From all-in-one platforms to predictive analytics, a new study shows the diversity of technology usage across brokerages of all sizes.
As disruptive technology floods the marketplace, it’s easy to be lured by the promise of the latest “shiny toy.” But a 2019 Real Estate Technology Benchmark Report by Propertybase revealed that real estate professionals are taking a much more strategic approach to selecting software and building a technology ecosystem focused on quality over quantity.
In one question Propertybase asked, “What’s the smartest technology decision you made in the past year?” The answers revealed that, while the real estate industry is still playing technology catch-up, it’s making huge strides in strategy, integrations, and data.
Below, please find selected excerpts from the 500 leading real estate organizations who participated in the benchmark survey:
Predictive Analytics
Michael Lissack, VRG Washington Realty Group – “I stopped chasing leads and started looking at predictive analytics. Once I realized that 95% of sellers were also going to be buyers, it became possible to pursue prospects 12 months out. The key lies in mastering predictive data and learning how and when to interact with people. We gather data from ProspectNow, Offrs, and others to identify people ‘likely to sell in x months’ and nurture them. It’s the ongoing nurturing that converts them from prospect to client.”
The Platform Play
Tom Bruijnzeel, Nardia Real Estate – “We used various providers for email, website, CRM, etc. We decided to move to one single platform that covers all of our previous solutions. Now, almost a year later, we’re very happy that we have everything in one system from one provider.”
Rachael Joyner Meyer, Joyner Fine Properties – “We’ve decided to present our tech stack to agents as a full platform with SSO (single-sign-on) access vs. a “set of tools.” We added SSO to the additional tools we needed to complement our core platform. This way, we present our agents with one go-to place for all their needs. It has created an empowered agents base who remain loyal to our brokerage and helped decrease forgotten login credentials.”
Transaction Management
Jessica Pearson, Hawaii Pacific Brokers – “We added BackAgent, which is powerful transaction and compliance software. Before, keeping up with task progress was a daily, manual process. Now, I have a clear view of our active listings and escrows and can easily remind co-workers when deadlines are due, or if they need to extend listing agreements.”
CRM
Nate Schmidgall, RE/MAX Results – “We’ve created a complex, fully automated lead routing system that I truly believe was only possible with the Propertybase platform. We sort leads by geographic location and distribute them to agents based on areas they have opted into. It’s first come first serve, and if a lead goes unclaimed after a certain number of minutes, they’re immediately started on an SMS-email combo drip campaign. Additionally, we’ve set a lead cap/agent so everyone has a fair chance to claim leads. Everything is 100% automated and extremely scalable.”
Allison Miles, Fay Ranches – “CRM. It has really helped us reduce tools and clean up our multiple-office usage of Outlook, photo sharing, leads, reporting and the way we contact our clients.”
Lead Generation
Jennifer Reider, Howard Hanna – “We’ve Implemented a company-wide digital strategy. We promote our value propositions and cutting-edge technology to home buyers and sellers on howardhanna.com. We’ve launched digital advertising campaigns on paid search, display, and social media that utilize market insights data coupled with persona targeting and keywords. We’ve seen extraordinary results that are out-pacing industry benchmarks.”
Simon Muhl, Exit Excel Realty – “I stopped pushing paid search ads to my generic website and started building out landing pages based on neighborhoods and area profiles. The content is gated, so visitors have to fill out a form (name/email) to view details and browse listings. I’m getting significantly more leads. My next step is to add qualification questions to the form.”
Content Publishing & Social Media
Nick Neacsu, Angell Hasman & Associates – “We’re utilizing Instagram and associated apps to create beautiful video posts and stories. We’re getting a lot of leads through Instagram now.”
Corey Birger, Hilary & Reverie – “We’re a luxury brokerage in a vacation destination, just about to close our first year as an independent firm. We’ve worked hard on building brand exposure by using an online digital publisher that targets our feeder markets, a global PR and referral partner, and a strategic press release platform. This has increased traffic to our website and social media pages and improved lead generation.”
Data Security
Brooke Churas, Mott & Chace Sotheby’s International Realty – “Due to the increasing threat of wire theft in the real estate industry, we thought it was imperative to empower our agents (and in turn, our clients) with the tools to identify fraud and best practices for avoiding it. We created a training program that outlined tactics for identifying phishing emails and ways that devices and accounts can become compromised. We have a dedicated page in our listing presentation that informs clients about cybersecurity. This has created a competitive advantage for our agents as they’re able to educate their clients about cybersecurity.”
Augmented Listings
Marlin Cone, Reece Nichols – “Using 3D, interactive floor plans and virtual tours has helped our buyers better visualize property spaces and enables them to preview how they could update a potential house. Since over 85% of the public is visually oriented, this helps overcome the unknown and gets buyers to visualize what is possible.”
Propertybase simplifies the business of real estate through an integrated platform that includes lead generation, IDX websites, real estate CRM, email automation, and transaction management – all backed by the industry’s largest network of MLS and integration partnerships. Our software powers over 200,000 users at 2,000+ real estate businesses in 60 countries worldwide. Learn more at propertybase.com.