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The slow winter sales season is known for putting a cold, wet blanket on the heat of real estate agents’ recently refreshed business plans. It’s funny how weather affects not only our mood, but our revenue.
Smart agents have learned to adapt to this goal-setting conundrum by using the slower periods to prepare for the hotter ones. One of the best ways to do so is by getting your technology stack in order, and that means setting and sticking to a few tech-resolutions for 2019.
1. Commit to one CRM
Stop hopping back and forth between expensive systems because you’re afraid of losing contacts or access to a few trendy features you swear your business needed but have never used.
The more time you spend spreading leads around disparate systems, the more money you lose by not streamlining your business intelligence. No CRM does it all perfectly; accept that, and find the one software platform that best handles the one or two things most important to your business.
2. Minimize online lead sources
Stop biting at every email promising fresh leads. The hard truth is that there are not enough quality leads out there to justify the endless parade of services trying to convince you there are.
Like your CRM, if you’re going to spend money on leads, do it wisely, and have little tolerance for any service that doesn’t clearly justify to you the quality of the product they’re selling.
3. Don’t forget about your website
You can’t out-SEO the portal pages, but you can provide value and confidence to the people who visit your website.
Delta Media Group, which builds websites for agents, did a survey of customers that determined 70 percent of a site’s traffic occurs on mobile screens, but 68 percent of all leads stem from desktop browsers.
Use your website to build brand, earn trust, highlight listings and broadcast accomplishments.
4. Call more people more often
Surprise your leads and clients with a phone call. We all know that younger, tech-forward clients want to text, but remind them that their business is too important to you and that you can connect better and still be succinct on a call.
This isn’t some old-school, “get-off-my-lawn” tirade; rather, it’s a way to stand out and minimize complications on how text conversations are integrated into lead tracking and CRM tools.
If you’re still hesitant about dialing, use the phone as a way to ask for your new lead’s preferred method of communication.
5. Create efficiencies
Only because this is a column about technology are we using the above title for No. 5. This is really about valuing your time and spending it on the best leads first and the next-best last.
If Facebook only sometimes delivers a lead, then only sometimes focus on who it gives you. Going back to resolution No. 1, consider a CRM that helps you qualify leads, prioritizing those most ready to buy or sell. And again, don’t spread your online lead sources too thin, as quality wanes with volume.
Remember that your best leads are active clients, and time spent chasing down those not willing to move quickly isn’t always time worth spending.
Listen intently to that internal coach that surely spoke up about business goals during your holiday down-time. Now is the time to make hard, informed decisions about what technologies are best for your business, which may include canceling a few subscriptions, culling outdated apps and even deleting a few email subscriptions.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe
