Vacation at home - Lake Living with a view in Erskine Lakes, Ringwood, NJ Marketed by Marie Episale, REALTOR, ePRO - CENTURY 21 Crest Real Estate 201-314-0106.
Stunning 3BR Lakestyle Home in Erskine Lakes! Hot Tub! Gazebo! Open Floor Plan!
Click on photo for more information about these listings: CENTURY 21 Crest Real Estate services most of Northern New Jersey including Morris, Passaic, Essex, Bergen and Sussex counties. Rolling hills and flat pastures - whatever is your taste. Call 973-646-7423 for assistance.
Marie Episale, REALTOR, ePro ~ Soon we (REALTORS) will all be evalutated, catergorized, reviewed and rated. The "wisdom of the crowd" will direct consumers to the best REALTORS.
Inspired by a January 19th, 2011 blog on Reputation Architecture by Jon Washburn (Active Rain Corp) - Jon put words to the thoughts that have been "jamming" inside my head for some time now. I too, see the future of consumer selection of Real Estate agents relying heavily on the "wisdome of the crowds" - through online ratings and reviews.
Consumers, our future clients, will have access to our past clients opinions of us. How did we perform our job? Are we the best person for the task at hand? This is good. This will reward those professional REALTORS who work extremely hard day in and day out, servicing their clients to the best of their ability. Our customer service efforts will be reflected in our scores.
I prepared a Power Point presentation for this weeks CENTURY 21 Crest Real Estate office meeting to discuss the topic of Reputation Architecture. I am proud of our office's achievement of the 2010 PINNACLE QUALITY SERVICE AWARD (compilation of our past client survey ratings of our office and our agents after the close of each transaction). We have maintained a score of 97% or above for over 10 years now. This achievement is not taken lightly by myself or our broker, Pat Wojtyszyn. We are committed to providing Quality Service to our agents AND our clients.
The Reputation Architecture presentation has been converted to a SlideShare presentation so you can view it here.
Remember to reflect on what the CEO of Yelp says: "I think we live in a new age of transparency, which is a great thing if you're fantastic at customer service. Customer service is the new marketing" ~ Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO of Yelp
So, REALTORS: Take notice. Be mindful of this inevitable Marketing Strategy shift in our industry. Keep up with your online Social and Professional networks. Take care of your Clients and Customers. They are the reviewers of your future!
Check out my live video streaming channel below. I am new at this but will be hosting an Open house this Sunday, December 5th at 5903 Tudor Drive in Pompton Plains from 1-4pm - I will also be Broadcasting Live on location for anyone who can't make it but still wants to have a look around - come visit me - either in person or virtually! Looking forward to it.
Marie Episale, REALTOR, ePRO, Manager/Trainer: Trying out live videa via www.Qik.com and www.bambuser.com. Not quite sure of exactly how I will be implementing this in my Real Estate business or how to help my agents use these tools, but some ideas:
Host a virtual Open House - Broadcast live using one of these tools. Invite the public via print advertising, Twitter, Facebook etc - Give link to live broadcast.
Preview properties for buyers - live - chat available to speak to the clients if they cannot be there for a showing. Or, bring my iPad and talk to them via Line 2 (www.line2.com - a second line for my iPhone).
Publish "Events" - in advance - Live Video broadcast while it is happening
Training Events, Sessions, Workshops: Video live - Available to watch at a later time -
I will be testing out my LIVE CHANNEL: visit while I learn and then stop back, as I am sure I will get better and better at this. I'll be testing today from New Milford, New Jersey as I enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with my friends.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
... more to come
November 26th update: So this is what I have figured out (so far). In order for someone to watch your "live streaming", they need to register on http://www.qik.com Once registered, they can tune into your channel (mine is http://www.qik.com/mepisale -
I tested "live" recording today when I was driving to re-show a townhouse in Wanaque. Kind of gave a "live broadcast" tour as I approached the town, and while driving through the town. I gave tidbits along the way explaining what I could, without a prepared script. I did not prearrange for anyone to watch it live, but when I got back to the office, I logged onto my "channel" and there it was - my 6 minutes or so of my "Wanaque tour". Pretty easy. I then uploaded it to YouTube - (more testing).
Not the best quality and my script was not prepared, but I am learning the "system". Great technology. I will be using it this weekend to "show" houses to a "homebound" client. I will have them watch me live. They can "chat" with me while I am live (type text and it will show up on my phone) - Also, I tested it with my sister Tere yesterday. I can be on the phone with her (iPhone) and still be recording live. Way cool! This is going to come in handy....
