It’s no secret that real estate brokerage business models are continually evolving, and tech innovation is happening at warp speed. In the fast-paced and highly competitive real estate industry, brokers evaluating technology tools for their office and their agents need to stay hyper-focused on what’s most important. Here’s the top four questions that brokers need to ask when vetting technology partners.
1. How does it help drive revenue?
This is a no-brainer, but we’re in business to make money for ourselves and our agents. A lot of technology focuses on the latest bells and whistles, but what are the core elements of the solution that actually support revenue growth, such as agent adoption, recruitment and lead generation?
Things to look for:
- Protected databases for your agents to build trust and support adoption
- Recruitment module to build rapport and meaningful relationships
- Integrated lead generation and nurture tools
- A KPI (key performance indicator) dashboard to provide valuable insights across your company
- How does it increase agent productivity?
An advanced technology solution, like Elevate BOSSTM, should allow agents to stay on-track with the day-to-day of their business, and provide the broker valuable insight into each agent’s production.Things to look for:
- Task workflows for each stage of the pipeline (buyers, sellers, renters, etc.)
- Daily email reports designed to focus agent’s attention of the highest and best use of their time
- Insights dashboard for at-a-glance client snapshots
- How does it save time?
The typical agent manages 10 different and disparate technology vendors. This leads to confusion, overwhelm, and a lot of wasted time and money. Brokers should strive to provide a solution that combines an agent’s core services into one singular solution to maximize time and support activities that matter most—like selling homes!Things to look for:
- Automated campaigns and workflows to simplify lead outreach and prioritize follow-up
- One solution for IDX websites, CRM, CMA, email and text marketing, document storage, pipeline management, activity coaching, social media marketing and lead generation
- How does it save money?
Managing multiple technology partners incurs a cost exponentially higher than what can be accomplished in one, consolidated, simplified solution. Also, disparate data leads to a lack in insight and transparency into the core services of a brokerage and the agents.Things to look for:
- A “gap” analysis to determine strengths, weaknesses and gaps in current technology (Note: This service should be provided free of charge by a trusted technology partner. Request one from Elevate today.)
- Current solutions can be consolidated and/or removed with a more streamlined product suite
- “Feature creep,” where a brokerage must upgrade and/or add on multiple services to fulfill core needs
A broker knows that time lost is time wasted. Agents need to maximize their time and focus on activities that support the best financial outcome. By taking the time to ask questions and find a true, trusted technology partner who will provide a truly comprehensive technology solution, and amazing training and support, will save time, energy and much frustration.
Frank Chimento is VP of Brokerage Development at Elevate. With over 20 years in the real estate sector, Chimento has consulted with top technology companies, franchise organizations and independent brokerages across the U.S. and has always found the idea of “bolt-on” technology to be a huge problem in every organization. With Elevate, brokers and agents receive all of the core services they need in one singular solution, streamlining the day-to-day and driving revenue. Schedule a free gap analysis at boss.tryelevate.com.
