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Inman Connect wouldn’t be what it is without debate and discussion on the myriad of ways technology impacts the business, people and places that make up the industry.
Per usual, there’s never a clear consensus or right answer on what will work for your business, but the lineup of panelists at Wednesday’s two-hour multitopic tech track did manage to land on one agreement — it all revolves around serving the consumer.
Problem solving
Marq CEO Owen Fuller | Photos by AJ Canaria Creative Services
In his presentation titled “Can Technology Solve Our Biggest Problems?” said flatly, “No.” And he didn’t float his take through a cloud of vagaries or specious talking points.
Fuller ticked off a six-item list of how to shore up a business when the storm starts knocking it around:
- Get grounded personally
- Clarify your vision
- Choose a differentiated strategy
- Strengthen your team and strategy
- Accelerate through Technology
- Give back as you succeed
Tech trends
Left to right: Kendall Bonner, Alpa Lally, Chris Cox, Sean Wheeler | Photos by AJ Canaria Creative Services
For those who need help with Fuller’s fifth list item, frequent Inman Connect presence Kendall Bonner assembled a team of tech talent to help the audience understand what’s on the horizon in “The Future is now: The most influential tech trends for 2024 and beyond.”
Keller Williams’ Chris Cox offered up some hints on where the big brand is headed, leaning into internal AI models that will help new and growing agents do more faster, while Alpa Lally of Rocket Companies reminded the afternoon crowd that machine learning models have been around for quite a while, it’s the accessibility of data that’s energizing the models. In fact, the future is all about data.
“The more you democratize data, the more you can put into your model,” Lally said. “It’s that modernization of it that will get us to the next level.”
Sean Wheeler, Lone Wolf Technologies’ CTO, confirms that his company is also looking to data to create a new future for real estate. The company just released a massive overhaul of its platform, calling it Lone Wolf Foundation.
“I was told when I was much younger that technology changes but the data stays the same, and that seems to be true,” Wheeler said. “But you can’t really do anything unless you understand the data, integrate it and structure it the right way.”
Tomorrow’s homebuyers
Left to right: Kendall Bonner, Nikki Miller, Michael Lucarelli | Photos by AJ Canaria Creative Services
In the “Connecting with tomorrow’s homebuyers” panel, RentSpree CEO Michael Lucarelli urged the audience to look to the rental industry to fill your pipeline.
“You have to meet consumers where they’re at and we’re increasingly a nation of renters,” he said. “Future first-time homebuyers are renting today, so agents out there should consider representing landlords, representing renters. Most importantly, you’re developing dozens of relationships. Put consumers in a better position; they need help.”
Vice President of Lever by Movoto, Nikki Miller, said that working with renters is one way to meet the buyers of tomorrow, but her company’s research is finding that agents are finding consumers in all kinds of ways and that there isn’t much consistency.
“They’re all connecting with consumers in different ways, so you have to identify what it is you’re willing to do, and ask the consumer how they want to be communicated with.”
Miller said generations want different methods. Some prefer calling, others email, but she made sure to advise people calling on her to not leave a voicemail. “I’ll think you’re a psychopath,” she said. “Just shoot me a text, right?”
Tech fuels expansion
In chatting with ERA Venture Founder Clelia Peters during the “Brokerages Talk How Tech Fuels Expansion” panel, Jeff Polashuk, Regional Vice President of Compass, said the No. 1 thing agents can do to expand their business is to stay in touch with clients, “in the best way.”
“Your client really is the most valuable thing you have, so when you’re evaluating technology, please, please, please make the focus staying top of mind, and move at a faster pace,” Polashuk said.
His fellow panelist, Michael Valdes, CEO of LPT International Realty, augmented Polashuk’s take.
“It’s the idea that the client, in the end, is what brings us all together, that’s why we’re in the room,” Valdes said. “It’s what our industry is all about.”