There are approximately 2 million active real estate licensees in the United States, according to the National Association of Realtors. With so much competition in this industry, separating yourself from the rest can mean the difference between a sale. Being armed with the right kind of technology can not only get you noticed with a younger market, but will make selling, marketing, and tax time easier for you and your team. Consider the following tech to get you started.
Marketing Must-Haves
Never underestimate the importance of good marketing. Tech tools like MailChimp are automating email marketing systems that help you create newsletters and funnels that can nab more potential sales if your clients sign up for your mailing list. You can find more prospective clients on social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram – which means you need a presence there too. Hootsuite, although not real estate specific, can connect all of these networks so you can schedule your social media posts. Take the time to learn about how to market yourself, because it will make you and your firm more money long-term.
Commission Tracking
Receiving commission is one of the many great perks of being a real estate agent. Lucky for you, there are options when it comes to real estate commission tracking software that can help agents and admins instantly view commission statements and their calculations. Some software will even automate your monthly production reports, which means you’ll know exactly what you’ve earned monthly broken down by annual production, volume, and income. Now, you and your team can focus more on selling and less on crunching numbers, which likely means your commission will go up in the process.
Task Management
CoSchedule and Trello are smart task management tools that both have a free version for organizing your to-dos and projects. As a new agent, you may have a handful of tasks to do before a meeting with a client – these online management tools can help with that! Collaboration tools, like Slack, also provide an online workplace that you and your team can interact. Slack also can integrate some of the other tech tools on the list (like G Suite, Social Media, and Trell) to help you see your business at a glance. These task management tools help you stay connected, no matter where your team is.
An Impressive Website
Back in the old days, you used to be able to place your bio page on your brokers’ website and get plenty of clicks and clients. Today, the practice is outdated. Although you should still keep your face and name attached to your current brokers’ website, you will eventually outgrow them, or have enough money for your own business. Regardless, creating a website will help build your brand, create your own marketing strategy, which will eventually allow you to charge more expensive rates. You can always program a WordPress website, but if you aren’t computer savvy, try creating a profile on real estate websites like Easy Agent Pro, or Agent Images.
G Suite (Cloud Base Service)
Although it’s possible to store all of your documents in your computer’s hard drive and send them out to others when necessary, it’s much easier to place all of your documents in the Cloud and send a link to your clients or assistants. The G Suite contains Google Docs, SpreadSheets, and everything you and your business needs to store relevant documents that you can access from anywhere.
If your business grows, you can add someone else easily for simple collaboration. Although G Suite is free, their business suite gets you a business email that looks more professional to your clients. This $5 investment also gives you video and voice conferencing, secure messaging, shareable calendars, and 30 GB of cloud storage.