Every year there seems to be an ongoing discussion about the role technology plays in our industry.
At its very core, real estate remains a relationship-oriented business.
I have stated many times, if real estate is a relationship business, make a list of all the people you have a relationship with that you have never spoken to.
I think you will find the page will be blank, and it’s probably a great place to start our discussion on technology.
Technology must create greater efficiency. Whether it’s a banking app, Uber or how you book flights, all great tech creates efficiency, so let’s put that down as a given.
The second thing it must do is create a better customer experience, and often greater efficiency for the customer creates a better experience.
Technology must support and provide an enhanced customer experience, how they receive information, how they remain informed about all aspects of their asset, how they can bid online from the comfort of their own home, or even how they execute contracts, all these and many more are enhancing the customer experience.
Technology must do this.
Critically, technology must also ensure you are talking to more people, more often, at the correct time and with better information.
We have seen many products hit the market recently, referring to their ability to generate leads and putting the customer in front of you at these opportune times.
However, many of these service providers are continually frustrated at the number of agents who consistently don’t take the opportunity to talk to these customers.
As an organisation, we believe that our technology should support the agents around the actioning or delegation of tasks and the ability to push these critical tasks to key team members.
Servicing the lead without a genuine structure leaves most of these platforms short of the mark.
The key deliverable that we require is not only the lead being serviced, but the lead being interacted with in a way that provides genuine value to the customer and agent.
Understanding that capacity is one of the leading reasons the real focus on this interaction does not occur.
Technology must provide a solution to support the development of teams and allow the lead agent to direct tasks in a way that is seamless, measurable and develops how the team communicates to their community.
Our bets are being placed on giving our members the advantage in their workflow procedures and genuine connection to their communities and future customers in a way that will provide significant market advantage. Technology alone is not the ultimate answer.
There are thousands upon thousands of new entries into the PropTech world, and there are many claiming to add significant improvements to your GCI.
My advice would be to choose wisely.
