How Forced Tech Adoption Changed Real Estate Transactions
dotloop
June 26, 2020 | comments
Exploring the New Realities of How Agents Close Deals Virtually
Did you miss the webinar on real estate technology adoption? If you were busy filling out contracts, logging into multiple platforms or emailing clients, then you need to watch this! By the end of this webinar, you’ll learn how to streamline a deal from lead to close with a full suite of integrated digital transaction tools that can save you time, money and missed business.
Tech Adoption Accelerates to Match Buyer and Seller Expectations
By all indicators — consumer digital demand, agent tech adoption, training attendance, integration activation and streamlined transactions — tech adoption among both agents and clients is way up as everyone pivots toward a 100% virtual transaction in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an industry typically plagued by low tech adoption, many experts feel the pandemic has done more over the past three months to encourage tech adoption among agents than over the past 10 years, as evidenced by the following four facts:
- Zoom calls skyrocketed 2000% Dec 2019-Dec 2020
- Internet video traffic increased 4x 2017 to 2020
- Zillow pageviews jumped 18% YoY the week of April 15, 2020
- Dotloop’s Basic Agent Training Webinar attendance increased 300% pre/post March 20
When the shelter-in-place orders went into effect for most of the U.S. in March 2020, tech-savvy agents jumped on Zoom to connect with colleagues and clients. In the early stages of the pandemic when buyer interest stalled, they reached out for online training. And as more buyers and listers showed interest, they turned to video calls on BombBomb and Zillow 3D to show houses as well as dotloop text Messenger to text contracts.
Managing the Entire Transaction Online is Now Table Stakes
In today’s new “virtual normal,” the digital transaction is a “must-have” moving forward. When you don’t have a digital solution to manage every step along the transaction journey, clients grow frustrated and deals can fall through.
Fortunately, there’s a digital solution for every point along the continuum, including lead gen sourcing, CRM management, video conferencing and home tours, digital transactions, earnest money transfers, title closing, accounting and integrated reporting.
Lead Gen > CRM > Video > Social > Tran Mgt > Earnest Money > Title Closing > Accounting > Reporting integrated digitally
ACTION STEP: Take the next month to analyze and identify the tools you use to accomplish each of these steps and, where you’re lacking, find a digital solution that can help you excel in those areas. We’ve listed a few below to help.
Agents Begin Shifting to Remote Contract Consultations with Clients
While you may think video is not ideal for forming and creating relationships, this medium is actually a great way to develop a “face to face” relationship, especially when an in-person visit is not possible.
One tool that has helped countless agents get “face to face” with their clients is BombBomb video messaging. In addition to sending video emails for check-ins, anniversaries and birthdays, this dotloop integration partner offers a screen recorder feature that lets agents share contracts with clients while the agent’s face appears in the bottom corner. This creates a great opportunity for an agent to walk the client through the contract in that pivotal moment before they sign the document.
ACTION STEP: Get the edge over your competition and touch base in a fully automated, digital streamlined way by videoing your clients with check-in messages, contract consultations and personalized home tours.
Leverage a Variety of New Tools to Communicate in this New Normal
There are countless virtual tools that let you communicate with clients and colleagues in more meaningful ways.
Conferences and Listing Presentations: Zoom and BlueJeans are two leading platforms that make it easy to get two or 20 people in one “virtual room” to talk and discuss ideas. Both offer excellent tools for brokerages and teams looking to touch base on a daily, weekly or monthly call.
Internal Communication: If your brokerage or team is still relying on email to communicate internally, it’s time to start exploring the many virtual tools that can simplify that process. Slack and Workplace by Facebook, for instance, unclog the inbox and make interpersonal communication effortless.
Virtual Tour Tools for Higher Engagement: Zillow 3D Home offers a free and easy way to build a 3D home tour right from your iPhone. FaceTime, another free option, allows you to point out specific features in “real time” as you video a home for a client.
As agents, teams and brokerages increasingly move toward a remote business model, dotloop’s mobile app with text Messenger will become an invaluable tool for enabling document sharing and eSigning anywhere.
Did you know?
- Texts have a 98% open rate vs. emails with a 20% open rate* (Source: Mobile Marketing Watch)
- It takes an average of 90 minutes for someone to respond to an email vs. 90 seconds to respond to a text.** (Source: CTIA)
ACTION STEP: Download the dotloop mobile app and activate text Messenger right from the app to view, share and eSign contracts, export conversation history; view read receipts; get instant notifications; group text; and more.
Integrations are Vital to Digitizing the Complete Transaction
Dotloop offers more than 70+ integrations partners to help you streamline your transactions digitally. We’ve teamed up with the industry’s biggest software applications to help you transact more efficiently every step along the way. In fact, dotloop Connect Integrations rose 163% March-May 2020!
ACTION STEP: Discover how much more efficient your business can be by using platforms in your tech stack that “talk well” with each other. Integrations with virtual tools not only make your transaction smoother by auto-filling contact and property details; they also boost reporting capabilities and digitize steps that could be a “deal breaker” when in-person visits aren’t feasible. To learn more about dotloop’s integrations, click here.
Keep an Open Line of Communication with Clients on Social
As agents and clients all turn to their computer to shop and transact over real estate, more agents are connecting with their spheres over social media. Social media offers a great way for agents to grow relationships and build trust with clients.
ACTION STEP: Pick 1-2 platforms that speak to your target demographic. For example, Facebook tends to skew a little older, while Instagram is a great platform for attracting a younger audience and to help build brand awareness through videos and imagery. I like FaceBook Groups for connecting you to prospects and clients with niche interests in a fun, engaging way. Think “amazing kitchen ideas” or “dream closets” and less hard sales pitching.
Final Takeaways
From the above, pick a few tech tools that will help you transform your business. Don’t try to change everything at once; rather, select a few of the following and focus on those first. Maybe it’s scheduling more video conferences over Zoom or FaceTime or switching from in-person listing presentations to digital listing presentations. Dotloop’s Ultimate Listing Presentation, for instance, lets you download a full customizable presentation on the platform for easy sharing with clients. You might create a Zillow 3D Virtual Video or seek free training, such as dotloop’s online training. Whatever your area of interest, we can help.
Want to learn more about dotloop’s digital solutions for brokers and teams? With dotloop Business+ and dotloop for Teams you can easily create transaction templates containing all necessary forms, tasks and people for agents to use and accelerate the compliance process with automation.
Byrd Bergeron
Byrd is the Strategic Partnerships Manager at dotloop. She works directly with the top real estate franchises across North America to implement brand specific integrations and strategize for each franchise conference. Her mission is to empower real estate brokers and agents to create an incredible client experience.
