“New Technology Should Free Up Time to Have More Meaningful Human Contact – ONLY.” This is a slogan emphatically embedded and expressed at most of my meetings at Mirador. A sentiment I’m sure all my agents will attest to!
In a market dominantly driven by newly developed data and devices, my staff is constantly keeping abreast of all the latest and greatest technology trends, enthusiastically bringing to the table new programs, CRMs, and digital ad venue. Yet, they are always hit with the same question, “Will this free up our time to TALK to more clients on the phone or in person?”
It has always been my end game to incorporate any new technology advances into my firm, as I see the great value it produces not only for my clients, but also for my team and business alike. And for the past two-plus years, I’ve been thrilled with the results I’m seeing.
Building out software has lead to faster lead delegation, which in turn, has led to faster response times for our clients. Integrating the CRM software allowed for better and more efficient follow-up from the management side. This led to zero negative reviews online in over 30 months in business. For a real estate brokerage in New York City, that has performed thousands of transactions within that time frame, that is pretty incredible!
Other advances integrated into our model include: automated lease writing, centralized training and document webpages for the agents, and fillable forms with upload features that made our payroll consistent and our agents paid faster – a win-win for everyone!
All of these things have enabled us to carve out the necessary time in our hectic daily schedules to pick up the phone, or better yet, meet a client in person.
I love to code. I love to learn new software. I love it all, but I also know that I tend to crawl into a hole with it for days on end and cut myself off from human contact. So if the end result isn’t the above, then I take a pass.
Today, this article in Bloomberg was called to my attention, reinforcing a theory that until recently, I thought I was the only one on-board with. But, in a sea of emails, I started noticing a trend that wasn’t apparent as little as a year ago– clients actually wanted phone calls!
Now the phone numbers are flying at us fast and furiously, where in the past, it used to be “email me only.” I sense an awakening of people wanting to leave the screens they stare behind at all day and get out and engage in some real human contact in the sales environment.
I’ve been noticing this with travel as well as the luxury brands listed below. I’m finding the task of research online daunting, and perusing through sites like Mr. and Ms. Smith, which offer me real recommendations, that are in line with my traveling needs and preferences along with those that are given by real travel agents (perks, included) are a perfect mixture of technology and humans.
On the luxury end, more and more, I’m hearing about people opting in for that expensive yearly Amex fee, which offers clients live concierge support — ranging from securing sought-after dinner and theater reservations, to hotel and spa accommodations and upgrades, and even making a last minute Saks run for that essential garment you desperately need for an event your attending later, but just can’t physically break away from your desk. Talk about device-to-door service!
I’ve also seen a huge uptick in the live chat usage on our website. All and all, I’m pleased to see that we are moving into an era of real time, real person, real problem- solving! Something, that in my opinion, is long overdue, and a breath of fresh air.