Tech Article for You

In the July 5 issue of Realty Times, columnist Bob Hunt points out that in California, new real estate agents are popping up at the rate of 6.5 per hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In fact, if you put all of the agents together, their number would make them the 5th largest city in California.

That’s a lot of competition.

That means that every night, when you go to bed in California, you wake up 8 hours later with 52 more people competing for a piece of the same real estate pie.

Sure, a lot of them will drop out over the next few years. That’s the nature of the business, but that still leaves a lot of real estate professionals out there going after your prospects, your clients and your business.

What’s a simple way to make sure you stay a step ahead?

Working harder isn’t the answer. Long term, it isn’t a very efficient plan and can lead to burn-out pretty quickly.

Plus, there is always someone who will be able and willing to work harder and faster.

A better answer is to work “smarter” and to ALWAYS be asking yourself, “What’s Next?”

What does this have to do with real estate technology?

By using real estate technology to automate your business systems, you can help create the time you need to figure out an answer to your “What’s Next?” question.

This one question, “What’s Next?” is really a catch-all for business building questions like:

-How can I make my service better?

-What new problem can I solve for my clients?

-What were the major problems from my last 10 transactions and how can I redefine or retool what I do to either minimize the chances of those happening again or avoid them altogether?

-What is the promise that only I can make to my clients?

-Why should they do business with me vs. ANY and EVERY option available to them?

-What new niche market can I target?

-How can I improve my marketing systems and improve my conversion rates?

The way you create the time you need to answer these questions and implement the solutions is to automate as many of your other business systems as you can with real estate technology.

Most real estate pros have at least 3 main types of systems:

1. Client Attraction or Lead Generation

2. Client Fulfillment (Doing the transaction.)

3. Client Retention

If you haven’t sat down and clearly outlined each of these three main systems, the concrete steps they contain and the results they are currently producing, now is the time to start…

Once you get that done, it is time to automate using technology by using things like websites, autoresponders, 800 lines, mailing list software, newsletters etc.

Let’s take your Lead Generation System as a quick example…

The point of any lead generation system is of course to get those who want to buy or sell to raise their hands and let you know they exist. But generally, a good number of those folks won’t be top quality prospects for you immediately. The next step is to filter down the results so that you only invest time (your only real asset) into those who are ready to act now… The rest of the prospects get diverted into another system that keeps checking in with them until they are ready to act.

The trick is to get all of that to happen with little involvement from you.

Does that mean that you don’t give your prospects quality service? No… It just means that you strike a balance so that you don’t spend your time running after opportunities until your systems have identified the “hot” prospects.

So here is a question to ask yourself as you go throughout your day as you “do” each of your business activities:

“Have I done this before? Can I automate, delegate or accomplish this in anyway that does not require my hands on attention?”

If you aren’t sure how to use real estate technology to automate your systems, you need to get help.

For once you do, your main priority becomes improving your systems rather than running your business. The systems run the business, you tweak the systems.

All of the answers to the “What’s Next?” question then center around improving your systems or creating new ones.

Plus, by developing your business systems and then automating them to largely run unattended, you have just solved a major challenge in most independent professional type small businesses: you have built equity in your business.

Your systems are your business, and that is where the real value is. The better they are, the less of YOU is required. That makes your business saleable, which means you won’t be having to work for the rest of your life.

That sounds good doesn’t it?

Tag: real estate technologyreal estate technology

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Do you ever feel a bit overwhelmed with all of the technology stuff that is out there
to help you grow your real estate business?

Websites, GPS, PDAs, laptops, desktops, bluetooth, automated 800 numbers,
contact management software… The list is endless.

Ever feel like technology actually keeps you from getting things done?

In my travels helping real estate professionals use technology to make more money,
I have found that there are basically two types of people: those who rule technology
and those who are ruled by technology.

The difference doesn’t have so much to do with what a person knows about
gadgets, gizmos, websites and the like. That is a difference of knowledge, and
knowledge is something everyone has access to. The important distinction here is
intention - the deliberate decision that you must make about how technology fits
into your business.

Just like a business has no value without a customer, technology is worthless until it
is used for a specific purpose - to reach some goal.

Using technology for a specific, well thought out purpose will help get you to your
goal more quickly and with less effort.

Now I know (as I am sure you do) real estate pros who have built multimillion dollar
businesses without even turning on a computer, but I am not writing for them.

Using technology to boost your real estate business is smart business. So here are
some guidelines to help you make sure that YOU are the one that is stays in control.

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#1 Set your goals FIRST. Then use the tools you need to reach those goals and
forget the rest. Who cares what everyone else is doing?

====================

Take for example the cell phone. Everyone needs one right? No. Do you want to be
accessible to your clients at a moment’s notice?

Maybe, maybe not. There are plenty of successful real estate professionals on both
sides of that argument.

Set your business goals FIRST, before you let your mind go onto finding the tools
(technology) you will need to reach those goals.

====================

#2 Don’t jump in the deep end

====================

If you’ve never turned on a computer or have little interest in them for your
business, then don’t run out and buy the latest one with every bell and whistle
under the sun.

The goal isn’t to be tech savvy. The goal is to be productive and make more money
in less time.

Start slow and take small steps. And make sure that your productivity is increasing
with each technology “step” you take.

