With constant advances in technology, the most difficult question facing the average real estate agent today seems to be which technologies they should take advantage first, which come last, and which might be a waste of time altogether.
Should you invest your money in upgraded hardware or buy new software? Will you make money with accessories like scanners and digital cameras? How much, if anything should you commit to the Internet and email communications?
It would not be too difficult for most of us to make a to-do list of the top 100 ways to spend money on technology. However, who would have the time and money to implement that list? Lot's of people spend money on technology. How many really make more money by wisely investing in it?
Investing In Technology
If you really want to make more money with the new opportunities that technology offers, then you need to start thinking about it as an on-going investment and budget accordingly. Successful business people invest in education, marketing and technology on a continual basis. Like it or not, technology is an ever growing part of our future, and the future is not something you buy once and then possess for years on end.
How much to invest every year is going to depend on where you are on the technology curve right now, where you want to be, and when. As an extreme example: I personally invest more on computers and related technology each year than on I spend on my car; and that's including maintenance and insurance. While this may seem preposterous to many business people, my rate of return on these dollars is greater than any other investment I have ever made. The car doesn't even come close.
However, not every dollar spent on technology is going to be a guaranteed great investment. I've made some pretty poor choices in investing both time and money in technology that did not reap any real rewards - but mostly it's the time that is the most expensive investment. As you may already know, it's very easy to spend 20 hours learning a $20 program and not have any real productivity gains to show for the effort.
What To Do & When To Do It
The following groups represent the most logical order of technology growth for most sales people. There is no set order within each group, as this will vary from person to person. However, for the vast majority of agents, completion of the "A List" should occur before even considering investing in the "B List." Additionally, there is no reason to believe that you must, or even should, do all of the following. This is simply a ranking of what technology investments are most likely to result in increased production, and therefore yield a positive return.
The A List:
These represent the core technologies that any salesperson that takes the future seriously must fully exploit. Each of these tools are just about guaranteed to be worthwhile investments, as long as they are thoughtfully, and aggressively used.
Notebook Computer - For most salespeople, the days of needing a desktop computer are over. Today's notebooks have more than enough power to run entire businesses, and can also plug into all of the commonly desired accessories such as: monitors, keyboards, printers, scanners, back-up drives, etc. As long as you're running a Pentium II class machine (or the equivalent AMD K2) and have an "active" display, you can operate as a truly mobile professional.
Contact Management - This is the must have software for sales productivity. These are the programs that enable you to keep track of every detail regarding your prospects, sphere of influence, geographical farm and past clients. Managing thousands of contacts is amazingly simple and the ability to mass mail personalized prospecting and follow up letters is just the beginning of their power. Top Producer, Prep and others are examples of effective contact managers.
Real Internet Access - While services like AOL are clearly popular among consumers, real estate professionals need to gain direct access to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP). With an ISP, not only will you be able to access information faster (the key to real productivity) but you will be able to utilize a number of professional Internet and email utilities that are not available to the users of private services such as AOL, CompuServe and Prodigy.
Also See:
Why AOL EMail Stinks for REALTORS®
How To Avoid SOL When Dealing With AOL Prospects!
E-mail - Any technology that enables salespeople to contact more prospects, while providing better follow up communication, is a valuable one indeed. The telephone, pager, fax machine voice mail and cellular phone have all been examples of how technology can improve productivity. Properly utilized, and with a professional program such as Eudora Pro, email has the potential to rival the function of all of these devices combined. It is essentially free, immediate in delivery and can be "bulk" mailed (with programs like WorldMerge) to great numbers of prospects or clients at once. It is the tool of the technologically advanced, and on it's way to becoming an absolute business necessity.
Also See:
Eudora Pro - For Free?
How To Personalize Your Online Business With E-mail Merge
A Personal Web Page - In short, web pages provide an amazing return on investment. For a fraction of the cost of a quality classified advertising budget, you can have an effective web page on the Internet. As long as you include your page's "address" in absolutely all of your marketing materials, (so that the readers of all your marketing material know how to find your web page) you really cannot fail to receive value on this kind of investment. You should not expect to make a living solely off of Internet leads, though some do. For the money, you can easily generate far more business from this than from any other form of advertising.
Also See:
How to Choose Your First Web Site
The Real Deal on Domain Names
Color Printing - While laser printers will usually print better looking graphics and have a higher page output, using color in your printed materials and letters adds impact and demands attention. The technology has advanced to the point that for under $400 you can print great looking documents that will enhance your professional image dramatically. I have just one warning: use color sparingly. Often the temptation is to over do it, and instead of adding value, the finished product looks very unprofessional instead.
Also See:
It's All In The Printer
Digital Cameras - Few technologies are a satisfying to use as the digital camera. Not only does it save both time and money, but it also represents one of the few technologies that can directly impress your customers and clients as well. When you tour a prospective listing taking digital photos, and then import them into a marketing flyer right before the seller's eyes, you're building a lot of credibility in the process. And, when you e-mail a photo of your new listing to an out of town buyer, the same day the home comes to market, they're going to be impressed!
