How to Build a Great Brokerage with Technology

A real estate brokerage has many of the management and marketing challenges common to most other businesses. Our inventory is our listings, and we market, advertise and sell to generate commission revenue. However, the real estate brokerage is more complex in some ways, particularly when it comes to risk and legal issues.

If we take a close look at how we actually make our money, we are expending time, using our expertise and special skills, and coordinating complex transactions. We market our services, spend a lot of advertising money, and we manage a diverse group of independent contractor agents. There's a lot going on in a busy brokerage, and all of this activity can be a lot more efficient through the use of technology resources.

Technology is of even more value in our marketing efforts. CRM, Customer Relationship Management, is much more effective when we use the right tech tools. Getting prospect leads, then moving them from prospect status to a successful closing can grow our business much faster if we understand and properly use technology and the various online and software resources available.

Open your mind to new ideas and examine every area of your business, from document management and filing through all of your marketing and advertising. Consider how you communicate with your agents, especially in today's more mobile business world. Some brokerages are even operating without a desk for every agent, as they are able to conduct business with their mobile phones, tablets and notebook computers.

Document Filing and Collaboration

Every agent in the brokerage is out and about and creating legal documents that must be filed away with the proper transaction, as well as easily found later. One of the most efficient services online for this is Evernote.com. Using scanners, email attachments and photos, your agents can easily send in documents to notebooks in Evernote. A notebook for each transaction can be created in the business edition and shared appropriately with limits on who can access it.

As for collaboration, team members involved in a transaction can access the latest documents in the notebook, make notes on them if appropriate, or add notes as attachments. Everyone involved is always able to access up-to-the-minute information. As an example, if one of your agents or an assistant goes to the courthouse and takes a photo of a survey in their smartphone Evernote app, the document immediately gets uploaded into the transaction notebook and it's ready for team access.

You can also create a sub-notebook inside a transaction for documents you want to share with the client(s). You simply email them a link and they can access the documents without having to download big email attachments. They can also add documents to the shared folder/notebook for your use. Many people now have multi-function printer-scanners, so they can send you documents easily and they'll end up in the appropriate file. If they email them as an attachment, you have a special email address for Evernote, and all you do is forward the email and attachment into Evernote. Using the professional and business editions, all MS Word and PDF documents are indexed so you can use keyword searches to locate them quickly later.

Marketing

It doesn't matter whether it's print or online marketing, almost every prospect will go to your website to see what you're about before they want to make contact. So, technology for marketing must include a comprehensive website, maybe a blog, and lead generation strategies to fill your business lead funnel.

Website - Blog

For Search Engine Optimization and even more for your site visitor navigation, you want a website that provides a great deal of design and layout flexibility, as well as makes it easy to create new content. Then you need a robust form creation tool to build lead generation forms to capture your visitors' contact information so you can build a relationship that leads to a commission.

A blogging module is highly recommended, but you'll only want to do this if you plan on creating regular new content to keep it fresh. This really isn't as difficult as many believe, as you can write short posts that answer questions you're getting every day from prospects and clients.

Mobile Site

These days a mobile responsive website is a necessity. "Mobile responsive" means that the site checks the type and size of the device calling for content and arranges and sizes the content for proper viewing and use on that specific device. Mobile responsive sites look good and are easy to use on tablets and smart phones with varying screen sizes and resolutions.

Survey after survey of real estate buyers and sellers tell us very clearly that mobile is how most people are now accessing web content. When it comes to real estate, that "location, location, location" saying is even more appropriate. When they want real estate information the most is when they're out looking at it.

Lead Generation

Visitors to a website are only "suspects," while someone who is identified is a valid "prospect." You'll need some special content offerings via email delivery offered with forms so you can capture your visitors' contact information.

A strong IDX search setup is critical. Everyone who comes to your site will want to search listings, and if you can structure your IDX to offer enhanced search results or services with registration, you'll get a lot more leads. There should be some type of lead generation call-to-action on every page of your website, preferably relevant to the content of that page. You want a website that allows you to place these calls-to-action where they will be the most effective.

Follow-up and CRM

Once you've converted a visitor from a suspect to a prospect, you're just starting the relationship-building process. You'll need to do some follow-up drip email marketing, as well as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) activities. One thing that helps a lot is the ability to see what they're searching in the way of properties and any they mark as favorites or share with friends on social sites. Knowing someone's price range and neighborhoods of interest, you can send them suggestions and offer extra help in property evaluation tailored to their needs.

Major Bang for the Buck

While we talked about Evernote for some filing and document management, there can be a single-point resource for almost everything discussed in this article. A WebsiteBox site has a robust backend management system for CRM, email, drip marketing, IDX and report lead generation; even monitoring of their search activity.

Even better, documents can be shared with a prospect or client through their registration on the site, so you can enjoy a seamless marketing through CRM and transaction management process with your customers. The WebsiteBox Real Estate Office solution brings all of this together for a group of agents and allows sharing and routing of leads as well. Technology can be a major resource to grow your business and serve your customers better.

To view the original article, visit the WebsiteBox blog.