The housing market is tough and the competition in Real Estate is even tougher.
How can a Real Estate office build a Top Real Estate Team? Do you lower profits and offer them to your agents? How can you attract and retain better agents without it hurting your bottom line?
Attracting and retaining a better team can be difficult. How do you differentiate yourself from all the other real estate offices in your area? Technology can be the key that separates the best from the mediocre. Real Estate companies using typical digital and analog phone system cannot take advantage of VoIP technology that can help their agents work smarter and better. Most Real Estate agents spend a considerable amount of time outside the office relying on cell phones and laptop computers. (Everyone is doing this) This creates a gap between the customers, the office and the agent. Using IP Technology, Real Estate offices can build a virtual system that can unify communications and better serve your customers and agents.
How? Unified Communications.
IP Technology is everywhere including your agents homes, Starbucks, McDonalds, Hotels and many more locations. On top of that service providers such as Verizon , AT&T and Sprint offer nationwide subscription services for wireless internet access. Where ever internet access is available your agent can be connected to the office phone system as though they were in the office. Agents from outside the office can cover calls, intercom, make calls, check voice mail messages and anything else they can do over the office phone. This provides a layer of transparency to customers calling in. The customer can call and reach an agent no matter where they are calling just one number. This can help control and track calls and make sure that customers are being followed up on.
User Controllable Features and Call Routing:
A web portal that would allow and agent to change and rout their calls as they want. IP phone systems come with web portals that would allow a user to log into their phone set up and rout calls. The agent can have calls forwarded to their cell phone, home phone, Softphone on the Laptop or office phone with only one voicemail box.
Direct Inward Dial Numbers allow each agent to have their “own number”. Phone calls and faxes are automatically routed using direct Inward dial numbers. DID numbers are not just for larger organizations and can be purchased in blocks of as few as 10 numbers. DID numbers can cost as little as .02 cents per number per month in some areas like Chicago.
Unified Messaging
Unified Messaging allows voice mail and email to fax messages to be sent directly to the agents email address. From a cell phone, PDA or Laptop voicemail and important faxes can go directly to your agents. Voicemail messages can be played as a .wav file through any media player. Faxes are sent to an email as a .PDF or TIFF file. Copies can be sent to a central location as well. How many calls do you receive a week from an agent that is waiting on an important fax. The other thing that agents love about this is it keeps important client information confidential and out of the hands of others. Ask any agent if this would be import?
Lowering the cost of doing business.
Finally an IP Phone system can help lower phone costs by taking advantage of newer phone services such as SIP , PRI and telephone over Ethernet technologies. Each of these services can help you reduce over head when compared to regular analog phone lines or older T1 service.
IVR systems for Voice descriptions of listed properties.
IVR or Interactive Voice Response systems are not new but they are much more affordable. IVR can get information on listings quickly to customers. Listings can offer a listing number that when a customer calls they can get automated information on the property. The system can also retrieve information including call back number and customer name.
If you have been wondering how to attract and retain better agents print this out and at your next meeting ask your agents if their opinion on how they would like to be able to take advantage of technology that can help them sell more.
For more information on transforming your office and attracting the best agents call us at 800-335-0229 ext 152 or visit us at www.telcom-data.com
