Streamlining to the Front of the Class

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By Kayla O’Brien

RISMEDIA, May 15, 2008-Successful real estate professionals know their industry like the back of their hand. When it comes to their clients, they’re professional and all business. They have a great team and tackle any challenge the moment it arrives But what about everyday operations? Who’s looking out for their best interest once a task is out of their hands?

Through its REALTOR Benefits® Program, NAR has aligned with companies such as FedEx, Xerox, and Pitney Bowes to ensure that daily communication, correspondence and advertising efforts are in good hands. In fact, through the Program’s office solutions category, NAR members can streamline office operations inexpensively and efficiently while exceeding customer expectations.

Teaming up with NAR since 2002, FedEx ensures that REALTORS® obtain not only competitive rates, but more importantly, that their clients receive the highest quality service.

“FedEx has a number of tools and services that can help NAR members achieve success in their businesses by streamlining office activities,” says Michael Schween, director of alliance marketing for FedEx Services. “FedEx can provide them with peace of mind in knowing that their important documents will consistently be delivered on time with the precision required to achieve the highest quality service.”

According to Schween, FedEx has built its reputation on enabling its customers to stay ahead of the competition, and Realtors are no exception to this rule. To simplify shipments even more, FedEx offers a convenient online enrollment method where members can sign up and receive discounts on a variety of shipping services. The company recently integrated with Microsoft Outlook so customers can manage shipping activities from a variety of outlets: the office, their PDA, or even their mobile phone. The site provides shipping labels, tracking, rate quotes, transit times, drop box locations and reporting capabilities. Enrolled members even have a dedicated member hotline (866-869-1171) to call for answers to their shipping questions.

Through Realtor Benefits partner Pitney Bowes, documents that would typically have to be mailed at the post office, such as open-house flyers, new listings notices and newsletters, can now all be handled in the office so that real estate practitioners can spend more time with their clients and less time in line. In addition to providing special offers and savings for Realtors, Pitney Bowes offers the Mailstation 2^TM digital mailing system, which makes it easy to send out marketing pieces. It has the ability to process up to 18 pieces of mail per minute and a built-in scale to automatically calculate exact postage.

For creating and distributing high-quality documents to clients, both new and old, Xerox’s family of multi-functional devices can print, copy, scan and fax-both in color and in black and white. These devices give agents a competitive advantage over their competition, ultimately resulting in more listings and closings. They can stand out from the rest by having personalized, sophisticated documents, such as listing agreements and high-impact neighborhood mailings. “In today’s market, color is the name of the game,” says Bruce Hellman, marketing director at Xerox. “Xerox’s affordable, professional looking color-printing devices can differentiate you in terms of having a professional image when you’re seeking out a listing presentation or doing marketing. Presentations, relationships and image help real estate professionals become successful.”

Xerox keeps up with the ever-changing demands of the industry because it allows agents to react to the marketplace quickly. Being able to print on demand-as opposed to an offsite press-gives agents more flexibility to test a variety of marketing approaches and find the best way to drive listings. Not to mention, agents are able to customize materials with a much quicker turnaround. Xerox offers NAR members savings on a variety of products available through the Realtor Benefits Program. Members also experience competitive-pricing options when it comes to leasing or purchasing Xerox technology.

“It’s an economical benefit,” says Hellman. “Everyone’s looking to save money and acquire technology at a favorable price.”

Another benefit of Xerox technology is that it keeps real estate professionals in the field by allowing them to easily scan documents into an electronic format. No longer will they have to resort to searching through files of papers; rather, they can become more productive and organized thanks to the technology now accessible to them at their own offices. “We are proactively working together with NAR to ensure that members are aware of the benefits to them,” says Hellman. “Together, we can help them gain a leading edge.”

NAR’s Realtor Benefits Program offers practical solutions for Realtors on the products and services they use every day. The program includes offerings from more than 30 companies recognized as leaders in their respective industries.

For more information, visit www.realtor.org/realtorbenefits.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

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