Login
iscover
Promoted by ctc Property.
The rise of technology is a great thing with many advantages in improving your performance. “Proptech’ offerings seem to be coming to the market thick and fast, however it is important to apply sound judgement to these tools to ensure good decisions are made.
Those of us who are parents know that technology is a positive for our children and building their knowledge and skills in tech is essential for their future. But we also know there can be negative effects.
Our businesses are the same - technology is essential but poor technology decisions can have negative or at the very least, sub optimal outcomes.
With the rise of Proptech there is more choice than ever, but what choices should you make? I have observed a number of solutions aiming to resolve a specific problem or enhance a component of the customer journey, examples include inspection apps, marketing & lead gen apps,listing presentation apps & auction apps.
As a real estate professional, not a technologist, and in a competitive industry there is a high degree of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), but how do you make a good decision? Many agents I have spoken to feel they need to jump on the bandwagon with these new tools in case the agent down the road is doing the same. They don’t want anyone to gain a competitive advantage which is understandable. However, once committed the tool does not meet expectation and the agent is committed in a contract and the cost of technology has just risen by $30, $50, sometimes $100+ per month. Make this mistake multiple times and your cost of tech will increase by hundreds of dollars per month.
Another point is many of these tools are stand alone and don’t integrate well to software such as your CRM, the result then is a reduction in efficiency not an improvement. It is essential that your have an easy to use cloud based CRM at the hub of your operations and ensure what you are buying integrates easily to it.
To avoid this, ensure you take the time to do your research, as it will be time well spent. Large businesses spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and months evaluating technology and business processes because technology is key to their business. The majority in our industry don’t need, nor could afford that level of investment, however that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t evaluate on a smaller scale. Measure your decision against a defined criteria. Examples could include: Will it increase my productivity and give me more time to do more (or play more golf)? Will it give me new insights into my market and drive more listings? Will it help build my brand and raise my profile in my area? Will it enrich my customer engagement or help my team be more effective?
Also it is vitally important to get to know the vendor or people behind the solution. What is their vision for their product? What are they solving for the industry? What does their roadmap look like? How secure is your data in their system? How will they support your business? Ensure they are focused on the future and innovation and are going to be around for the long haul.
Doing an assessment of all these aspects is vital to making sound decisions and to ensure the tool will grow with your business. Don’t be overwhelmed with what I am saying here. Like parenting, apply sound judgement and if you are unsure consult with someone you trust or someone in your network with experience in the field.
Remember you probably don’t need everything that is out there. Good luck!
Peter Hutchison
Managing Director
Click to Cloud
You are not authorised to post comments.
Comments will undergo moderation before they get published.