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Show us your technology! Throughout the month of August, Inman will be talking to reps about the best technology they’re using right now—everything from their favorite CRM platforms to the hottest 3D tours and everything in between. In addition, Inman Tech reviewer Craig Rowe does more product reviews on the latest and greatest technology in his spare time.
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As we enter a market with fewer transactions and potentially falling prices, it’s more important than ever to zero in on what works and eliminate all unnecessary costs in your business. The best place to start is by conducting a technology audit that identifies where you are wasting both time and money.
Before discussing the steps involved in conducting a technology audit, there is one key point you should always keep in mind: Your No. 1 goal is to meet face-to-face. 2021 NAR Profile of Buyers and Sellers It showed that 82 percent of sellers and 73 percent of buyers interviewed only one agent — the one they later hired.
Taking full advantage of the technology tools that work best for your business will keep you top of mind when the buyer or seller decides to make a transaction. If you submit a property report, use an email newsletter, or post photos and videos on Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok, be sure to give the user a reason to give you their contact information.
Here are the steps to conduct a technology audit for your business.
Remove unnecessary apps from your mobile devices
Begin your audit by reviewing all the apps on your mobile devices and determining which category each app falls into:
- Important to my business.
- Frequently used.
- It is used occasionally.
- It has not been used in the past year.
Delete all apps you haven’t used in the last year. For example, I signed up for Clubhouse and stopped using it after 90 days. I also removed about 40 other apps that I don’t use.
I put important and frequently used apps on the home page of my mobile devices so that I can quickly find what I use most often. This approach increases your efficiency and saves valuable time.
Reduce costs by eliminating subscriptions and technologies
Have you ever signed up for a company’s 30-day free trial, provided a credit card, and forgotten to cancel the subscription? To identify subscriptions and software, go through each of your credit card statements for the past 12 months and look for numbers that end in 95 or 99 cents and/or $95.00 or $99.00. Pay special attention to anything on auto-pay.
When you find these, determine if you are using this service and if so, is it contributing to your bottom line? If not, cancel the service immediately.
If the company refuses, contact your credit card company and explain the situation. In most cases, the credit card company will block additional charges to your account.
Identify the technology your customers use and love
Have you ever asked your customers which technology tools are most and least useful? Examples to ask include:
- 360-degree virtual tour technology
- A brochure box with a QR code containing a potential lead’s phone number
- Digital signature software
- Digitization tools
- Drone photography
- Home conversion software
- Tools that track how often a listing is viewed online
- Transaction tracking software
- YouTube, Instagram and other places to post videos and track page views
For those non-tech-savvy customers, face-to-face and phone contact is an absolute must. On the other hand, your tech-savvy customers will enjoy using the most advanced technology tools available.
If your customers aren’t using or responding to the technology tools you offer, you have two options. The first is to completely discard the technological equipment. The second is to find a specific service provider that is easy for your customers to use.
Get the best technology services at no cost
One of the complaints that most major company leaders have about their agents is:
We spend millions of dollars a year providing our agents with tools and services that grow their businesses, and they don’t even bother to learn how to use them.
If you haven’t already, it’s time to revisit the technology tools your broker offers. Using these tools will not only save you money, but also help you provide better service to your customers.
Many realtors and MLS boards offer valuable services to their agents at no charge.
For example, many MLSs provide language translations for all of their listings. The problem is that even if the agents know about the service, they don’t take much time to explain the great benefits it offers to customers who don’t speak English as their first language.
National Association of Realtors Real Estate Reports (ed.)NARRPR.com) is another good resource that provides detailed property reports at no charge. These reports are especially useful when you meet someone when you’re out prospecting, at a meeting, or at an open house. The beauty of using this RPR report is that you can provide the information you need in real time.
What is unique about this service is the RPR app. When you meet someone and want to know about their home, all you need is their email or mobile number. The application will send the reports immediately. Best of all, it only takes a minute and costs zero to get that lead.
Determine if your CRM is right for your business
For important applications like CRM, the decision to stay with your current vendor or switch to a new vendor involves more than just cost. Changing your CRM can be a huge disruption to your business – but being stuck with a system that doesn’t work for you can cost you more.
Craig Grant has interviewed most of the major CRM vendors and the services they offer. If you are ready to choose a CRM or are considering replacing your existing CRM, visit his Site To assess which CRM(s) are best suited to how you run your business.
Customize your technology offerings to suit individual customers
The latest artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology now allows you to provide personalized information for each homeowner. In addition to RPR property reports for individual properties, here are three other AI-powered tools that will help you stand head and shoulders above the competition. Best of all, these property technology tools are available to you at no cost.
Get a custom property report from Atom Data
Homedisclosure.com Provides a detailed property report available online or as an app. For each address, they provide specific local crime statistics, nearby environmental hazards, as well as the risk of various natural disasters. Providing this report on your website or in your digital marketing is a great way to motivate customers to find you.
Determine if down payment assistance is available for the property
In December 2021 DownPaymentResource.com and Zillow have partnered to post all down payment assistance programs available for properties actively listed on Zillow. This is a great resource for buyers struggling to come up with a down payment.
Search for the property address on Zillow to find this information. Directly under “Request a Tour,” click the arrow to the right of the line that begins with the word “Overview.”
It will bring up the following box where you can click on Advance Payment Assistance.
In this case, there were 11 programs with up to $24,995 in down payment assistance. In a slow market, buyers are the name of the game, and this is one of the most powerful tools for both first-time and repeat buyers.
Get 5 years of price history at your fingertips for almost any home in the country
For the first time, you can quickly access three different Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) on Realtor.com from three different companies, displayed in an interactive chart from five years to 2017. ” and then enter the address you want to search for.)
Compared to the three listed companies, CoreLogic relies primarily on MLS data. Therefore, their value may lag the two AVMS by 60 days or more.
Appraisers of 12 different AVMs, including banks, hedge funds, mortgage companies and real estate brokers, whose securities analytics are tailored to suit their clients.
Quantarium is currently the most sophisticated AVM because it not only evaluates the things other AVMs use, but also includes up to 900 other internal factors as described below:
The best thing about these AI-powered technology tools is that they can provide sellers with a customized valuation of their property that goes beyond a standard CMA. In addition, you can use this tool to set more accurate prices on a list of appointments, even when valuations are too low.
Be willing to try new technologies, but avoid ‘shiny object syndrome’
When you get rid of technology and apps you don’t use, you have room to experiment with new technologies. But it’s important to avoid the “Shiny Object Syndrome” or falling in with the “It’s only $29.95 a month” claim.
Instead, determine whether any agents you know are using this tool, the ease of use, and whether their customers want to use this technology. Give any new technology 90 days to see if it works for you and your customers. If not, leave it and move on to the next technology or app that might be better for you.
There is no better time to conduct a technology audit than now. Double down on what your customers like to use and discard what doesn’t work for your business.
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