The 9 Tools all Real Estate Agents Need
Real estate agents are CEOs of their businesses. The 2019 Fortune 500 CEOs have an average of 57,400 employees that work under them. The average real estate agent is lucky to have a handful of these tools offered by their brokerage. Avoid being spread thin between admin work and assisting your clients, get the best tools. Better your chances at providing an extraordinary experience to your clients, and find the tools you need below.
1. A CRM
A custom relationship management tool is the best way to keep everything in order. If you have not used one before, imagine an excel spreadsheet on crack. You can track any and everything, and most CRM’s today can be completely customized.
Typically, real estate agents can use them for:
tracking leads and their progress turning into clients
tracking the status of listings
Tracking progress of buyers and past listings they have shown interest in
Personal goal tracking
& more
A CRM is the best way to keep you sane and make sure that you are staying up to date with everything that is going on in your real estate world. Here are some of our favorites and ones other agents have highly recommended:
2. A Personal/Custom Website
A custom website just for your practice is paramount. Not only does it serve as your online business card, but it can also assist potential clients with questions & needs, and most importantly, it can capture leads that visit the website. The most important part about having a custom website is one that is built (or you can build it) just for yourself. Steer clear from copy-paste versions that large firms offer because they offer no unique branding and are not optimized for your growth as an agent.
There are plenty of website design services, but there are three that stand out:
3. Social Media Management Software
Posting for social media can seem like a never-ending task. Yet, for real estate agents, we know how important it is in staying top of mind with our active, potential, and past clients. A social media management software is a tool that you use to schedule posts in advance. In addition, you can also upload and schedule the same post across multiple social media networks. Taking away the hassle and pain of thinking of hundreds of posts a month.
Our favorites are
Later
Each of these comes with different plans and abilities, however, if you are looking to get started, Hootsuite offers a free plan for those with only a few social networks and not too many scheduling necessities.
4. Design Programs & Software
With our new social media management software, we are going to need tools to create stunning graphics and edit our images so they are ready to post. Now, let’s cut to the chase. There are plenty of options here, but for ease of use and their free plan, there are not many options that even compete with Canva. Seriously. It is that good. Check it out yourself and you will understand how easy it is to look like you have an in-house graphic designer.
5. Email Newsletter Software
Similar to social media posts, an email newsletter is an excellent way to stay top of mind with current, potential, and past clients. Every month (we recommend monthly as to not seem spammy) send your clients a newsletter. Filled with updates on local market news, rates, notable listings, personal updates, and anything else that could be of interest. The best way to do this is through email newsletter software.
Similar to a variety of our other tools, there are plenty of options. However, we recommend:
These 3 allow users to custom curate their email newsletters and can keep track of their leads as they flow in.
6. Zapier
Zapier gets a shout-out on its own because that is how amazing this product is. Zapier is automation software that connects all of your tools. Imagine this: an individual fills out a home valuation form on your custom website. From there, Zapier can automatically distribute this information. It can be put into your CRM, into your email newsletter software, and send them a personal email thanking them for requesting the valuation. The possibilities are endless and it really can make your life a whole lot easier. We are sure there are plenty more features this program has that we don’t even know yet. It is 100% worth checking out.
7. Printer
Not only for use with our endless streams of contracts and documents we sign, but a printer can also be very useful for creating and distributing marketing materials. You can get a high-quality paper from your local office supply store and print off beautiful flyers, postcards, floor plans, and more just from your own home. No need to wait weeks for a printing company to print and ship your work and then have the chance of it being wrong.
There are plenty of printers to choose from. Here is a list from PC Mag that you can check out to determine what might be the best fit.
8. LLC + Business Bank Account
This one is not nearly as fun as all of the others but is equally as important. An LLC is a corporate structure that you register with the Secretary of State. Most importantly, it can separate you from liability, and having your own LLC has a variety of tax benefits. We are simply just a newsletter so we do not give financial advice - reach out to a local attorney and an accountant and they can advise you as to what’s best.
9. A Team to help
SPEEK is a CLT-based real estate brokerage that is dedicated to providing quality agents with the best tools, connections, and creative freedom, while consistently innovating to create the future of real estate.
Since this article is about tools, they are extremely important to highlight. SPEEK has in-house teams (media, success, & solutions) that take some of the weight off of agents' shoulders so they can better serve their clients.
The Media team is dedicated to helping agents create engaging media to build their brand, get more leads, and sell homes they have for sale.
The Success team is dedicated to helping agents grow their businesses. In-house advisors assist in lead generation, marketing campaigns, branding, positioning, and more.
The Solutions team assists agents with their admin work. Transaction coordinators handle the paperwork. SPEEK gives their agents their own CRM, document management software, and more.
Most importantly, SPEEK provides this all to their agents for FREE.
Learn more about SPEEK and what they are doing to assist agents here: speekrealestate.com/join
Did you like the article? Our Success Team is dedicated to helping agents become better. Book a Free 30 minute consultation to talk about how you can better your business.