Here’s why you need to be a tech-enabled agent in our business.
If you want to be a successful real estate agent, it’s essential that you become a tech-enabled agent.
If you’ve been in the industry for the past five to 10 years, you know there’s been a tremendous number of changes. If you’ve been in the industry for more than 15 years, you probably remember when the MLS was just a booklet that got rotated a couple of times per week. Now everything is digital, and the ability to speed up what you can do is invaluable.
The resources at our fingertips are absolutely incredible. However, the resources at our clients’ fingertips are incredible as well. In the past, the MLS was a gate, and we were the gatekeepers of the data contained within it. With all the various portals available, that edge is gone, so you need to be on your game if you want to continue to provide value to your clients moving forward.
What are a few tools and systems from which we get a lot of value? The first is the CRM. It doesn’t matter whether you’re using a third-party system (e.g., Sync or Boomtown), one that’s more suited to individual agents (e.g., LionDesk or Top Producer), or your company’s in-house system. We only have so much brainpower, and about 90% of all real estate transactions are the result of lead follow up—whether it’s someone you know or a lead you paid for or received. If you only rely on one-and-done conversations, you’re closing about 10% of the potential business out there.
You can use your CRM to take a lot of tasks off your plate, so get some automated drip campaigns going. Spend some time learning what you’re sending out. Then, you can curate that information to be specific to what you want. Send relevant information about valuations to your clients, for example, so they know what their homes are worth. It can all be automated, and you’ll be notified when they click on that information. If you have a client that had never responded to these kinds of campaigns previously but is doing so now, it might be a good time to reach out to them.
At Compass, we have an awesome artificial intelligence system that tells us which people in our database might be interested in listing their property soon. I’m not sure what algorithm it uses, but we’ve found success with it—about 25% to 30% of those people do end up wanting to list their homes. Utilizing this data is absolutely essential.
What about convenience for your clients? When showing homes, it’s rare that we print out paper these days. Instead, we send clients access to our personal app (we have one through our CRM, Compass, and the MLS). Then we can communicate directly with them, and if they want to look at properties, they have access to everything. If you’re not familiar with these tools, other agents will be, and you’ll be left behind. It’s like being a construction worker and not being able to use a drill.
Moving forward, artificial intelligence will continue to make a big impact on real estate. The more you align yourself with these systems or a team or brokerage that provides them, the more valuable time you’ll be able to save for yourself. All the digital information that’s now available isn’t our value proposition anymore. Our value proposition is being able to utilize it at a high level and offer a concierge service to our clients.
So to reiterate: If you want to stay relevant and important to your clients, become tech-enabled and don’t get left in the dust.
If you have questions about today’s topic or want my advice about various systems, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.
