At its crux, real estate is a people job. It’s for people who love working with others, helping them find their dream property, navigate the tricky processing and paperwork, and finally end up in the spot of their dreams. Yet, someone uninitiated with the ins and outs of the position, especially someone who’s watched more than a few home repair or flipping shows on television, might think that the job just entails driving around to pretty houses, describing them to potential homeowners, and handing them the keys once a decision is made.
Rarely do we see the behind-the-scenes legwork it takes to actually run a successful and profitable real estate business. However, the reality is that a majority of an agent’s time is spent behind a desk, completing the necessary steps it takes to close a deal. While some of the tasks can be completed manually, it helps to have smart tools close by that can make the process as simple and seamless as possible. To that end, let’s take a look at four technologies that can help real estate professionals grow their business today.
1. Social Media: Boosting Brand Engagement
In today’s era, social media is king, especially for real estate professionals. First, it helps you reach a wider audience of potential buyers and sellers. Additionally, it allows your followers to share your work, talk about your services, ask you questions and connect with others in your community. Complement your social media marketing alongside your paid advertising strategies to build credibility, visibility and relevance in today’s tech-savvy world.
2. Virtual Reality: Improved Touring Capability
Sure, everyone would prefer to walk through a prospective property firsthand. Yet, the reality is that thanks to the proliferation of digitization, you could wind up selling a home to someone who currently lives thousands of miles away. It might not make sense, especially early on in the process, for that person to fly to see you just yet. In that case, you can allow a virtual reality walk through that can simulate the real-life environment, allowing the prospect to “view” the exterior and interior of the home in incredible, lifelike detail. The good news is you don’t need a ton of high-tech gear to create a virtual tour. Most smartphones can do the job just fine, saving you money while earning you valuable business in the process.
3. Communication Tools: Quicker Prospect Engagement
As a busy real estate professional, you’re on the go and must manage your time effectively. To that end, it doesn’t make sense to sit aimlessly for hours on the phone completing a simple administrative task that should only take 30 minutes or less. You also don’t want to miss an important call from a prospect at any time during the buying or selling process. A phone answering service can help make sure you’re always up-to-date on who needs to get in touch with you, even if you’re not in the office at all times.
That way, you’re freed up to visit clients, tour properties, and coordinate showings, confident that any correspondence you need to get to later is securely stored at your office. You can read more here about these solutions and how they’re changing the game for industry professionals across myriad niches.
4. Customer Relationship Management: Real-Time Lead Updates
The process of converting a lead into a customer can take some time and there are multiple touchpoints throughout a client’s journey. As such, it helps to have contact information available at all times, and this is an initiative best achieved through a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. From brokers and partners to prospects and customers, you have many people that you might need to connect with or collaborate with one day. Being able to quickly retrieve their phone number or email address, along with any notes about your relationship history, is invaluable. This small step can boost your sales results and help you improve your response times by eliminating the need to dig around for client files.
Technology is quickly changing how professionals around the world and across various industries perform their job. This is especially true in the real estate sector, which marries a personal touch with a tech-savvy focus. Well-equipped, trained, and forward-thinking agents are best able to lead their prospects along the buying or selling journey, utilizing smart tools and resources every step of the way.
