Are You Listening?
By Kathleen Carlin-RussellEditor in chief
Technology is knocking/beeping/buzzing…and the question is, are you listening?
If you’re not paying attention to at least some of the beeps at this point, you should be. Why? You may be missing out on potential clients, listings and, yes, even revenue.
In a world that moves in real time, where clients expect instant results and are increasingly using tools such as their iPhone to help search for their next house, knowing what tools are out there and which ones may work for you and your business are tasks not to be put off for another day. The key is to take the broad, big and noisy picture and focus in on what could be a tool that will help you work better, smarter, more effectively.
The beeping was louder than normal for me this week, as a number of tech-oriented items hit my desk.
First, a long-time Unique Homes client asked us to add a QR code to his ad page. Not familiar with this term? Neither was I. According to Wikipedia, QR is derived from “quick response,” as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed. The QR code is essentially a bar code of sorts that you can add to your print ad (or postcard or street sign or billboard, etc.), and when scanned by a smart phone’s camera, can display text (such as contact information), or open a web page. In this case, the QR linked the consumer directly to the agent’s homepage. The idea here is to let the consumer see the ad and go straight to the website that will give him/her more information—an instant connection from print to web.
Next, I saw Inman News’ 2010 list of Innovator Award-winners (the complete list is found here). Included among the winners were 2 mobile apps, ZipRealty’s HomeScan iPhone app and the DocuSign ESIGNControl app. The first allows someone to see what homes may be for sale in the neighborhood in which they are actually physically standing, and the second allows real estate professionals to send and receive documents from their iPhone to be electronically signed by buyers and sellers.
Right on the heels of this, was a PR blast asking me if I wanted to interview a top agent of a worldwide franchise who credits a suite of apps he uses with some of his success. According to this PR person, the agent calls the 3 apps he’s incorporated into his business plan, “his secret weapon.” When I went to the agent’s website it was clear he was a strong supporter of them, as you could download the apps for free right there…and apparently he is No. 3 in his franchise network.
Seeing a trend?
The point is that you should stay abreast of what is out there that could improve or enhance your business. Weeding through the enormous troves of apps and tools that are available, is not the best use of your time, but taking a good look at what is working, and how it can work for you and your clients is essential. We’ll try and help that process along with a few blogs we’ll be posting in the weeks to come. They’ll review what’s new and innovative and interesting, and, hopefully, help guide you through the “noise” of it all and bring things into focus.
