Embracing Technology – Will It Really Help You Sell More?

I was at the NAR conference last month.  I am a newbie to the real estate space so it was a great opportunity for me to learn more about the service providers in this industry and to chat with agents and brokers.  My background is in technology so I spent a lot of time learning more about the latest and greatest tools that are out there for real estate professionals.

I’ll bet if I walked the show floor some 10 years ago, I would not be seeing the number of vendors promoting some type of computer technology, hardware, online databases and multimedia products.   And looking at the session topics, I’m sure the whole idea of social media would have made most brokers and agents heads spin back then.  But welcome to 2008 and the onslaught of technology – where the NAR session on Blogging 101 was packed and had to be repeated the next day because of all the interest.  And like Carrie in Sex in the City writes – “Will technology really help you sell more?”

If you ask the more seasoned top producers (like I did), the answer would be “No”.   They know how to sell, they know how to reach the buyers and sellers, and they don’t need all these fancy tools that are out there now to help them do any more business.  It’s all about the relationships they tell me.

If you ask those that have less experience, the answer is “If you don’t embrace technology, you won’t survive in this business.”

I guess there is no right or wrong answer here – but after attending many sessions and talking to many people, my conclusion is – “It certainly can’t hurt”.

Do you need a Web site in this day and age?  Probably.  It just makes sense given that the highest majority of buyers now are Gen X and Gen Y and guess what, they know what a computer is and they know how to surf the Internet.  You know the number – 84% of home buyers begin their search on the Internet.

Do you need all this social media stuff?  Blogging, twittering, Facebook-ing?  It may help you get exposure to more people, but like the more seasoned pros would tell me, it doesn’t necessarily help you build that one-on-one relationship that will help you get referrals and gain repeat business.  If you have the time, go for it – but I wouldn’t expect to measure the return on your efforts.

Do you need more ways to expose your listings to more people – Yes.  Because it will help you sell more?  Maybe, but primarily because you are demonstrating  to your seller that you are doing all you can to actively promote their property.    YouTube, GoogleBase, Trulia, Zillow, Oodle, Yahoo, Homescape and the list goes on.

You can do it yourself or certainly go the free route – it’s all about putting a dollar value on your time.

Photography and videos – Yes.   The stats are out there – 12% increase in perceived value with photography and almost a 6% increase in perceived value by using a video.  There are so many inexpensive options out there that can give you a quality product – and quite frankly, your sellers should be demanding it.

Lead management systems, contact management systems?   In this market, would be a luxury to have.  I wonder how well these particular vendors did at this year’s show.

All in all, embracing technology is probably a good thing.    And if you invest your time and efforts wisely in the right technologies, chances are that you will become more efficient and more effective over the long haul – and yes, that will probably translate for more sales.

Why Twitter?

Twitter is becoming the go-to tool to answer the one question on everyone’s mind: What are you doing right now? The two-year-old micro-blogging platform is quickly becoming known as an app that many people have heard of, but only a handful have mastered.

For those who don’t know, Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets).  Updates are displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them.  Users can receive updates Twitter’s website, SMS, RSS, email, or through an application such as Twitterrific or Facebook.

The question that real estate professional should be asking is: How can this be useful in selling a property? Twitter can be used to take a pulse of the home-buying community. Agents can search twitter to find real estate buyers in the area and get a sense of exactly what they’re looking for – thoughts, opinions, open house, time preferences, whatever.

Once you’ve found out what your prospects are saying, start a conversation. Set up a profile. Get a nice looking picture and fill out the required fields so that people can get a sense of who you are. Next, start following people. Following people allows for other people’s “tweets” (twitter language for messages) to automatically update to your home page. This lets you see exactly what someone is looking for.

You can search other people’s tweets by using tools such as TweetScan. Search for “Open House” or “Trulia” to see who is looking for property information or homes for sale. If someone is looking for a home, they might be posting their thoughts on their home-buying process. Use this to help them find the property they need…

If you have an iPhone, get one of the free twitter applications built specifically for iPhone users.  This will help agents who are constantly on the move showing properties.  You can even sync your twitter account to interact with your Facebook status, enabling you to reach an even larger audience with information on property locations and local real estate news.

This method of interaction with clients also puts a friendly face on a stressful buying process — It allows clients to get a better sense of who is helping them to make what will most likely be one of the more expensive purchases of their life.

Use your own profile to act as a real-time advertising platform; let your followers know what properties you’re showing and give some juicy details. Have fun with it! Twitter is a great way to get into the head of clients and find out what they’re really looking for.

PP.com’s Twitter Profile

Twitter Home

Click here to check out a great example of how Twitter can be used with to interact with customers in real-time — from seomoz.org