Realty Innovator

1. Unique toll-free number with unlimited extensions: Make sure that you are not placed on a generic “shared” toll-free number. Some services will offer discounted pricing, but place you on a number with hundred’s of other agents.  In these cases the extension numbers can become cumbersome for the consumer and there is no chance for you to brand your number in the future.

Also, smaller services will offer lower pricing for a limited number of extensions. It is important to find a system that offers unlimited listing potential. Free consumer reports, FSBOs, borrowed inventory…the number of uses are unlimited so make sure that your system can support them.  If you do not do this, once your marketing takes off and your business begins to grow it will cost you more money and time in the long run.

2. Reverse name and address append: Most systems will take the incoming number and run it through multiple databases to verify an accurate name and address for the caller. This information is invaluable for your follow-op systems and drip campaigns. Various systems price this service differently, so make sure that they have an unlimited look-up pricing package.

3. Multiple live transfers per extension: A good call capture system will allow the caller to transfer directly to you after listening to recorded information. This is standard on most systems, but not all.

You will also need to have the capability to transfer to multiple destinations. It will become imperative as you expand your system to keep all relative parties, like lender partners, connected.

4. Turnkey marketing system: A seasoned company will provide you with scripts, templates, ads and pre-loaded reports modeled after productive agents’ practices to help you achieve a steady stream of quality leads. Informational reports can help you to identify potential buyers, generate new listings, and convert FSBOs.

5. Full web integration: Maintenance of your toll-free number should be fully available over the phone and through the internet. We almost need to develop an entirely new list of features that should be available through the web, but we will simply to the essentials. Your call capture system should all you to:

6. Contact Manager Integration: At the very least you should be able to download your call reports in a .csv or .txt so you can manually import this data into your contact manager. However, more advanced services will actually integrate automatically with systems such as Top Producer 8i to seamlessly import your leads.

7. No contracts: We have been aware of call capture technology for over ten years and it works. However, this is not true of all providers. Find a well-established provider and do not get locked into a contract, the good companies do not need one.

8. SMS/Text Message Delivery: This is a relatively new feature, but essential to converting the younger demographic. It allows the consumer to not only receive recorded information, but also automatically sends property details directly to their cell phone via SMS/text message.

Advanced systems will also allow prospects to receive pictures of the property on demand.  According to the latest NAR "Profile of Buyers and Sellers" this was the most desired information available about listings.

9. Detailed call reporting with ad tracking: With the cost of real estate advertising rising and the return diminishing, it is more important now than ever to ensure that your marketing dollars are being used effectively. Many systems only make basic call reports available, showing calling number, date, and extension. Make sure that the system you invest in provides additional reporting features that will easily display who is calling, where they saw your advertisement, and when the peak access times occur.

10. Faxmail Delivery: Amazingly this technology is still very prevalent in the real estate industry. Due to the large size of many of the contracts that need to be transmitted, many people still find this the easiest way to exchange documents.  Many call capture systems double as a remote fax line delivering your faxes directly to your email and even archiving them on the internet.

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