====================

#3 Learn… and keep learning

====================

Do you read books about real estate? About business? About marketing? Throw
one in every now and then about technology. Or better yet, dedicate some time
each month to get on the internet and read some articles that will teach you how to
use technology in your business.

Never stop learning. Learning is one of your greatest strategic assets.

====================

#4 Get a schedule and stick to it

====================

Do you check your email or voicemail 20 times a day? 10 times a day? Do you need
to? Does it make you more productive or just busier?

Make a schedule for how you relate to technology. For example, you could return
voice messages before lunch and check your email 2 times a day.

The details of the schedule don’t matter. Make it however you want. The important
thing is that you have a schedule and stick to it. Your schedule will keep technology
from spilling over into the time you want to be productive.

====================

#5 Understand that most technology is far less than perfect

====================

I really mean this. The next time your computer freezes or your email goes haywire,
don’t blame yourself. There is a 95% chance it wasn’t anything you did.

For the most part, technology is mediocre. It has bugs, quirks and other problems
that appear at the worst times.

Just accept the good along with the bad and learn as you go.

Stop blaming yourself. You’re a whole lot more intelligent than the pile of wire and
plastic that is your computer.

Tag: real estate technologyreal estate technology

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Recent experience and and excellent article in CIO magazine have me thinking about some of the things that are wrong about the Culture of Technology.

The article in CIO magazine “How to Save the Internet“, the hilarious March 28 post (India Calling) at the Landmark.org Blog (I found them because they had signed up for my “Blinking Cursor PC Security Newsletter”), my own experience with HP Technical “Support” and Technical Support with Western Digital about an external hard drive all have something in common.

They all highlight the fact that Technologists (software and hardware companies) don’t get the fact that the vast majority of their consumers are not Technologists!

One of the points that the CIO article (about improving the security of the Internet) makes is that Technologists should “Treat End Users Like The Dummies They Are.”

While the characterization may be offensive, the principle is legitimate (read the article).

For example, why should updating a computer system’s software to enhance security (i.e. Microsoft SP2) NOT be automatic? (Yes, I know that for SP2 as of April 12 it is - but it’s the principle I am discussing). Why should millions of computers owned by non-Technologists be vulnerable to becoming Zombies and tools of hackers to invade and compromise other computers?

Yes, there should be an option for the Technologists to opt-out (they have more complex needs), but the default should mitigate towards a higher level of security.

Another manifestation of the Arrogance of Technologists is the information that comes with virtually any technology. It is almost incomprehensible to anyone not specializing in that particular aspect of technology. Try reading any of the articles in Microsoft’s knowledge base. The information necessary is there, but it might have just as well been written in cuniform.

I recently purchased a 250 GB Western Digital External Hard Drive as a backup, to follow my own advice in my PC Security eBook “Help! Something’s Got Hold of My Computer and It Won’t Let Go!” The instructions from Western Digital for dealing with the file structure of the hard drive were incomprehensible to me, and even confusing and incomplete for Western Digital Tech Support. I pity the non-Techie who tried to wend their way through this problem.

Finally, there is the issue of outsourcing Technical Support to other countries.

I know, the first thing that pops into people’s minds is “Here’s a guy who’s an ‘America Firster’ who is prejudiced against any foreigners.”

My history belies that perception. I’m an ex-Peace Corps Volunteer, speak several languages and was Director of the Human Rights Center in Portland, Oregon.

However the issue is customer service, satisfaction and the costs involved. As documented in Bud Stolker’s Landmark.org blog, there is a difference not only in language (yes, I know that English is the primary language of India, where much of HP Tech Support is located - but just because it is “English” does not mean it can be understood!), but also culture.

Here is the script with which the HP Tech Support phone is answered in India:

“Denku for galling HB. Sor, id is my gol to make zhur you ar gombleedly sadisfied doday, ifa denny dime you need me to sbeeg slowoor or rebeet zumding, I will be habby do do zo.”

That’s all very well and good, that they address up front that there may be some difficulty communicating. How much better would it be if they ELIMINATED the problem?

Here are the other facts HP should be considering:
1) If the average computer user is calling Tech Support he/she is probably frustrated, upset, fearful that their data will disappear and usually are under some kind of deadline.

2) They usually DO have to ask Tech Support to “sbeeg slowoor or rebeet zumding,” often many times. This costs the customer additional time and stress and results in having to make multiple calls back to Tech Support (which costs HP more money and loses them customers).

3) I was once told to “take my computer to Radio Shack,” an “authoorized HB rebair fazilidy where a benge tegnizhun will diagnoz the broblem.”

Is anyone aware of a Radio Shack that actually has a “bench technician?” It was obvious that the Tech Support rep had NEVER been in a Radio Shack.

4) When I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was told that they were all in a meeting. When I asked for the Tech Support’s name he said he was not allowed to tell me. When I insisted, he said his last name was “Pavilion.” How strange that it was the same as the name of an HP product. See Bud’s Blog for a similar situation.

In the U.S., most call centers give a first and last name, and often a Customer Service Representative’s ID number at the beginning of the call.

The point is that Technology companies are insensitive to the fact that their Customers are NOT Technologists, they are ordinary people who are just trying to get the Technology to work.

Tags: blog, computers, outsourcing, program, security, Technical Support, technical writing, Technologyblog, computers, outsourcing, program, security, Technical Support, technical writing, Technology

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