That smile often works wonder when it’s time to push potential buyers into signing on the dotted line to confirm their purchase. But with the recent growth of the industry, with the two million agents, realtors, and brokerage firms battling for the same audience, smile and knowledge might not be enough to put you ahead of the game.
The next agent will be looking for ways to sell more house and land packages and remain on top. It hardly matters if the property is in Donnybrook, Mickleham, or Epping, Victoria, every agent will strive to get an advantage. But what can you add to your arsenal as a realtor? Technology might be an answer. Here’s how you might gain an advantage:
Saving Time with Technology
Almost everything now can be done at the click of a button. The integration of technology in many aspects of real estate sales and management is where you’re headed.
Automating marketing and sales processes will slowly become the norm as information on property, trends, and other data sets are stored in large databases. The location of a property can be matched with a potential customer’s work location, once this information is voluntarily given to agents. Data gathered is followed by analysis, which allows for both realtors and buyers to make informed decisions.
With time becoming a costly commodity, you can spare potential customers with the travel to the site location, using VR or virtual reality.
Technology You Can Use
If you’re beginning in the industry and not attached to a brokerage firm, VR technology might be out of your budget. But here are a few things that you should look into:
- CRM tool. CRM or customer relationship management software is indispensable in sales work, just as gas (or electricity) is necessary when you want to use a car. Look into various options and evaluate the software based on features as well as on cost. Base, Insightly, ZOHO, and Salesforce are some of the most common off-the-shelf brands that will help you manage your listings and track your customer’s data.
- Marketing App. No budget to hire a graphic designer? No problem. You can DIY your marketing collaterals using an app called Canva. With its easy drag-and-drop feature, numerous templates, and stocked images, creating real estate flyers, postcards and brochures is a breeze.
- Get organized. You regularly deal with multiple schedules, listings and locations, and events. It can get chaotic, and appointments might slip through the cracks. Google Suite and Trello help you manage calendars, documents, images, tasks, and even storyboards. You would want to program your sales activities for the next four to six months. Using these two management tools will certainly make things more efficient for you.
- Collaboration. If you’re part of a team of agents, cooperation and coordination are necessary to maximize your team’s collective sales effort. Slack, Asana, and Basecamp are project management and collaboration platforms that allow participants to report on the status of a project, assigned tasks, and other relevant information.
Some of these technological solutions can be implemented on your phone, and some require stronger computing power. You might decide to create an environment for your practice to adapt to all these solutions. If you do spend, your investment will be worth it.
