Simple question: Do you feel prepared for the busy season ahead?
Not long from now, warmer weather days mean more showings, more buyers hitting the streets, more seller listings…more of everything. Your brokerage will be inundated with inquiries, your agents will be tasked with providing every lead or client the best experience possible, and you’ll have little time for anything else, because let’s face it: Things change, and change fast.
If you haven’t given any thought to how you could improve the lives of your agents now, you’re already behind the eight ball. Here are three tips to consider in order to conquer the 2019 real estate season!
- Evaluate (and Change?) Your Current Tech Stack
Everyone can agree that real estate is a relationship business; however, when technology works nicely together, it forms an ecosystem that builds better teamwork, better agents and excels brokerage growth, all leading to better relationships. A lot has been said about the current state of the real estate landscape, with so many players and developments, but, one thing is clear: You’ll need to get on the tech train soonest in order to get ahead. Many firms are moving to consolidate by implementing platforms, like Propertybase, that do most of what they need and have the ability to integrate with other vendors. Pulling everything into a central system of record usually means less logins, more insight, more adoption and reduced costs.
- Finally, Take the Chaos Out of Closing!
Dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s at closing time cause headaches for everyone involved. Luckily, a web-based transaction management platform provides ways to address the many hurdles, with prompt-driven compliance processes that ensure smoother closings. Agents will love the ability to save time by storing critical documents, due dates, etc., in a single—paperless—ecosystem. Brokers will gain peace of mind knowing that there is collaboration and structure for every single real estate transaction, which in turn increases productivity and reduces liability.
- Set Goals, but Plan for Change
Whether you’re an owner of a large brokerage, a leader of a small team or you expect to grow your business in the near future, set goals and expectations to provide a roadmap for success. Goals could be quantitative, like increasing the number of leads generated, sides per quarter, etc. They could also focus on brand-building or improving brokerage culture. Whatever they may be, make sure the goals create positive motivation and are authentic to your business.
So, start strategizing now what you can do to create more meaningful relationships and grow your business in 2019. It’s no longer a matter of “if” the industry will change, and not even “when,” because “when” is already here.
John Voigt is manager, Digital & Brand Communications at Propertybase, a leading global real estate platform designed for brokerages and teams looking to stimulate long-term growth, connect in more meaningful ways with clients, and help agents close more deals, faster.
