Have suggestions for products that you’d like to see reviewed by our real estate technology expert? Email Craig Rowe.
We’re through the first quarter of 2016. More or less.
How’s it been going so far? Are your sales goals on track?
We have a lot of goals here at Inman as well. They all involve wanting to find new and valuable ways to offer readers insightful, industry-leading real estate content. This column included.
You may start to see formatting changes leak into this space. Know that it’s a deliberate alteration to ensure our technology news overlaps with your membership expectations.
With that housekeeping item out of the way, here are three products that stood out to me during the first three months of 2016:
1. InsideMaps (full review)
This is a sharp, simple alternative to big Matterport cameras and expensive 3-D home tours. InsideMaps leverages the incredible photography capabilities of an iPhone 6 to create engaging virtual home tours.
When married to a motorized Galileo tripod by Mottr, InsideMaps walks agents through the room-by-room capture process in under an hour.
My complete review noted that “this category of property marketing tool is all about image quality and tour functionality. One can’t help but be impressed by the InsideMaps magic that is collectively known as its computational photography algorithms.
“In essence, this technology uses digital processing to ensure photographic realism instead of traditional means, like F-stops and white balance. It’s also what makes HDR (high dynamic range) imaging and light-field cameras work.”
2. AgentImpress (complete review)
Developed by a small U.S.-based team, AgentImpress is a website builder that combines custom design with a content management system every bit as easy as Weebly or WordPress.
Since it’s designed specifically for real estate agents, the emphasis on listing pages sets it apart from others. There’s an array of customization features, powerful content creation tools and image-driven page designs.
Agents can quickly brand site color, upload logos and even create a Zopim account to have live chat capabilities. The company is working on other such partnerships to add to site functionality.
3. PeopleLinx (full review)
Not just another social media management tool. This is social media oversight.
PeopleLinx takes an acorn-to-oak tree approach to blending prospecting and sales strategy with social media outreach.
The software focuses on LinkedIn and Twitter and connects to a customer relationship management platform, such as SalesForce, to monitor your prospects’ online activity. It then suggests when and what to send out to the world.
I noted in my January review that “the company’s founders hail from some serious corporate brands, including McKinsey & Company, GE, Citi and LinkedIn. This means that their pedigree for forming relationships with well-paid smart people is soundly proven.
“The company is highly involved with ensuring its customers understand how to best use it. There is an always-available coaching program, a compendium of social selling teaching resources and regular training events.”
Did any of these products make your list of 2016 technology upgrades? Or, was there something else that did?
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe.
