Are you ready for what’s next? Over the last few years, I’ve noticed there are a lot of agencies that require help when it comes to prop-tech. Their systems and procedures are in need of a modern tune-up. Not necessarily in understanding that they need these things, but more in working out how to properly implement them. This “Sales & Marketing Tech Bible For Modern Real Estate” was written because I believe the various systems and procedures listed here should make up the basis for any modern real estate agency to succeed in 2020 and beyond. Without these things in place, you just won’t be competitive.

Throughout the Corona Virus epidemic, the changes to public gatherings had the biggest impact on Real Estate. There were no open homes allowed and no public auctions. This meant the industry had to pivot quickly. Those agencies that had next-level sales and marketing systems in place reaped the rewards. Unfortunately, those agencies, both small and large, that didn’t have this stuff in place suffered greatly. Some scrambled at the last minute. In some cases, installing sub-par systems. In other cases, they missed the boat altogether. Either because of a lack of knowledge or the lack of resources to implement necessary systems and procedures.

Independent Agency

Devine Real Estate employed me in 2018. They’re an independent agency with 5 offices across the Inner West of Sydney. As Head of Innovation & Marketing for the group, my focus was to develop next-level systems and procedures. To push the business to the forefront of the industry. Needless to say, Devine has a reputation for having amazing sales & leasing agents. They have an absolute master-set of negotiators amongst them, due largely to Steven Devine’s experience and training.

Covid-19 Ready

Interestingly, all of the systems and procedures I put in place allowed the company to operate entirely remotely. When it came time to operate in a Covid-safe environment, there were no barriers to doing business with little-to-no physical interaction. In effect, the business was Corona-proof!

After a relatively short period, I had introduced a hyper-efficient, fully streamlined system with a ridiculously long list of advancements. This allowed for the above to become a reality in a very short period of time. It’s this experience that’s led me to create this, “Sales & Marketing Tech Bible For Modern Real Estate”. So without further ado, check it out…

The Sales & Marketing Tech Bible For Modern Real Estate

Business Systems

  1. Have a modern CRM system.
  2. Use a modern advertising/marketing system.
  3. Ensure you have an email marketing system with embedded AI for a set-and-forget approach.
  4. Give the sales agents a way to develop great-looking, bespoke digital presentations at hyper speed.
  5. Allow for a Digital Documentation System that works both offline & online.
  6. Offer a robust and easy-to-use online Auction platform.
  7. Have a building, pest and strata reporting system that takes all the hassle out of this process for everyone involved. Agents, vendors and buyers alike.
  8. Use a clever review service to weed out the negative reviews and focus only on the positive ones. This system also maximises the total number of reviews on Google My Business, which, in turn, helps with Google rankings.
  9. Introduce an artificial intelligence lead generator, booking assistant and data miner such as R.I.T.A. This streamlines agents’ sales processes, BDM’s lead generation and property management repair requests, making the business more efficient.
  10. Consider developing what I refer to as “talking-point tech”. I developed an Alexa Skill for Devine agents. It’s connected to a cloud-based Google Sheet, which enables centralised uploads of property information and gives agents a virtual assistant at home inspections. This system is able to answer common questions about each property, which frees up the agent to focus on higher-level questions and negotiations.

Property Marketing Systems

  1. Have a way of showing people through a property using Virtual Tours. Firstly, a cheap one: Style 1. Which is a simple click with a 360º view. Secondly, a slightly more expensive yet fully immersive one: Style 2. This is a full property tour, capable of Virtual Reality immersion.
  2. Offer Glam Video Walkthroughs, but also have a raw and transparent Video Walkthrough available, conducted by the agents. These allow for a no-bullshit view of a property. The customer gets to see it almost as though they are walking through it themselves.
  3. Give customers options. Offer a way for them to digitally renovate a space in a prospective property. So they can visualise its potential.
  4. Provide a Property Microsite for every single property you sell.
  5. Offer an easy social media marketing system. I developed Social Surge using Campaign Track’s AIM system. Our vendor’s and agents needed simplicity. This is a best-in-class approach, meant to push the customers’ properties across the major social media platforms. It’s comparatively cheap to other offers. The company’s Facebook & Instagram pages also benefit greatly from vendor spend on Social Surge. It creates a halo effect, increasing the business’s followers and engagement.
  6. Work out a QR code system that pushes real-world advertising results to a digital platform. This allows the company “click-through” reports on media such as DL’s, signboards, newspaper advertising and printed brochures.

Final Word

The beauty of a lot of this stuff is it’s paid for by the vendor. It costs the business very little in non-recoupable spend. The business systems do come at a direct cost to the business, but it definitely has an ROI related to speed, efficiency and increased leads and ultimately sales. Just about all of the initiatives mentioned above are integrated with each other, which also means more efficiencies. Data sharing across platforms and departments is the holy grail of any modern business.

Contact us. If you’ve read this and have been wondering how to achieve the same for your own business, we’re here to help.