Also See:
CyberStars Share Their Digital Camera Tips
Ten Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Digital Camera
The B List:
The next tier of technology investments may add just as much productivity as the "A-List" but generally not until you've fully integrated the previous level of technology into your business activities. Technology is like most other aspects of life in that learning to walk before you run will usually make you a faster in the end.
Presentation Software - More and more of today's real estate professionals are successfully taking their technology into the field. Armed with a notebook computer and the real estate presentation software available from either Top Producer or PREP, any agent can easily utilize outstanding presentations for their buyers and sellers. The value to the agent is that both of these software packages come with over a dozen top-quality presentations that can be easily customized. This drastically reduces the amount of time required to prepare for client appointments and makes a professional statement that cannot be matched by paper alone.
Also See:
Use PowerPoint® for Listing Presentations
Five Steps to Prepare Your Listing Presentation
Portable Printers - If you're going to go portable with your technology, then a portable printer is an eventual must-have purchase. While showing buyers and seller property flyers and MLS searches in their living room is a great use of technology to enhance customer service, nothing matches the lasting professional impression made by actually printing color copies to leave behind. When you realize that a good portable printer can be had for under $300 and that that these units really are portable, it doesn't take much calculation to realize their true value to today's mobile professionals.
Palm Pilots - Now that Top Producer and PREP (Version 4.0) are offering the ability to synchronize information between your computer and the Palm Operating System (OS) it's finally a good idea to explore the Palm series. The power of having access to every contact, appointment and to-do list in your shirt pocket cannot be underestimated. In fact, combined with the cell phone that you already own a Palm computer will truly allow you to be organized and in touch whenever you please. It's worth noting that you don't actually have to buy a Palm Pilot model, any personal digital assistant that uses the Palm OS will do.
Scanners - In terms of creating the "paperless office" the scanner cannot be beat! Keep in mind that it's actually the document management software included with your scanner that actually helps you get organized and become more productive. To begin cutting the ties to paper and files, consider scanning a copy of all of your standard listing and sales forms. Combined with a portable printer, you can truly become a more mobile professional.
Financial Analysis - Most agents seem to shy away from offering financial advice, instead simply referring financial inquiries to a loan officer. Unfortunately, this runs counter to growing consumer demands for one-stop shopping and expert advice from all of their business contacts. While no one is saying that agents need to become mortgage underwriters, having accurate answers to all of your consumer's questions and offering unbiased and expert advice certainly goes a long way towards adding value to your services, and creating satisfied customers. The financial software programs from both Top Producer and PREP can make the task of mortgage counseling extremely simple, effective and accurate. If any agent doubts the value of adding such software to your current lineup, simply consider the proposition from the customer's perspective. What buyer wouldn't want to know the real financial differences between choosing a fixed-rate or an adjustable rate loan? Who wouldn't want to understand the true impact of
paying discount points? How could your buyer not be impressed by a simple, yet accurate, demonstration of the long-term impact of making small additional principal payments on a monthly basis? Finally, the real question is how will the buyer feel about the professionalism and value of the person who can provide them with this valuable information?
The C List:
The last grouping of technologies all have value, but are far below the "A" and "B" lists in terms of what they can add to the typical real estate agents income, productivity and time savings. This is not to say that you should avoid these technologies, just that they should not be addressed until you have fully exploited the more important, and productive, technologies above.
Desktop Publishing- One of the biggest technology traps that seems to ensnare real estate agents is Desktop Publishing, (DTP) software. Whether you're considering PageMaker, MS Publisher or another DTP program, your probably shouldn't. Few agents are competent graphic artists, and fewer still can spare the precious hours needed to become competent in creating effective marketing pieces. Given that Top Producer and PREP both come with comprehensive, and customizable, marketing flyers, brochures, postcards and even door-hangers included within their software, there's little to be gained from pursuing desktop publishing.
Mapping & Demographics - One of the great benefits of the computer age is the ability to purchase electronic information. Every day the availability of software for mapping, demographics, school information, and public records increases. While all of these categories lend themselves to providing greater customer service and personal efficiency, they do not represent products that provide the immediate return on investment that most real estate agents are looking for. Additionally, these types of information can often be found on the Internet and at not cost.
Digital Camcorders - While the promise of affordable, all digital motion photography is coming, it's not yet a "price productive" technology. If you want to create your own digital multi-media, take a look at the Dazzle Digital Video Creator from Dazzle Multimedia instead. For just $250 you can create computerized video files from your existing camcorder or VHS player and then use these clips for distribution via CD ROM, email or for download from your personal website.
As you plan your new year, whether for yourself or your associates, I sincerely hope that you will reflect on the above to-do list in order to determine how effectively you are using technology, and to set realistic goals for implementing newer technologies into the future.
On a final note, regardless of where you are on the technology curve, realize that the shift to technology for enhanced productivity and production is an on-going process and that without effective training, results will typically be marginal.
Published: February 14, 2000
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