In the last decade, almost everything in the consumer and business worlds has gone digital, with all kinds of information now accessible on your smartphone and tablet at anytime. Real estate is no different.

From reaching a purchase agreement with all parties on an iPhone and booking home showing appointments with the click of a button, to using social media to increase inbound leads, successful agents and brokerages are making technology a part of their larger business strategy.

Adapting to this new 'digital-first' world can be a massive business differentiator if you do it right. Of course, there are hundreds of technology choices nowadays. How do you decide which are right for you? How do you ensure your organization actually makes use of them so you see the return on investment (ROI)?

Here are my strategies for success:

1. Don't Fall Victim to Shiny Object Syndrome: Choose Technology That's Right for Your Business

With so much technology available today, it can be absolutely overwhelming. It's the matter of sorting through the noise and finding the tools that are most effective for your business that can be the trickiest part.

I've seen it all too often—fellow real estate professionals throw out their credit cards at trade shows because everyone else is and the excitement of being able to say, "Yes, I have that!" is overpowering. Of course, the problem with being swayed by a group mentality and spending hundreds, or even thousands, is not actually evaluating the product for its purpose and how it will work with your business model.

2. Purpose Before Technology

You must first decide what you're trying to achieve – and then (and only then) identify what you need to get there. Is it making your business 100 percent paperless? Is it more visibility into current open deals? Or is it simply creating a way for agents to easily schedule showings? Spend the time necessary to nail the pain points first. More often than not, that will dramatically shorten the search for the best set of tools and shift your mindset to looking for real solutions. (Not to mention, time to value!)

The fact is that people don't take time to learn or research their purchases as much as they used to. We live in a world of instant gratification. We can download the newest mobile app with one click, find a song instantly, and even order a taxi that arrives to our doorstep within minutes. As a result, we've become much more short-sided, and not just as consumers, it happens professionally. It's easier to read a short blog post or ask a fellow broker what they recommend instead of doing in-depth research to determine which solution fits your needs.

One size no longer fits all. If you can start every project by understanding the problem and finding technology to enable the solution, then you're much more likely to see long-term success.

3. Take a Long Term View: Cram Sessions Don't Help

The old adage is that practice makes perfect. That's absolutely true in adopting technology, too. Without practice, new ways of doing things just won't stick.

When we implemented dotloop this past summer, we took 'baby steps' to make sure the roll out was successful. We held multiple training sessions to review the company's history, basic tools and functions – inviting parties to a 'loop' or uploading documents – to make sure our agents were equipped to take advantage of the features. We then followed up with a three-hour continuing education program called 'From Paper To The Cloud, Contract Negotiations' and still continue to regularly send dotloop tips via email. (We also use the program to share documents with agents, even non-contractual documents.) As a result, a majority of our 200+ agents use the application in every deal they conduct.

That process comes from experience of what doesn't work. Previously, when adopting new technologies, we used to try to cram training classes into two- or three-week periods, with the goal being to get everyone up and running immediately. We learned the hard way (in the form of significant user drop-off a few weeks later) that cram sessions just aren't sustainable. Sure, they work for final exams in high school and college – but not for technologies you're implementing into how you run a business everyday.

4. A Holistic Approach – Empower Your Marketing Team to Empower Agents

Our company motto is, "Tell them. Tell them again. Show them. Show them again. Tell them again." Or put simply: Be persistent. It often takes 6 to 8 impressions before someone understands something fully. That means repetition is important.

While our agents are solely focused on delighting their clients, the Comey & Shepherd marketing team is responsible for marketing to our agents and delighting them with the best technologies in the industry. They're charged with creating campaigns (whether via email, posters or training sessions) that reinforce certain concepts or technologies our brokerage uses and instill value to the agent-client relationship. I even craft and distribute an email newsletter called 'Karen's Tips' a few times per week that often touches on technology and general real estate best practices and strategies.

Whether it's for VoicePay, ShowingTime or Imprev Online Design Center, without proper understanding from our agents, these tools go unused. And that's a losing game for everyone involved.

5. Use Client-Friendly Technology (or, Avoid Techno Snobbery)

Before you throw away paper, pens and all of your old ways, remember there are clients and other agents who may not be 'up to snuff' with the latest and greatest. Two of the greatest strategies employed by agents is remaining flexibile enough to allow others to communicate and work in the way most comfortable with them. After all, we're providing a service and need to be versatile to their needs.

Out With the Old, In With the New

New technologies present a massive opportunity for brokerages and agents to replace old processes laden with redundancy, little (and hard-to-read) history, frustrating software and wooden cabinetry that burden staff with faxing, system maintenance headaches and compliance issues. Of course, it won't happen overnight and involves a fair amount of dedication to do it successfully.

If you're committed to doing the research necessary, and investing the time to get your team up and running, the right technology can absolutely be a business differentiator in real estate.

Karen Schlosser is vice president and sales manager at Comey & Shepherd, a locally-owned and operated company in the Greater Cincinnati area serving the tri-state (greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Southeastern Indiana) in the residential real estate market. Karen manages a 200-agent office that has been highest producing office in the area for the last 20 years.

This article originally appeared on the REAL Trends Blog. Reprinted with permission of REAL Trends Inc. Copyright © 2013