In today’s busy world, driving the adoption of MLS-provided tech tools can be a real challenge. While these helpful tools are meant to empower members to succeed in the market, lack of awareness is often the culprit when it comes to low adoption rates. In fact, research shows that lack of awareness is the greatest hurdle to adoption, with lack of awareness levels as high as 60-70% for some products.
Tools with the lowest engagement often have the lowest awareness, but there’s good news, too—tools with low awareness frequently have the highest satisfaction levels among those who do use them. So agents and brokers often like the tools their MLS provides;they just may not know the tools are available to them. Here are a few strategies that real estate organizations can use to improve awareness of tech tools and ultimately increase adoption rates.
One strategy that real estate organizations can use to combat this lack of awareness is highlighting one tech tool per month and demonstrating how it can benefit their members’ business. An awareness campaign like this can be executed on any number of channels—social media, member newsletters, webinars, or even within the MLS system’s message of the day.
Another strategy for increasing your members’ awareness of available tech tools is to reach out to your technology partners: some of your partners may offer pre-written communications that you can simply share with your members, making it easier for you to highlight tech tools across channels consistently. For example, CRS Data, creator of property data tool MLS Tax Suite, offers this as part of their service. So before you spend the time and effort creating your own communications, be sure and reach out to your technology partners to see what outreach or educational materials they may provide.
If you are creating your own outreach communications, starting with a basic framework will help guide your messaging to members. Here is an overview of what information to include when building awareness of the technology you offer:
- Create a consistent stream of communications that focus on specific tech tools
- Highlight how the tool can benefit business
- Be specific about how listing agents and buyer’s agents should use the tool
- Include where in the sales/buying process the tool should be used
It’s also good practice to remind users where and how to access the tool. Your methods may vary depending on what suits your membership best, but these can include step-by-step instructions, screen shots, or even short video tutorials.
Remember, awareness drives technology adoption, and awareness is best achieved through consistent repetition. Good luck growing your technology adoption levels in the new year!
To learn more about CRS Data, visit CRSData.com.
