Find out what valuable tips were shared by amazing real estate tech minds.
When it comes to technology, many brokers and sales associates’ eyes glaze over. With so many choices and so many ways to go about building a back-office system, the subject can get confusing. At this year’s Gathering of Eagles, we assembled some of the top tech leaders along with leaders in other areas to break the subject of technology down into manageable chunks. Here are the top 10 nuggets of information:
1. Technology needs to work for you, not be work. We all know that technology can offer a competitive advantage. When installing a new plan, ask yourself whether the plan truly fits your overall goals. Does it make your agents’ job easier or more difficult?
2. Technology is the future. A great information nugget from President George W. Bush during the keynote speech applies to tech. People still matter, however, those who adopt and innovate around technology will gain an edge.
3. There is a moat between technology companies and their consumers. An interesting finding that surfaced was the dynamic between the technology companies and their clients. Many programmers and technically minded folks love change and want to continually develop the next best thing. That is in stark contrast with what most sales associates and brokers want. Change can be difficult for them. Finding that middle ground can be complicated.
4. Agent adoption of technology is a huge issue. The best companies achieve the highest adoption rates by mandating that technology is used and making the technology integrated with agents’ habits and tasks. Sales associates have to use it to get their jobs done. Make your tech show up on the 1099; that way agents will want to adopt it.
5. Brokers chase the shiny penny. We asked a tech panel how broker-owners sift through a pile of shiny pennies to reach the one gold coin when they are presented with new technology solutions. The answer was very practical. No. 1: Find if it fits your company’s goal and direction. No. 2: Be prepared for some of those new risks to fail. With great risk comes great reward.
6. Don’t be afraid to fall forward. The folks at dotloop adopt a concept called failing forward. They encourage risk taking and as long as they succeed more than they fail, they are moving in a forward direction. Try the impossible.
7. Find a seamless, easy to use CRM. In order for a CRM to be effective and impact your business, it has to meet the following criteria. First, it has to be seamlessly integrated with e-mail, phone, calendar and all the tools agents use in their daily lives. Next, it has to be smart and take some of the guesswork out of the equation for the agent. It must be easy to use.
8. The number of technology options is not going to decline! In fact, technology options may only get more complicated. If you are having trouble navigating and determining what is or isn’t a good fit for your firm, reach out to the REAL Trends Tech Team.
9. Mobile is king in the next five years. Did you know that more than 30 percent of the REAL Trends 500 do not have a mobile-optimized website? An even larger percentage of those brokers do not have mobile apps. Nearly one third of all visits to real estate websites are through a mobile device, so don’t further the message that brokers are not cutting edge and give the listing portals power by not having a mobile presence of your own.
10. Think outside the box. What if tech companies charged per agent based on those who adopt the plat-form, rather than just charge per agent. This is an inter-esting idea that is going to be slowly trickling into our industry. Why pay for the agents who don’t use it?
This article appeared in REAL Trends Newsletter and is being reprinted with permission of REAL Trends, Copyright 2014.