Like any other industry, the real estate industry also has come a long way in terms of technology. Traditional marketing and sales approaches like paper brochures, newspaper ads, flyering, and cold calling are a thing of the past. Technology is beginning to make its mark and causing a noticeable transformation.
Times have changed, and technology is replacing traditional practices. However, the real estate industry’s potential to leverage tech is still in its infancy.
On the one hand, real estate professionals have invested in technology to optimize their sales funnel and acquire prospects. But on the other hand, they have invested almost nothing on how they can best guide those buyers using technology.
Earlier, the real estate agents had to keep track of all the records manually. Having to personally dial each of the prospects. Repeatedly, taking follow-ups from them to see whether they were actually interested or not. The entire process does consume a huge amount of time and energy. Generating leads and keeping them engaged costs brokerages a vast sum of money. Thereafter, adds up to the expenses of marketing.
Thanks to the introduction of tools like CRM( Customer Relationship Management), lead generation, transaction management and so on which have transformed the approach and made it hassle-free and cost-effective for real estate companies. Although there has been a shift with immersing technology — a few percent of brokerages still prefer the old-school paradigms to carry out their everyday activities. The technology, brokerages have incorporated now, certainly has helped in filling the gaps in acquiring leads and closing the deals. Nevertheless, the gap in delivering guidance throughout the home buying journey still remains barren. That includes agents establishing connections with buyers and walking them through the whole process with their knowledge and proposition about various properties.
So where does technology in real estate really fit in?
Technology in real estate should be to help agents guide their buyer’s decision making process. It should assist agents with AI. The motive of real estate tech should not be replacing agents with AI, but to enhance how well an agent can guide their buyers, and increase the number of buyers an agent can work with at any given time. Leveraging technology minimizes errors, takes off the leg work and increases productivity among the people in the firm.
In the context of real estate, Augmented and Virtual Reality (VR) has revolutionized the industry. Buyers are now able to use dynamic electronic brochures, booklets, etc. A virtual tour enables buyers to get a tour of pre-development models or ready units from the comfort of their homes or workspaces without having to commute anywhere.
Real estate is a people business. Interactions happen between buyers, sellers and agents very frequently. Since real estate is visually driven — buyers prefer to have a pre-tour of the list of properties that hits their requirements. Buying a house can be a huge commitment for buyers. Moreover, for the real estate agent provides all the descriptions and tours of the property to a number of buyers.
A tool like Narrative significantly can save time by eliminating driving around on the one hand. Whereas, on the other hand — by simultaneously delivering a top-notch guided buying experience without compromising on the human interaction aspect of homebuying.
What does a narrative do?
The narrative is personalized videos highlighting specific requisites of each buyer and are shared with them via a link or an email prior to the site visit. Real estate agents can record themselves explaining the property with their videos on top of the material they’re displaying.
Speaking of sharing the content with the prospects, real estate agents ought to have knowledge of whether the prospect has engaged with the shared content. Henceforth, analyze and evaluate the engagement journey. All of which CRMs tools are built for. It is high time that brokerages incorporate CRM platforms that provide real-time analytics and an in-depth timeline of engaged leads for nurturing them further.
Contact Manager is an in-built CRM tool in fullfeel that meets all the criteria mentioned above on behalf of real estate agents for faster lead generation. Alongside, there are transaction management portals that facilitate the agents in maintaining past, ongoing and upcoming transactions in their property portfolio.
In an emerging market, the adaptation of technology surely opens avenues for gaining a competitive advantage. The value of something is not based on its present worth. It is determined upon the forthcoming worth it becomes in the future. Similarly, usage of technology in the real estate industry might seem here and there in the present. But, sooner or later, technology will take over traditional practices.
Tech can supercharge brokerages by accelerating their sales cycle multiplied by up to four times faster. It expedites the productivity of real estate agents. Increment in site visits and far more closing of deals compared to not leveraging tech. Utilization of technology brings 80% results with 20% work done. It is about time that brokerages incline more toward technology. Because at the end of the day, it facilitates the people (agents) in the company. Agents’ effectiveness and increased productivity will automatically have overall profitability, employee retention and satisfaction as its outcomes.
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