Technology Needs to Be Easy-to-Use

Agents are busy all the time. When I started as an agent, I tried to do it all from being the photographer, the social media manager, the stager. You name it, I took it on. So when I launched a new real estate brand in a highly competitive market like Orange County (Calif.), I wanted to only invest in technology for our agents that freed up their time and made their lives easier.

To make their lives easier, I sought out tools that are easy to use.

Tool Availability Wherever Your Agents Are

Since our agents are constantly on the go, we want to give them the location freedom to generate assets and communications from the palm of their hands. If an agent is out of town, but wants to write an offer on an iPad, get a new listing on the MLS, or send personalized messages to targeted clients who might be interested in a new property, they need tools that can be accessed wherever they might be.

In addition to geographic location, tools need to be easily accessed within the other platforms your agents are using. Tools like Contactually offer Chrome browser extensions within Gmail which allow our agents to access contacts, organize and prioritize them, and stay on top of their leads right from their email. This prevents having to open up additional software or browsers that distract or complicate their workflows.

Automated Workflows Between Your Systems

Not all software is simple to set up. But once you invest some time, that same software can become easy to use (especially when automations are constantly running that require no actions from the agents).

Integrate your tools using Zapier or open APIs provided. Drive leads directly from advertising, print mail, and other lead gen sources directly into your CRM. Setup your CRM to automate a response (customized to your voice) to begin the qualification process right away. Your potential new client now feels assured that you are quick to respond and interested in their business. Then, your automation can put that contact into an entire drip campaign to share stats, blog posts, events, or comps in their market. You control what gets automated and where you spend your additional communication outreach via texts and calls.

The Brilliance of Well-Designed Tech

Our brokerage is truly a boutique real estate company. We have a passion for custom design, technology, marketing, professional staging, architectural photography, and social media. And we believe the beauty in these art forms are not limited. Technology should be well designed. That means the layout, workflows, and digital experience should be clean, clear and simple. Tech should load fast. Tech should have strong online training materials that are easy to find. Tech should be pleasant to look at. All of these make it easier for agents to learn and engage with tools.

Final Thoughts

We don't just buy software and tell our agents to learn it themselves. When we roll out a new tool, we do multiple 1:1 training sessions with our agents to get them onboarded. About half of those training sessions are dedicated to the CRM since the CRM serves as a hub for our other platforms and everything we are doing as a business. Invest in training to invest in your agents. All of this helps to increase the ease of use and adoption of the technology you offer.

Raj Qsar is CEO/Owner of The Boutique Real Estate Group.

To view the original article, visit the Contactually blog.