Social distancing is absolutely critical during these times, but it doesn’t mean real estate agents can (or should) idly stand by and wait for the COVID-19 crisis to cease. Instead, this is a great opportunity to stay in contact with your target audience, and stay productive with your real estate team while you work remotely.
Even if you don’t generate any leads in the short-term, staying engaged will alleviate some of the worries associated with the pandemic; not only the worries of your prospects, but your own.
However, since we can’t meet in person, there are several great tools that will make your interactions easy, safe, and even fun!
Must Have Tools for Colleague/Team Interaction
Staying on-task and accountable for your daily/weekly tasks is vital for any team. Even if you’re a solo agent, there are a variety of people you need to stay in touch with. Here are our favorite tools for keeping track of tasks and communicating with your team or colleagues.
Slack
Staying in touch with your colleagues can get messy when you utilize text message threads, which is why Slack is such a valuable tool for real estate teams. Channels can be created for groups that focus on specific tasks (ie Marketing, Buyers, Sellers, Admin), and direct messages make it simple to send messages to individuals in the group.
Best of all? The basic service is free, and will help you stay on task and keep your team accountable.
Trello
If you are used to working in a team environment at the office, having to suddenly stay productive from the comforts of home can be a tough task. Trello makes it easy to stay on top of daily and weekly tasks.
Real estate team admins and lead agents love Trello since it helps them stay organized with what needs to be done, what has already been done, and provide detailed instructions for every task.
Not only is Trello great for teams, individual agents can also use it to stay accountable and on track with their activities.
Must-Have Tools for Client/SOI Engagement
This is a great time to stay in touch with prospective and current clients. Whether it’s for face-to-face interaction, or engaging with people in your community, these tools will make it easy to be productive during the pandemic (and even after)!
Facetime/Google Hangouts
Whether you are an Apple or Android user, both of these services provide a video/phone chat feature on your phone. While Zoom is ideal for more formal interactions with clients/colleagues, Facetime or Google Hangouts is more personable and informal.
As a real estate agent, you have an opportunity to truly engage with your audience, and provide them with something that makes their day better. Some agents are offering “virtual happy hour” with prospective clients, placing their phone on a tabletop tripod and catching up over a cocktail.
Other agents are simply offering an open ear to anyone who feels anxious or concerned.
We have even created templates that offer a heartfelt “I’m Thinking of You” to their mailing lists. Log-in and take a look at them.
No matter how you choose to engage with your audience, taking time during the day to let people know you’re looking out for them is not only the right thing to do, it can provide a plethora of opportunities down the road.
Facebook Groups
Since Facebook began implementing a more Group-centric approach, Facebook Groups have become an important tool for communities and their businesses. They allow us an opportunity to share vital information about new developments in the community, available resources, and, most importantly, opportunities to provide help.
Whether you start a Facebook Group of your own, or join groups in your prospective area, this tool is an absolute must!
Zoom
Sometimes, communicating through social media and text messages simply won’t cut it. When you need to interact with clients, prospects, or clients face-to-face, Zoom offers an incredible solution.
The great feature of Zoom is that you can host a meeting and send an invite to users without the need for the invitees to set up their own account. Zoom is ideal for client meetings and consultations, Q&As with your target audience, or communicating face-to-face with your team. Similar to slack, this is a freemium service, and the free version provides unlimited 1 on 1 meeting, and up to 40 minutes of group meeting time (as of the writing of this blog post)*
Since the basic features of every tool listed can be used for free, they provide a no-cost option to stay engaged and productive with your team, clients, and prospects!
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Share With Us!
Which of these tools have you started using recently, and how have they helped? Would you add another must-have tool to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
