I’m a RE/MAX broker in Toledo Ohio with 85 associates in 3 locations and over 700 listings. We closed about 1700 transaction in 2010 and are on track to do so again in 2011. We do business throughout Metro-Toledo and sell homes, condos, apartments, land etc. Basically, we deal with all types of property and people. What I’m getting at is this, nearly every day someone is in my office complaining about technology. Perhaps it’s a seller that wants only email communication, but doesn’t check their email regularly (while complaining about technology the entire time to the listing agent or anyone else that will listen). Or maybe it’s an agent complaining about a 20 something buyer that wants to negotiate a purchase offer via text messaging exclusively. In my opinion, these people are actually in the middle of the continuum. On either side of them we have people who still have (and use) a home phone and don’t have internet access. On the other end of the spectrum are those people who consider it normal to have their smart phone downloading a new app while looking at social media on their iPad and check work email on the lap top all while enjoying family movie night at home on the couch. As sales professionals it is our job to size up and sort out the level of technology our clients (and yes, even the other agent involved) are comfortable with using.
Let’s be honest here…how many of us regularly use the fax machine collecting dust in our office? In a new era of technology options, we are forced to know and understand the options that exist. Electronic signatures are here to stay. So is the new world economy. Our web site, www.MetroToledoHomes.com is getting hits from across the country and around the world. Investors have identified Toledo and many of our suburbs like Perrysburg, Oregon, Waterville, Maumee and Bowling Green as great places to put their money. And yes, like many of our other clients they are doing business electronically.
One piece of advice that I consistently recommend is to identify the communication preference that your client is comfortable with. Yes, if it’s a couple, there may very well be two different communication applications going within one side of the transaction. When you factor in the other side of the transaction, the lender, appraiser, title company
and perhaps even a 3rd party company or asset manager; there are multiple layers of communication methods taking place. As engaged professionals, we no longer have the luxury of not learning that next new thing; it’s our job.
To be certain, there are clients out there that are “no tech” wanted. They want to speak in person or at the very least on the phone and insist on original documents with real ink on them. I say great; go see them at Starbucks and wear your name badge to better leverage the appointment. Then, go back to the office and scan the documents to a jpg…the next person in the transaction will be asking for it soon enough.
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