5 Real Estate Tech Trends That Can Make You More Successful
The real estate industry is shifting right below our feet.
Everyday homebuyers have access to large amounts of data online and this advancement in technology has had a domino effect throughout the industry.
Just like with other professions, if a professional wants to stay at the tip of the spear, they need to practice their craft. Realtors are more than the traditional salesperson, and it takes time and effort to continually hone their skills with regular study.
While real estate isn’t the only business to be affected by technology, it has experienced huge changes in the way that everyday business is done.
In order to continue to be successful in your career as a realtor, you need to make sure to follow these market trends and even get ahead of them if you can.
Technology is an important area of focus and being able to predict what is on the horizon will help to set you apart and find success.
Here are 5 easy ways that you can start using technology to your advantage right away.
1. Automate the Tasks You Hate
Time is your most precious commodity.
Do you hate keeping you leads organized or remembering to follow up with a potential client? The good news is that there are amazing real estate tech tools available now that can help you automate a good portion of your workflow and free up your time to use elsewhere.
It would take a lot off your plate if there was a way for a lead to be automatically uploaded into the CRM with all of their contact information ready for your to follow up with, right?
This tech is already available and being used by industry leaders already.
Look into your own workflow and decide where you can automate certain parts of the process to free up your time to actually get more face-to-face with clients.
Research what tech tools, apps and services can help enable you to do your job better by eliminating the tasks that you hate doing. Chances are that if you hate doing it, so do others and that means that there is a high likelihood that one of these new tech companies already has a program that can help.
Maintaining positive client relationships is a great way to grow your business and to do that, you need to have time to get out in front of them. Don’t waste your time doing the administrative tasks that can be done for you instead.
2. Increasing your efficiency
Each person has the same amount of time in a day to divide out amongst the various tasks that they need to get done.
Does your potential lead know that the reason that you didn’t call them back for 15 hours after they expressed interest was because you were manually going through your emails inputting contact information into a spreadsheet? Yikes.
Top agents make it a priority to respond promptly to leads because making a good first impression can go a long way to developing a positive client relationship.
Stay competitive in the business by leveraging tech tools to your advantage and automate whatever communications and administrative process that you can to become more efficient with your time. This will help to free up your time for more important tasks, like cultivating the face-to-face time with a client.
3. Delivering better service
A real estate agent has a mix of multiple job professions sprinkled across a plethora of the daily tasks. There is the sales side, the marketing side, and there is also a strong customer service element.
You want to make sure that your service is the highest quality possible to help advance your business.
How do you stand out from the group?
By utilizing new technology that has the ability to set your service apart. Do the research to find out what tech will meet your business needs.
Put yourself in the shoes of the buyer. What would be more impressive, an email with information for a buyer or a customized website with personalized landing pages? Not that there isn’t a place for a plain old email, but if you can deliver a higher quality experience for your client, you stand out.
Personalization is a game changer in the real estate industry and for marketing in general. Learn how to give your client the personalized service they want by utilizing the tech that can provide it in a time efficient way.
4. Cost savings with cloud
Personal server-based systems are expensive to maintain. We are now living in the time of the cloud, where a professional can help to increase their efficiency with access to the technology in the cloud 24/7 and from wherever they are…and it’s backed up!
Agents need tools to get their jobs done. But when your lead generation engine, contact database, MLS, website, document management, workflow automation, email platform and more are all combined in one system – accessible from a desktop OR mobile device, the savings add up fast! Cloud-based systems, like ZipperAgent, make it possible for teams to get more done and scale faster because of the efficiencies these systems create at a lower operating cost.
5. Enhanced mobility
What if new leads were tracked and routed through your workflow with minimal work from you? What if you could add a note to a contact record in your CRM with just your voice and smartphone? What if you could search properties within your MLS and text them to your client — while you’re waiting in line for your coffee!
In many industries, but in real estate especially, it helps to be out in front of customers instead of being tied to your office chair because that is where the data is kept.
While out in the community, agents are now able to access contacts, property information and tools from wherever they are. See a homeowner putting up a “For Sale” sign? There is no need to rush back to the office to research the property, just pull over where you are and access your MLS directly from your smartphone. Mobile tools like HeyZipper are changing the way agents do business in the field.
Being able to access data and tools when you are not in the office is a great way to provide stellar service…not to mention a major differentiator between you and the next agent!
The Bottom Line
There are many types of tech that can help a real estate agent buy back the time in a day to free them up for other items that can’t be automated.
Stop doing the monotonous tasks of your job that we now have the technology available to avoid. Get out in front of those clients to keep yours skills sharp and grow your business into a success.
