In this advice column, Marketing Mastermind Christy Murdock Edgar answers three burning questions from the real estate industry at large.
At the recent Inman Connect Now on Dec. 17, Jeff Lobb and Kenny Truong led a workshop focusing on tech tools that are paying big dividends for real estate professionals throughout the industry.
Simultaneously, they took questions and recommendations from their virtual audience to find out what tech tools people can’t live without. Here are a few questions they answered along the way.
Jeff Lobb and Kenny Truong
What tech is must-have for collaboration?
Slack is a game-changer
One of Truong’s favorite platforms right now is Slack, the productivity platform that everyone seems to be loving during the work-from-home transition. Truong’s office makes use of Slack channels to differentiate and categorize communication and information.
They have one channel for general information and another that serves as a database for all of the training and events online and in their area. There’s a marketing channel, one for team meeting recaps, and regular Monday and Wednesday training sessions to ensure that everyone uses their technology optimally.
According to Truong, while he has 82 team members, there are more than 200 people on their Slack, so it’s a great place to collaborate with others and loop in affiliated professionals and colleagues from outside your organization.
Descript streamlines voice to text
Jeff Lobb discussed Descript, a platform that lets you shoot video, screen-share in the platform and then convert audio to text automatically. It will then format your written content in sentences and paragraphs for quicker and easier repurposing.
Descript also provides an overdub feature so that if you make a mistake in your video, you can type in the sentence as you meant to say it. Descript will then use your voice on file to convert the video to align with the written copy. Descript is a home run for training, walkthroughs and other applications to repurpose spoken communication into written communication.
Sisu for productivity tracking
Truong and Lobb discussed the use of Sisu for KPI and analytics, allowing organizations to understand both how their current platforms are working and how their agents are using those platforms better.
Several participants asked whether they could add clients to their Sisu platform. Truong said that for productivity platforms that integrate client input, Asana, Trello and Monday offer an interface that allows users to share outside the organization. Sisu’s platform is exclusive to the users within the organization.
How do you get deeper into the community and prospect virtually using tech?
Parkbench is an excellent resource for virtual interviews, content building and sharing, especially right now. Lobb suggests talking to local business owners in your target farm area and featuring them in your content. Virtual interviews with community business leaders help you build relationships with people who are already well-known and connected in that market.
Roof.ai for chatbot and custom AI campaign
This platform prescreens and prequalifies leads so that you have better information and quicker delivery to move leads into your sales funnel. Lobb says that you can preload questions and integrate MLS data to answer more questions and put together campaigns and relevant content delivery.
How can I upgrade my marketing?
Remove.bg for image enhancement
Lobb recommends this platform for easily separating an image from a background. You can then use the image as a standalone with a transparent background or add a different image or background. It’s a great, intuitive tool to use for social media graphics and overlays.
Canva for graphic design
Though it’s not new, Truong recommends Canva for its robust graphic design capabilities without the need for complicated training. With drag-and-drop convenience, Canva lets small businesses and individual agents develop various branded collateral easily and affordably.
HighNote for consumer-facing presentations
HighNote is something that Truong uses for all of his listing appointments, CMA presentations and other lead-facing communication. You can also use the platform for buyer presentations and presentations about local neighborhoods and new developments.
Also, HighNote has a robust analytics capability that allows you to see what clients are looking at and clicking on so that you can target your follow-up communications.
If I want to do video messaging, why wouldn’t I just use my phone instead of paying for BombBomb or another video messaging platform?
Lobb says that the difference lies in deliverability, including file size, branding, tracking and other factors. Truong’s tool of choice is Mixmax integrated with Vidyard, allowing full integration of video into email so that you can streamline video communications. Mixmax offers a free plan so that users can get started and find out if it works for their needs.
Do you have questions for the Marketing Mastermind? Send them here.
Christy Murdock Edgar is a Realtor, freelance writer, coach and consultant with Writing Real Estate. She is also a Florida Realtors faculty member. Follow Writing Real Estate on Facebook, Twitter, Instagr
