The Chicago Association of REALTORS®, the “Voice for Real Estate” in Chicago since 1883, represents 17,000 members from all real estate specialties including commercial sales, development, property management, appraisal, auctions and residential sales.
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YPN’s G.E.T. (Grow. Elevate. Thrive.) breakfast series continued at Manny’s with a panel on REALTOR® tools and systems to make your business run more efficiently.
Mike McElroy, Center Coast Realty, moderated a panel featuring Constance Freedman, Moderne Ventures, and Dave Naso, Keller Williams – Lincoln Park. They discussed tools and systems they implement in their businesses and discussed ways in which REALTORS® can take advantage of systems to streamline many of their processes.
When is it time to systematize?
Naso’s philosophy is when you do something more than once, it is time to systematize your process. It can be as simple as writing down the steps that are most efficient and following them every time, or as advanced as using technology to do those tasks for you. Constance agreed and said to note what only you can do versus what someone else can do for you. If someone else can do it for you, it can be systematized. That makes the tasks only you can do more effective and efficient and keeps the new systems clean and organized.
Broker Tasks That Should Be Systematized
While there are many thoughts on showings, Naso says systematizing showings can enjoyable for buyers and brokers. Doing this requires thorough preparation but is made easy with systems in place. He says he starts with a SentriLock Lockbox for easy access to properties. Next, he thinks of any and all questions buyers may have and leaves sheets with answers in the home along with an email. This way buyers aren’t subject to your schedule and get to tour the home as they please. Your process is also thorough and reliable every time.
Freedman says almost every step of the transaction cycle can have some sort of system. Lead generation can have pre-planned emails and social posts all the way to closing communication and documents through DocuSign.
Using Systems with your Team
Teamwork really does make the dream work – but only when everyone is on the same page. Using systems with your team allows everyone to be a part of the communication process and gets jobs done seamlessly.
Freedman and Naso both use a wide variety of tools to keep their teams on the same page and working together effectively. Both find Trello to be helpful in keeping their teams on track. It allows teams to collaborate on workflows and pipelines, add attachments, assign tasks and more all to keep teams on the same page. Naso uses Boomerang, a Gmail attachment, to delay sending messages and re-receive messages in his inbox (like a boomerang!) when it best works for him to respond.
Freedman says Fieldlens is a great communication tool for construction projects. Rather than multiple pipelines of communication about the project, Fieldlens allows you to snap pictures and add comments that all members of the project can see in real time.
Customer Relations Management Made Easy
Reaching out to clients and potential leads may seem like a simple task, but with hundreds of people on your list it quickly becomes more difficult. Constance recommends Salesforce IQ, Contactually, or BombBomb for communication. Naso says he uses a classic Excel spreadsheet to keep up on communications. He offers the advice of using what works for you, whether technologically advanced or not.
McElroy added to explore a wide variety of options when looking for systems rather than being set on using systems made just for REALTORS®. Everyone organizes and operates differently!
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Precautionary Measures and Information Regarding COVID-19
Your health and safety is of the utmost importance to us. As COVID-19 is predominantly spread through close contact, out of an abundance of caution, all events through April 30 will be either canceled or postponed, except for Coffee with Your GADs, which will take place virtually. This includes our annual Sales Awards, which we are working to reschedule.
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Precautionary Measures and Information Regarding COVID-19
As COVID-19 is predominantly spread through close contact, out of an abundance of caution, all in-person classes scheduled through April 30 will take place virtually.
RRES staff has reached out to those of you who have registered for an affected class with an option to transfer into an online option or reschedule for a later classroom date. CAR to You is available in the meantime to assist you with your education needs and we have a variety of classes being offered online and via webinar for your continued development.