RISMEDIA, December 13, 2010—This week I had the opportunity to attend a sales conference for one of our partner companies. I was truly impressed by all of the various tools and training this company is incorporating to add value not only to their sales team, but for their clients. “Adding value” is a term that can take many meanings, but when done well, can truly change the culture of a firm; especially a sales firm.
As sales people, we must constantly find new ways to adapt to our market conditions, competition and technology. As owners and managers, we should do everything in our power to arm our sales force with the tools they need to be competitive, or at least educate and give them access to those tools.
Well it’s no secret that in today’s real estate market, in order to remain competitive, technology plays a big role. Consumers are armed with more information than ever before via the Internet and have and want access to that information increasingly so from their mobile devices. Text message lead generation services are a great and very cost effective way for real estate agents to incorporate technology into their marketing mix to meet the demands of today’s consumers. Going beyond the text message solution to more advanced mobile technology like mobile websites and applications, can in some cases prove too costly for an individual.
Making an investment to enhance the technology their real estate agents are already using is a great way for brokers and managers to add value for their sales force. Today’s technology allows for text message lead generation solutions which many agents have and are starting to incorporate into their marketing, to be enhanced by a mobile website and downloadable application.
When an investment such as this is made, it adds value in a number of different ways. First, the mobile website will enhance the text message solution from a consumer standpoint by allowing them to not only see the listing they have texted in to, but also the ten closest listings in addition to all the listings in the MLS. Second, as a result of the IDX feed used to power those search features, agents will no longer have to input their listing information manually, but instead that information will be uploaded automatically through the data feed, eliminating the need for double entry. Third, now that consumers who text in can have a more engaging experience than just a single listing and potentially download an app right to their phone, the agent and firm have become a mobile destination for real estate information within their local market; a win-win for both the agent and company.
Simple enhancements (with fairly minimal investments) such as these can go a long way in terms of “adding value” to the agents who work very hard to win listings and sell homes as well as the company which those agents represent within a market.
Seth Kaplan is the president of Mobile Real Estate ID. Contact him directly at Seth@mobilerealestateid.com or, for more information, visit www.mobilerealestateid.com.
