Technology: making life as an agent easier – Part II: how can everyday tech help a busy agent?
It may not feel like it sometimes, but technology is intended to make our lives easier. Whilst we can sometimes feel like throwing our computers out the window, or going on holiday to try and get away from all the buzzing, beeping, and being too connected, ultimately technology gives us a wealth of opportunities to have more comfortable lives. Here are just a few ways that technology can help agents.
iPad and Tablet Devices
It’s clear that these devices have countless uses to make our lives easier. Tablet devices can act as books, magazines, gaming devices, netbooks for surfing the internet and checking email, and so much more. It can potentially be an all-in-one device for consumers – from getting news to monitoring your home’s energy use – as well as a myriad of uses in places from school classrooms to agent’s offices. It’s commonplace now for agents to use iPads and tablets in the office to showcase properties to potential buyers, but they also have wider uses when on-the-go, including showing other suitable properties to buyers when at a viewing (if WIFI is available) or as a device to complete property reports and inspections (see ‘Mobile Productivity Tools’ below).
Interactive Window Displays
This technology is increasingly being used by agents, and it’s more commonplace to find branches on the High Street with interactive screens, almost acting like an extension of an agent’s website. The beauty of these screens is it extends the ‘shop window’ even further, allowing an agent to show the maximum number of houses in the smallest space, while adding in other features that may help sell. Passers-by can still interact with the properties and express their interest, allowing the agent to take advantage of the retail space 24/7.
Social Media Tools
Social media is considered by many to be a ‘necessary evil’. It can drain resource and time like nothing else, but if used correctly it can be an invaluable tool to communicate information out to existing and potential clients very quickly (and cheaply).
For social media to be effective, it needs to be used for more than just simply tweeting out your latest property listings though. If you want to distinguish your services from ABC Lets next door, then you need to use all of the tools at your disposal to communicate why you are brilliant at what you do. Twitter is also set to become even more important as Twitter has struck a deal with Google to make its 140-character updates more searchable online. During 2015 tweets will start to be visible in Google’s search results as soon as they’re posted.
Mobile Productivity Tools
Looking more closely at staff and internal processes, there’s tech that exists to help agents manage staff productivity and help speed up some of the more mundane processes like property reports.
TouchRight Software is one option, it’s a simple, easy to use cloud-based software, designed for property managers and letting agents, to help compile property reports. It’s a cost-effective Android and iOS app-based solution which lets you get more from your smartphones and tablets. You can create a host of bespoke property reports including inventories, mid terms, check ins and check outs in a fraction of the time and add more value to your management fees.
TouchRight Software are exhibiting at the Annual ARLA Conference in London on Tues 31 March (stand 42); if you’re planning to attend why not drop by for a quick demo to see how you can make your property reporting even easier? Get in touch on 01904 390109 or via email info@touchrightsoftware.com.
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