These days, it is a continuing challenge for real estate agents to differentiate their brand and service from competitors. SMS communication is one way that smart agencies have started to step ahead, sending thousands of SMS every month to drive growth and productivity.
More than just chit-chat / How SMS can deliver for your real estate business
These days, it is a continuing challenge for real estate agents to differentiate their brand and service from competitors. SMS communication is one way that smart agencies have started to step ahead, sending thousands of SMS every month to drive growth and productivity.
SMS communication has become such a common fixture of our daily lives that most of us can hardly remember what life was like without it. In fact, The “Short Message Service” (SMS) is simply the most widely used data application in the world, with over 2.4 billion active users. Many businesses understood early how to take advantage of it. Airlines send flight updates, banks send transaction records, taxi companies send arrival details. This not only saves them time but also helps them to provide a superior service level from the customer perspective.
Yet most real estate professionals confess that SMS isn’t part of their day-to-day business routine. Are they missing out?
Those agents who have tried the new communication medium certainly seem to think so. What is really different about SMS? In two words: speed and reach. An SMS is much more likely to be read than any other form of unsolicited communication, such as flyers or emails, and it will be read nearly instantly. Since most times an SMS does not tend to sit in a pile to be read later, or forgotten. An SMS doesn’t get immediately deleted. It doesn’t end up in the junk box. It gets read.
Since SMS messages generally “get through” and are read, more than any other possible medium; they are the best fit for quick reminders and updates. Indeed, as plans and timetables tend to change in real time these days, email communication is just no longer fast enough. An efficient SMS service can provide you with the confidence that you are getting in contact directly with your customers without the risk of being considered spam, and therefore ending up as “junk items” or worse, being deleted.
Crucially, a fact that is too often forgotten by agents is that any buyer is a potential future vendor. If SMS reminders are more likely to get a buyer to the open for inspection or the auction, or to meet you; they may also be impressed by the high-touch service your agency provides, it may mean an easier conversion to customer down the line.
SMS communication is an efficient, easy process that provides a VIP touch to vendors and to prospective buyers. Experience does show that those agents who have tried SMS communication have become more efficient, more “in touch” with their database and have never looked back.
Case Study: Morrison Kleeman
Morrison Kleeman, a leading real estate agency in Eltham and Greensborough (VIC), have been using SMS for almost two years and its usage has continuously increased as the medium has continued to prove its’ potential. Today, Morrison Kleeman sends anywhere between 5000 to 7000 SMS per month for a variety of purposes, to vendors and potential buyers alike.
“Our Sales staff use SMS to contact vendors and provide them updates on who attended the Open For Inspections (OFI’s) and subsequently on all offers made on their properties”, says Peter Kleeman, Principal of Morrison Kleeman’s. Using SMS usually guarantees a better vendor experience, providing a sense of VIP treatment that will be remembered and talked about. This reflects positively on the agency.
As for potential buyers, SMS proves to be a great tool to run an efficient process. “We use SMS to update potential buyers with OFI times, especially the VIP Opens. We also send updates to Auction times and Auction reminders. This saves us a lot of time in individual follow-ups, and also ensures a maximum turnout at the event.”
One critical component for using SMS effectively is to look for the functionality to be integrated with the software that you use on a day-to-day basis. This makes it much easier for the person operating the service. We use HubOnline as our office software and this makes it really easy for us to use SMS. It is very easy to use, and my contact database gets automatically updated. We have found that it is the best way to quickly update a group of buyers in one easy click.
As Peter Kleeman puts it, “SMS has become a key component of how we do business today. My administration and sales staff couldn’t do without it!
