This post comes to us from the PCMS Consulting blog:

Maximizing profits when the market heats up.

It's true, the market is coming back and after years of struggling and being in the doldrums, brokerage companies are seeing signs of real life, opportunity, and profits again. Although that is certainly great news, for many brokers there is a small catch with all this new business—their operations are out of date and inefficient. Meaning there are investments to be made in infrastructure, technology, and systems—but are now taking a back seat because things are heating up.

Ironically, a year ago, those same investments were taking a back seat because brokerages did not have the money to pay for them! These structural issues caused many companies to lose profits—or worse, go out of business. While your business may be improving, the reality is these problems have not changed—and you are still losing profits! I'll tell you why:

• Consumers still have huge expectations regarding their experience that are not being met. This includes prompt and knowledgeable call backs, interaction through multiple communication channels such as email, phone, text, Facebook, etc.

• Consumers still expect to get what they need from a real estate website. This includes everything from how your website looks (and it has to be mobile-ready to boot), to the information you provide through community and neighborhood information, maps, and search functionality;
• Consumers still want to walk into a nice office reminiscent of their experience at an Apple Store or Starbucks; and,
• Agents continue to demand more and more as it relates to driving leads and streamlining how they do their business.

While it's certainly a relief that some of the financial pressures are receding, investments still need to be made in order for firms to stay competitive and relevant in a radically different environment from just a few short years ago.

To view the original article, visit the PCMS Consulting blog.