Digital life hacks for real estate agents

There are a lot of fiddly issues that real estate agents traditionally have to deal with, and compiling a proposal for prospects and clients is widely regarded as one of the most complicated and annoying.

Having heard countless times that proposal prep is by far one of the biggest pain points for agents, we conducted a survey in June at the AREC 2019 conference on the Gold Coast to find out what agents consider the biggest challenges when it comes to preparing vendor proposals.

Hundreds of agents participated in the research, providing a rare insight into industry-wide challenges when it comes to vendor proposals. Here is the list of the top 5 issues we identified with vendor proposals and the digital solutions that can make life easier for agents.

1) NOT BEING SEEN DIFFERENTLY FROM OTHER AGENTS

Standing out from the pack is a clear advantage in real estate, and vendors are generally inundated with old school cardboard folders containing printed materials or generic PDF’s as sales proposals.

The average consumer is now used to apps and on-demand technology as it affords them the freedom of when and how they consume content. The writing is on the wall, so it’s time to take note! Digital proposals can be tailored to look incredibly impressive and provide all pertinent info in a format that is quick, easy and dynamic.

If you want to make a statement and stand out from the pack, a slick digital proposal could make all the difference.

2) TOO HARD TO PERSONALISE FOR EACH NEW PROSPECT

Real estate agents want to work towards where their strengths lie, and more often than not this is in forming, managing and utilising relationships. Personalising a proposal for each and every vendor takes agents away from what they really want to be doing (and what they’re best at).

Digital proposal formats are highly customisable, allowing agents to personalise them and include elements they know will speak to individual vendors without placing undue strain on resources. In fact, a seriously impressive bespoke digital proposal with wow-factor can be created quickly and easily without the need for any specialised IT skills.

3) THE TIME IT TAKES TO PRODUCE A PROPOSAL

If personalising proposals takes an inordinate amount of time, it goes without saying that creation of the initial proposal is a significant investment of time, effort and focus. Even the old approach of working off a boiler-plate template can take many hours to produce a proposal that is usable and effective.

By creating digital proposals off our proprietary platform, you can produce a visually appealing, fully customised proposal in minutes – not hours or days. As an added bonus, once you create your digital proposal, it can be used to ensure uniformity and consistency in your branding, style guidelines and tone of voice.

4) NOT KNOWING WHEN THE PROSPECT IS LOOKING AT IT

After investing so much time and effort into creating a proposal, knowing when and even if a prospect has looked at the proposal can weigh heavily on your mind. So, to make life easier, our digital proposals offer real time analytics so you can see when a proposal has been opened, how many times it has been looked at and even what times of day, so you can get strategic around your social media and marketing communications tactics (release content when you know people are looking).

Plus, on the ProposalPoint platform, in addition to realtime notifications, you will know the instant a client accepts a proposal, allowing you to take action and ramp up your interactions, giving the client peace of mind that you are working hard in their best interests.

5) TOO HARD TO PRODUCE VISUALLY APPEALING ONES

Agents have enough on their plates without having to worry about graphic design and copywriting. However, a proposal that looks the business could well land you the business, so it’s worth spending some time on the look and feel of a proposal.

The highly customisable nature of digital proposals makes them the perfect option for agents who want a modern aesthetic that communicates their brand and imperative messaging. With multiple stylish templates and an intuitive, easy to use interface, sharpening the look of your proposals has never been so easy.