Real estate is a challenging, fast-paced industry – and to win over prospects, you need to be able to move with great speed and agility. Integrating the right office tools for new realtors is a great way to streamline your processes and free you from monotonous tasks so you can focus on growing your business.
7 Must-Have Office Tools for New Realtors
Set yourself up for success:
1. A Compelling Real Estate Website
A great website is one of the most important office tools for new realtors. Most house hunters, as well as those interested in selling, begin their processes online. While they may not visit your site first (i.e. they’ll probably start with property searches, Zillow, Realtor.com, and the like before narrowing down), it is likely to be the last touchpoint they hit before they make the decision to contact you. Your website serves to educate prospective clients about you and your offerings. It is also a terrific opportunity to differentiate yourself as a knowledgeable, capable expert in your space.
Your website should be fast, clean, easily navigable, intuitive, and full of helpful information. This is a crucial conversion tool and can help you grow your business. You can use a website builder tool (e.g. Propertybase, Placester, Wix, etc.) or engage a professional designer/developer for an ultra-sleek, professional experience.
2. Robust Customer Relationship Management Tool
Having a lot of clients and prospects is certainly not anything we’d complain about! But it can be challenging to manage them properly and in a timely manner. Did you call Susan back? Did you send that email to Juan? Did you follow up with Fred? Did you get in touch with Marcus? Did you confirm your meeting with the Washingtons and with the Smiths?
When you’re rushing around and juggling myriad tasks, these details can slip through the cracks, so to speak. As a realtor, details matter. Connections matter. CRM (customer relationship management) software is one of the best office tools for new realtors. With the right CRM solution, you can monitor and manage relationships, manage lead generation and nurturing, and move people through your pipeline with greater efficiency.
3. Lead Generation Tool
Leads are the lifeblood of your business. You need to ensure you have fresh leads coming in as you move others through the funnel. The more leads you have, the better the odds of converting them into sales. Again, managing this efficiently can be a challenge, so let a lead generation tool help do the heavy lifting.
These solutions focus on pulling people into the top of the sales funnel from sources like social media, email, landing pages, etc., collecting contact information on those who have interacted with your website, social profiles, ads, and other marketing assets. In terms of leads, quality is even more important than quantity, so your solution should attract the right types of leads (i.e. weeding out those who could be high-profitability clients).
4. Email Marketing Tool
Email may seem like a dinosaur at this point – but this old-school platform delivers the highest return on investment when it comes to marketing. For every $1 you spend, you get an average of $36 back. We still email, folks! With the right email marketing tool, you can easily manage messages, set up trigger campaigns, send out listing notices and open house schedules, provide tips and information (e.g. on market trends), track data, and stay top of mind with your clients and prospects. With automated solutions, you can regain a great deal of your time back – so you can grow your business.
5. Social Media Management Tool
A compelling and active presence on social media is essential in building your brand, sharing valuable insights and content, making new connections, guiding the conversation around real estate/sales/etc., and interacting with the people who can help your business thrive. That said, juggling Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms can be both time-consuming and exhausting! A tool like Hootsuite allows you to automate as much of your social media management as possible. You can organize and schedule posts, maintain a single, easy-to-use content calendar, monitor activity across platforms, and interact from one central point.
6. Video Editing Tool
Consumers cannot get enough of video; it comprises the majority of all online content. In an industry that is so image-based, it is important to put out your messages via video. You can showcase listings, highlight contractors, lenders, home inspectors, and others who can help your prospects/clients, post testimonials, show a behind-the-scenes look at what you do, provide top tips, and more.
With smartphones, anyone can create videos. But you want to make sure yours stand out and have a professional polish. A good video editing tool features drag-and-drop editing, great templates, background music libraries, etc., to empower you to create videos that are easy to put together, look professional, and prompt people to click through for more.
7. Process Management Tools
Realtors should consider:
Electronic Signature Tool. Everyone’s on the go and tracking people down for physical signatures can be a logistical nightmare. Electronic signatures streamline this part of the process. Options like DocuSign enable you to get signatures securely – and quickly– as well as reduce paperwork, ensure clients have viewed and signed appropriate documents, and manage everything in a safe cloud setting.
Transaction Management Tool. How do you seal the deal? It can be a challenge to move through to closing using email or phone calls. A transaction management tool will help you manage your transactions and communications easily, organize your inbox, and make sure you are getting and receiving the messages you need when you need them.
One of the best tips for new realtors is to set yourself up for ultimate success by integrating easy-to-use office tools for new realtors to automate your processes and keep you agile when it comes to meeting the needs of your clients.