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When it comes to a topic like artificial intelligence, it can be easy to be intimidated, but the best way to dive in is to do just that — dive in, according to panelists at Inman Connect New York on Tuesday.
In a session called “How Today’s Top Agents Are Taking Their Marketing To The Next Level,” panelists Carrie McCormick of Christie’s International Real Estate, Carrie Soave of eXp Realty and Karen Stone of Engel & Volkers shared how they dealt with 2023’s tough real estate market.
“One of my favorite quotes is ‘Life is about 10 percent that happens to you and 90 percent how you respond,'” Stone told attendees.
While there was “a lot of doom and gloom” in the news, successful agents were those who took what was useful from it for their market and then turned to “listen to the whispers of opportunity,” she added.
For Soave, that was AI. Real estate agents who “won” last year, “doubled down on their content creation and used AI to do it,” Soave, an AI consultant for agents and teams, said.
McCormick said she’s filmed a video every day for years and has built her brand on Instagram, but is taking advantage of AI through a new partnership between Christie’s and design tech company Modwell.
“They’ve built a digital twin for me and she lives online and she’s super nice,” McCormick said, prompting chuckles from the audience. “And she’s me.”
Her digital twin “walks” clients through a digital showroom and narrates listing tours and neighborhood tours.
“She’s got my voice,” McCormick said. “We did an AI copy of my voice. It’s a little scary. But it’s an incredible tool and it just keeps evolving. I think they’ll never replace us, right? We always need to be there, but it’s great to have her as an assistant.”
Soave said she teaches agents “prompt engineering,” which is the art of being able to talk to a generative AI model.
She advised agents to start by uploading a market report for their area to ChatGPT.
“If you are feeding ChatGPT the content and the data, there’s going to be way less room for mistakes,” Soave said.
“I can create a marketing plan, a prospecting plan, an ad campaign. I don’t create anything for my agents without first uploading data that I want it to read and reference and use as a resource.”
Her advice for agents today? “You just need to start, especially with AI,” Soave said. “AI is leverage, but it’s affordable leverage. It’s affordable for every single person. You no longer need to hire a marketing team.”
She added, “Do not count out those agents in the office next to you because they’re gonna jump on the AI bandwagon, and they’re gonna surpass you if you’re not using it. Remember, our clients do not need to understand AI to know that they’re gonna want their Realtor using it.”
