‘Real estate agent’ is typically used as an all-encompassing term for all real estate professionals, but there are three different types of licensed real estate professionals licensed to assist in purchasing and selling a property: real estate agents, Realtors, and real estate brokers.
- Real Estate Agent: These professionals have the appropriate licensure to help people buy, sell, and rent real estate within a designated state. Real estate agents are not members of the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
- Realtor: A Realtor is a real estate professional who’s a designated member of the NAR. As a member of this organization, they must comply with NAR’s strict Code of Ethics.
- Real Estate Broker: Brokers are seasoned real estate professionals who complete additional licensing and training requirements to start their own brokerage. Brokers manage real estate firms and its agents, overseeing that legal procedures are followed and reviewing contracts.
Although each of these types of professionals requires different levels of experience and certification, they each work with buyers and sellers to market properties, assist in pricing listings and offers competitively, and sell properties within specific timeframes. For these services, real estate professionals are paid a commission from the proceeds of sales in the form of an agreed-upon percentage of the sale proceeds.
Like any business, real estate professionals face the challenge of growing their revenue year after year. As the market fluctuates between buyer and seller controlled phases, real estate professionals need methods to market their services to new sellers and qualified buyers.
For real estate agents, prospects and qualified buyers are very different. A qualified buyer will have their lender pre-approval and enter the market knowing their buying power before requesting a showing. Prospective buyers account for 33% of home b will need much more education on the mortgage process and possibly be introduced to a mortgage lender to meet their needs.
If you’re the first agent to meet with a first-time buyer, odds are that they will hire you without even consulting other agents. In fact, only 15% of potential buyers move forward with a second interview. Speed is essential, and you’ll need an effective marketing plan to get eyeballs on you before your competitors beat you to it.
Real estate agents work in a consultative fashion with the buyers and sellers they represent. Both first-time and repeat buyers can be unaware of the nuances that go into purchasing and selling properties.
From closing costs to point of sale violations, the process is filled with terms that are not well known by those who do not work in the industry. Clients rely on their real estate agents to act as a translator for these terms to better understand local and state requirements. The market changes in the blink of an eye, which is why real estate professionals should spring to action with emails, texts, flyers, etc. when a transition happens.
Listing a property on the MLS is only the start of the selling process for a real estate agent. Getting a listing in front of the appropriate buyer requires that agents constantly communicate with their buyer list. Luckily, as new technology becomes available, agents can automate the process of marketing their listings through an omnichannel approach.
CRM software helps real estate professionals automate their marketing and communications efforts so that they can spend less time following up with leads and more time working to close transactions.
Using this software, agents, realtors, and brokers can streamline their lead generation processes, track client interactions, manage listing opportunities, assign leads to team members, schedule site tours, and document follow-up tasks.
Below are some of the benefits which real estate professionals can achieve by using CRM software.
Generating new leads for listings and buyers is a challenge for all real estate professionals. Luckily, a real estate CRM software’s tools and functions can help generate new leads through plug-and-play landing pages, social media posts, email campaigns, and websites. Once the data has been collected, the CRM can send the lead to any of your team members based on the rules set and controlled by members of your management team.
Marketing automation functions help deliver timely messaging through email, online ads, and social media marketing campaigns. The top CRM software providers assist in developing these automation functions with predefined templates that can be updated with your company branding to deliver a consistent customer experience that feels personalized.
Keeping on task is always a consistent challenge for real estate professionals, especially in a hot market. Through different functions such as SMS texting, calendar integrations, and automated tasks, team members can manage their time more efficiently.
The rule of any residential property listing is that it must be placed on the MLS within three days, but what if you could easily link the MLS listing to a webpage that had your agent and company information with just a few additional clicks? Single property sites help real estate professionals effectively market their listings and ensure they do not lose potential buyers to other agents.
For real estate professionals who want to get the most out of their open houses, a CRM can be the most effective tool. By creating a digital sign-in process, sales agents can collect information on open house attendees and keep the communication process going.
The home buying process is complex, and not every lead is ready to take the plunge when they first inquire about a listing. Instead of declining a showing due to lack of prequalification, successful buyer agents can send educational materials to these leads and get them on the right track to becoming qualified buyers.
Managing a successful real estate business is challenging. A large inventory of listings and a high volume of contacts can feel overwhelming to organize in one place. However, that is where a real estate CRM comes in. Real estate professionals can streamline their communication by using the right system while tracking the sales process from listing through close.
