As any broker can attest, technology is a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to running a profitable business—and perhaps more important than ever before as we adapt to conducting real estate during a global pandemic. In fact, real estate professionals across the board point to the coronavirus as being the impetus behind the acceleration of tech trends.
During RISMedia's recent webinar—"The Ideal Tech Stack: What to Consolidate, Integrate and Eliminate to Keep You Profitable in Any Market"—panelists Jan O'Brien, Team Leader of Urban Nest Realty, Mark Woodroof, Managing Partner at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene, and Matt Woodroof, VP of Strategy at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene, discussed the ins and outs of an ideal technology stack.
Moderated by Cleve Gaddis—coach with Workman Success Systems—and sponsored by Inside Real Estate, the webinar took an in-depth look at all things tech.
"We recognized that a lot of the technology trends we were beginning to dabble in were going to become the way business was done," said Mark Woodroof, who turned to Zoom calls and Town Hall meetings to stay connected as the industry shifted due to the mandates that came along with COVID.
"While these are things we should have always done, we're probably more connected today than we were previously," he added.
"Everything has been on track with technology all along," agreed O'Brien. "Zoom and video tours didn’t get discovered during COVID, but COVID was a huge accelerator of all of this."
But as the technology landscape continues to shift at a rapid pace, how can brokers ensure they're providing the tech that'll help agents move their business forward?
For O'Brien, it's all about adoption.
"We're lucky to get 20-25 percent of agents to adopt the technology we offer," said O'Brien, who's committed to demonstrating and leading the way in using the technology she incorporates into the brokerage.
"It's one thing to tell people how good something is, but it's another to show them," said Mark Woodroof.
According to Alissa Harper, EVP of Marketing & Enterprise Sales at Inside Real Estate, when it comes to agents using a brokerage provided CRM, the No. 1 barrier to adoption is data security.
"Not only do agents want to know that their data is secure, they also want to know what exactly you're doing with their data and whether they can take it with them when they leave," explained Harper.
While tech can be overwhelming and, therefore, easy to ignore, the team at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene—with a full cadre of siloed systems, none of which talked to one another—called upon Matt Woodroof to push them over the goal line.
"Everything was frustrating. We knew that the systems needed to make sense," said Matt Woodroof. "Agents shouldn't be frustrated every time they get in front of a computer or on their cellphone."
"For real estate practitioners, technology is like the skeleton of your business," concluded Gaddis. "If you're not serious about technology, you need to get yourself there."
View the full webinar below:
To view more webinars from RISMedia, subscribe to our YouTube playlist.
