Brokers Corner: Why Mobile Technologies Are A Boon For You

With an ever-rising popularity of smartphone-based platforms, it has become an imperative for property brokers to opt for branding and marketing channels that are compatible with handsets.  According to a research study conducted by Ericsson, the current data usage in India is estimated at 3.9 GB per month. This is exceptionally high, considering India is the second-most populated country in the world.

There is more to it. The Swedish telecom major has further forecast that in the next five years, the data usage on smartphones is going to increase by four-fold. It implies that by 2023, it will be pegged at around 16-18 GB a month.

Can property brokers afford to ignore mobile technologies?

It is no secret that most homebuyers in the urban areas do online research before even contacting a real estate developer or a broker. With the proliferation of cheap data services, people have the liberty to search and research through their mobile handsets. That means mobile handsets have become a prime touch-point for nearly all the prospective client base. Property brokers who are not using marketing resources compatible with mobile handsets are on the risk of missing the bus. Those aligning their marketing plans with mobile technologies are set up to receive more leads.

Do mobile apps make sense to homebuyers?

Until a few years ago, mobile apps were known for their slow-loading speed, unreliable connections and not-so-useful functionalities.

Things have changed since. Now, mobile apps are preferred to regular desktop applications and portals as they offer user-friendly interface, speed, relevance and convenience to users. While mobile apps have become an effective tool for marketing, property brokers can also use them to improve their business efficiency and performance.

Using mobile apps, property brokers can easily share information with the buyers or sellers through email or text. This kind of easy and customised communication saves valuable time of the property brokers.

Mobile apps also enable property brokers to complete job-specific tasks such as viewing data, aggregating leads and queries, organising feedbacks, tracking follow-ups and scheduling site visits and meetings. Additional functionalities found in some apps help agents in sending custom reports through app-based messaging.

How are mobile apps helping property brokerage businesses?

Global research studies show that client communication and research top the list of trending mobile activities that property brokers perform on a routine basis. These tasks are possibly made through the increasing availability of specialised mobile technologies for real estate professionals.

Other routine activities include housing data research (72 per cent), doing financial calculations (44 per cent), prospecting (34 per cent) and home showings/client presentations (26 per cent).

Well-informed property brokers and agents know that smart phones technologies are instrumental in evoking response from homebuyers. According to research findings, most property brokers agree that customers prefer to get the latest property alerts, reports of market activities and more such information directly to the mobile device.

Property brokers usually work from remote locations, and many times they have to perform their work in between site visits. This may be done from a car or an under-construction site or any third-party location as well.

Mobile devices come handy as they can manage their businesses without losing on time and resources. It is indeed a new way of working but sooner than later mobile technologies are the way forward for property brokers in India as much as they are globally.