“Everything we do is enhanced by technology,” says William Lublin, CEO of CENTURY 21 Advantage Gold in Elkins Park, Pa. In the following interview, Lublin outlines his must-have tech tools, as well as a few other tools for success.
Region served: Bustleton, Holmesburg, Mayfair, Philadelphia, Ridley Park and Somerton, Pa.
Years in real estate: 42
Number of offices: 8
Number of agents: 200+/-
Must-have technology tool: Any cross-platform tools that are both locally- and cloud-based, like Dropbox, Evernote for productivity and the Google suite of products.
Favorite part of your job: Helping people build wealth and realize the American Dream.
Favorite way to unwind: Movies and reading every day, and a lot of travel. I’m a museum and on-the-go type.
How do you use technology to best serve your clients?
It’s hard to pin down any one single technology. We offer many products and tools to meet the needs of our clients. Not only do we use technology as a means of client communication in order to make the buying or selling process as seamless and stress-free as possible, we also take the time to ensure that the technology we’re providing is as efficient and cost effective as possible for our corporate clients. In addition, we use technology to better market a client’s property and track the transaction process. Everything we do is enhanced by technology.
What is your favorite time-saving tool that you use on a daily basis?
Gmail and Google Calendar’s schedule-sharing capabilities have proven to be an incredible time-saver. And because everybody is looped into my calendar, they always know where I am and when they can reach me if I’m out of the office or traveling. I also have my property inspectors using folders I share with them via Dropbox. Providing this file-sharing capability is also a huge time-saver.
When it comes to reaching out to first-time homebuyers, what strategies have you found to be most successful?
I’ve worked with first-time buyers for most of my career, and we have always approached it as an educational process. We teach them about what’s available in the marketplace, about features and benefits, and how to evaluate those features and benefits. As real estate professionals, we have to help people bridge the gap between the house of their dreams and the home they can afford that meets their needs.
What are some of the most creative ways you’re using social media?
For social media, I like Feedly.com, a news aggregator application that takes the stuff you like to read and saves it in the cloud for you to access anywhere. If you use it with Buffer, you can even share your content across various social networks. These programs work together to space posts out over time and across your social networks so you don’t have to dump them on your audience all at once. This lets you exercise the social aspect of sharing without overwhelming your network.
