How to Get Your Team to Embrace New Tech

According to research by RISMedia, the most popular technology stack for real estate agencies and brokerages includes these elements:

• Lead generation and referral services (29.6%)
• Task and time management tools (31.1%)
• Aerial photography (25.8%)

These correspond with three big concerns real estate pros have: Developing new business, maintaining efficiency in the office, and ensuring properties have terrific listings. Add a dedicated real estate CRM to the mix, and you are ready to really shine.

Technology enhances your capabilities, helping you do more of what you do well and reducing time you spend on routine tasks. Combined with the versatility real estate pros bring to the table and the industry's natural diversity, it empowers you to excel no matter what the market throws at you.

But there's one problem: To reap the benefits, everyone has to be on the same page.

Why Even Great Technology Rarely Changes Your Business Overnight

Solo agents working alone in the home office often have more success implementing and using new technology than their colleagues in large teams. The individual needs to conquer the learning curve, but once that's done, it's easy to get nearly 100% of the potential value from technology.

On the other hand, large teams can face an uneven roll-out when it comes to technology.

Even a highly efficient company that's driven by best practices can fall behind if everyone has a different idea about what their software does, when to use it — and, most importantly, when to work around it. The more people avoid a platform or use their own solutions, the more confusing it all gets.

Software doesn't just make things faster. It gives everyone a common frame of reference, including the same workflow and the terminology to get the job done right. This is especially crucial when multiple professionals need to work together to bring a transaction to a successful conclusion.

The key to making a smooth transition is to understand how technology relates to change management.

Recognize Your Team's Early Adopters and Passive Resistors

In 1962, sociologist Everett Rogers published Diffusion of Innovations, one of the most widely cited works in the social sciences. The book was built around the idea of the Rogers Diffusion Curve, which stated that, within any organization, five different orientations to change would be represented:

• Innovators (2.5%)
• Early Adopters (13.5%)
• Early Majority (34%)
• Late Majority (34%)
• Laggards (16%)

Innovators and early adopters are those most likely to embrace new technology. They do so not for its own sake, but because they clearly see and understand the value proposition it offers, whether that's speed, efficiency, accuracy, or whatever else it might be.

On the far end of the scale is the "passive resistor." This is not simply a "laggard" who will come around to new things in time. Instead, passive resistors demonstrate a commitment to things the way they are, often because existing approaches have proven successful for them in the past.

When decision-makers in an organization introduce a plan to use particular software and do things in a certain way, passive resistors are those who demonstrate lukewarm compliance. They might go right on using their preferred methods, which makes your business less efficient and less secure.

Getting Off to a Strong Start with New Technology

"Because I said so" rarely works on children, and it's just as useless with many adults. So it's important to communicate about technology plans and lead change in a measured, respectful, transparent way. Only once such steps have been taken should active monitoring for compliance be used to close the gap.

Here's how to get started:

• Recruit Your Early Adopters as Evangelists - During the selection and implementation process, some people will have more contact with the new technology than others. They will also be the first to see concrete changes and real results. Let the most enthusiastic colleagues take point communicating the value at stake to their less eager colleagues.

• Have a Communication Strategy in Place - Depending on the size of the team, different communication methods may be appropriate in the run-up to a big technology change. Try to use multiple methods, and be sure to create opportunities to ask questions, whether in the form of a town hall meeting, one-on-one, or another appropriate venue.

• Use the Power of Internal Mentoring - Software vendors can provide detailed training on every aspect of their solutions, but they are usually on-site only a short time. Identify your "power users" — often the same as your early adopters! — and find out who is willing to spend some time helping others in the organization sharpen their skills.

New technology may take some getting used to, but it can mean the difference between an average year and blockbuster results.

Learn more about optimizing your use of real estate technology. RE Technology readers can try DeltaNET 6 free for 30 days.

To view the original article, visit the Delta Media Group blog.