Apps & gadgets for the modern agent

Matt Lahood discusses how he and his team test and select the best digital tools for them

Discover how The Agency is embracing new ways of working and serving clients based on a strong reliance on digital tools and technology.

Matt Lahood shares details of the approach he and his team take to test and then decide on the tools or devices that will help them become more productive and deliver a better level of customer service to home sellers, buyers and property investors alike.

For a consultation on how to excel online contact the team at www.hoole.co today.

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Following is the video transcript.

Apps & gadgets for the modern real estate agent

Melanie Hoole

Social media platforms. Which ones are your favourites?

Matt Lahood

I’d have to say LinkedIn. I try to declutter my mind around other social media platforms. LinkedIn for me is a bit of a blend between social and work.

Melanie Hoole

What kind of things do you like to read or watch on LinkedIn?

Matt Lahood

More the news and the topic of relative things to our industry. I find myself watching probably more of the video content if there was an auction or an interview. I usually find some really good content on there.

Melanie Hoole

Anybody in particular that you follow?

I just saw Jerry Harvey doing an interview this morning. I was enthralled about what he’s doing with Amazon and I picked up a lot of good information.

Deepak Chopra is one of my favourites, I’ve been following Deepak for 20 years and am always inspired by him.

Staying in-the-know with digital education

Melanie Hoole

Where do you learn about the latest digital techniques?

Matt Lahood

A lot of things Steve Caroll’s been doing and showing and other seminars that have been out. I’ve been to a number of those, which have been really interesting. I’ve learnt a lot.

My kids show me all the latest apps and stuff, consistently. They are 18 and 21 years old. So they’re using all the latest Messenger tools.

But also anything new out there in the marketplace, which my team sees and thinks has potential and is going to be the next big thing or it will give our clients an advantage or the team an easier way to do business. Whether it’s an app for an Open House or whether for the leasing team. Or sign on glass, all these types of things that are coming through.

But also I think it’s dangerous grabbing every last thing as well. I think I take an approach to less is more in the sense where I prefer just picking one or two and back it all the way. We look at where its future development will go, rather than having an app for this, an app for that, and we’re just all day on apps.

Selecting the best tool or gadget for the task

Melanie Hoole

How do you evaluate if something’s good or not?

Matt Lahood

We usually get a test run for our busiest teams with anything we’re ever going to adopt.

We just changed CRMs recently. I got four top highest producing teams to thrash it hard, testing what’s good, what’s not good and then they came back, and it was pretty unanimous that this new CRM was better than what we were currently using. They trialled two others as well and concluded which one was best and we ended up going in that direction.

Melanie Hoole

Very good. You do have to test apples against oranges.

Matt Lahood

Absolutely, there is nothing worse than forcing something onto people. You have to get the user involved. I think in real estate it can be dangerous as a leader to simply sit in a control room, pushing buttons, and not actually be out on the field.

I go out on Saturdays to the auction. I’ve actually got listings myself. I’m using all the tools that everyone’s using so it’s actually a lot easier for me to make an executive decision if I need to.

You have to have your hands on the wheel. It’s more of a ‘body contact sport’ in real estate.

Devices to suit sales versus property management teams

Melanie Hoole

So, what gadgets or tools do you give to your team?

Matt Lahood

The property management team has all the latest technology. They are given iPads, computers, phones. The agents tend to work on their own. They’re very focused on what they like. Some prefer to use MacBook’s, some are on PC, and some are just using an iPad.

I’ve noticed a trend lately where agents aren’t bringing laptops anymore anywhere. They’re migrating to tablets. Because at open homes it’s probably a little bit less offensive to take names on an iPad than it is on a phone. If you’re on your phone, you can also look like you’re texting.

I’ve noticed a lot of them migrating tablets and using the apps, even to take photos, and using our CRM on the tablet device.

I guess they’ve got it all in one with the iPad. They can print with the 4G version, they can just download things in real-time, send contracts to people, sign agreements and so forth.

All these types of things are becoming normal now. So apps and gadgets are personal to the sales agents. With the property management team they obviously need a certain setup that works with the back end systems, so they get supplied all the equipment.

About this video series

Hoole.co’s video series brings together the best digital and social media minds in the real estate industry, to share the wonders of the web and magic of mobile. Subscribe to Hoole.co or follow us on social media (below) for free tips and tricks to grow your reputation and attract prospects, digitally.

Written by Melanie Hoole

My team and I specialise in helping real estate and property professionals perfect their personal brand, build a first-class digital profile and implement inbound marketing activities to attract leads. If you are unsure which direction to take with your digital marketing contact me for help.