internet may throw up between the parties.”

Often times out of country buyers are wealthier and expect to be able to see their potential new property clearly and in detail, without choppiness or connection issues. If you want to expand your buyer base to these real estate moguls developing stable video capabilities in your firm’s mobile platform is key.

Record And Collect Testimonials From Satisfied Clients

As statistics show, 88% of buyers would be happy to recommend their realtor, which is a fantastic, free form of marketing.

However, video testimonials allow clients' positive feedback to extend further, beyond the reach of their own personal connections. By recording buyers' honest views on your firm as videos, you can then:

• Upload these to your website, preferably on the homepage
• Share snippets across social channels, with appropriate hashtags
• Run these on your firm's own YouTube channels

Ensure any videos are well-produced, though – shoddy work will make you appear amateurish. Ask clients to cover specific areas: how good they felt your customer service was; how helpful your firm was overall; and how happy they are to have found their ideal property.

Realty Webinars And Video Content On Your App

Producing and distributing an app for your own firm may seem daunting, but even the smallest enterprise can take advantage. Apps are essential to any realtor, providing buyers with an instant connection to your portfolio and services without their having to use a mobile browser, essentially removing the 'middle-man' that is the search engine.

Using this technology, your firm can host webinars on a variety of topics, targeting home-buyers and -sellers with:

• Tips for the home-buying process
• The key steps sellers must follow for success
• Getting a property in salable condition
• Understanding real-estate terminology

Hosting these on a regular basis is a fantastic way to answer people's questions in a quick, clear, no-hassle way.

Video Conferencing Between Realtors

When realtors need to work with others in their firm, scheduling a face-to-face meeting can be difficult when schedules conflict, and a chat over the phone might be impractical if visual data must be analyzed.

Video conferencing is the ideal solution, allowing colleagues to discuss important issues and share ideas at any time, any place, provided they have an internet connection. With high-quality, harmonious audio and visuals, colleagues are able to present visual materials and enjoy a more personal, intimate meeting without needing to travel. This increases productivity and means important meetings can still be held even when all members of staff are in the field.

Firms integrating video chat technology into their everyday business dealings, from giving virtual home tours, domestic and abroad, gaining video testimonials, giving webinars and conveniently video conferencing with their colleagues will put their firm head and shoulders above their competition.

Not only will you save time and money, but you’ll also make more money, potentially doubling your income, because you’ll be selling more houses, faster, in the process. How could you use video chat functionality to increase business at your firm?