I recently attended a "We Teach Google" seminar given by Dean Isenberg in Elizabeth. I thought I knew a lot about Google tools for REALTORs, but I learned so much that day. Well worth the $99 cost. If you see it in your area, make it a "must go".
Several weeks ago, when I noticed that there STILL is not a RainCamp scheduled for Atlanta, I signed up for a seminar presented by The Google Academy on "Using Google for Real Estate" and the "2010 Google AdWords/SEO Seminar." How could I go wrong? Today was the day.
The entire morning session was spent on Google's G-mail. Of course, our instructor touched on the basics of G-mail, the Google tool bar and a few of Google's unique features (weather, stock quotes, time, sports scores, airline travel info, etc.,) One of the most interesting things we learned in this morning's session was that, once you are using Google G-mail, your data is no longer stored on your computer but on "the cloud." (I'm assuming "the cloud" is somewhere near Mars, maybe to the right of Pluto.) The cloud stores data FOREVER. If When your computer crashes, if you are using G-Mail, the data is never lost. That sounds good to me.
Next, here are a few great Google services that I was unaware of. If you're not using then, you should start immediately. I certainly will:
Google's Free 411 Information Service - 1-800-466-4411. Never again call 411 to get a number, which you'll be charged for. Plug this number into your cell phone now.
Google SMS for your cell phone. First, text "help" to 466453 from your cell phone, then it will register in your system. This is the number for Google SMS. Shoot them a text any time you are looking for a pizza place (text "pizza" and your zip code), flight information (type DL or the airline code and flight number), or whatever info. you need and it will come right back to you within seconds. In class I typed "weather" and my zip code. Within about 20 seconds I had a weather report for my area for the next 3 days!
ChaCha Assistant - This is so cool! With ChaCha you can ask any question in conversational English and receive an accurate answer in a text message. You can either text your question to 242242 (spells "ChaCha") or call 1-800-224-2242. Amaze all your friends at the next office party with your unlimited knowledge!
Okay, I'm realizing this is going to be way too long if I share everything, so I'll cut to the chase. We then went on to Google Docs (again, where everything is saved to "the cloud" for infinity and beyond), Google Blogger, Google Picasa, UTube (which is owned by Google), and on and on and on. We all had headaches by lunchtime. But here is what blew us ALL away.
How many of you know that your smart phones have scanners built in? No? I didn't either, but they do. You will need to download a free app to use it, like "scanlife," but the technology is there. (Have you seen the commercial where the couple scans their checks from their smart phones and deposits them without ever going near the bank? That's what wer're talking about.) Now, hold that thought for a moment.
Have you ever heard of a "QR-Code"? "QR" stands for "quick response." With the scanner that's built into your smart phone, you can scan any bar code, or QR-Code, and receive a transmittal of information. The bar code will tell your smart phone how much the item costs there in the store, but also how much the same item costs in several other stores. Instant price check! But here's the amazing thing. A QR-Code can link to 1) a website, 2) video hosted on a website, or 3) text information. The QR-Code provides additional information to the tech-savvy person who is seeking it.
Okay, so what's the application for you, the Realtor? How about affixing a QR-Code to your Realtor signs? The buyer drives down the street, sees the home you have listed and wants more info, but can't get into the home at the moment. What's a buyer to do? He whips out his smart phone, scans the code which you have linked to a virtual tour, and views the virtual tour on his phone instantly. Or maybe you have a QR-Code that's linked to Google Maps. Or, if you're a stager like me, you might produce a brochure with a code on it that's linked to a slide show of your most recent staging job. Wow! For more information and to see an example of a QR-Code, here's a link to the Fast Signs website. Check it out. The possibilities are endless. QRStuff.com is another good site on the subject.
There's lots more I took notes on that I'd like to share with you, but I'm tired of typing and you're probably tired of reading. While The Google Academy was great and I heard much more than I could process, I'm still pining away after RainCamp. Somebody toss me an umbrella!
Patsy Overton, AHS, CNRCP
Accredited Home Stager * Certified Color Consultant
Come live in the Township that has everything! Convenient to highways (23, 46, 287, 80). Flat and Level terrain for walking, biking, & hiking. In this cozy town you will find 14 parks and a Resident swimming Lake - This home is in excellent condition and is tucked away on a "no outlet" street.
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