As the pandemic slows down and we start to see agents back in the field working with clients face to face, what will happen to the precautions we became so accustomed to during the pandemic? Some brokerages and real estate teams are limiting the extra steps they have been using while conducting transactions during the last year. But what precautions or steps are here to stay? With the use of virtual services, there have been some positive shifts in how we conduct business, and I believe they are beneficial to add to any team leader’s protocol.
Here are some of the virtual services that I think will be here to stay:
Virtual Homebuyer Showing — A livestream virtual walkthrough of a home.
Virtual Open House — These are great to do via Zoom because you can get a lot more people to attend. A great way to have an impactful open house is to have a virtual one as well as an in-person one.
Virtual Meetings — Virtual investor meeting, virtual buyer seminar on real estate tips for buying a home or a virtual seller seminar on best practices for selling a home.
Virtual Reviews —Virtually review a client’s home inspection report with them, attend their closing virtually, or virtually attend their initial lender meeting and answer any questions they may have.
Virtual “Getting to Know the Area” Tour — Virtually show the homebuyer two or three listings (in their price range) in several different areas to help them narrow down where they’d like to purchase.
A Virtual Relocation Presentation — For those new to the area, a virtual getting-to-know-the-area tour and a virtual tour of important locations in the area can be especially helpful for out-of-town clients.
To help make your virtual meetings even better, I suggest that you use a smartphone with a high-quality camera. If you want to have an amazing presentation, mount your phone on a stabilizer to eliminate shaky cam. A lapel mic is also a great addition to ensure better audio quality.
If you are doing a virtual open house, if possible, film with a panoramic/360-degree camera. This makes the experience much more immersive for a prospective buyer since they can view each room from every angle.
When it comes to virtual showings and private virtual tours for buyers, you can use two methods. If you decide to do it over a Zoom call, start with a satellite view of the property and the surrounding area to give them a sense of the location. A Google Street View will give them a view of the front, and then you can use photos or the virtual tour from the MLS to complete the private tour.
If you want to do the tour while you are actually at the home, give a live tour over FaceTime or WhatsApp so the buyer can see it in real-time. This allows your buyer to ask questions as if you were in the home together.
These strategies are a wonderful way to continue to provide information of value and needed services to your sphere of influence, past clients, current clients and to the community at large.
Verl Workman is the founder and CEO of Workman Success Systems (385-282-7112), an international speaking, consulting, and coaching company that specializes in performance coaching and building successful power agents and teams. Contact him at Verl@WorkmanSuccessSystems.com. For more information, visit
www.WorkmanSuccess.com.
