Call Capture: Keeping Real Estate Agents Mobile And Efficient
By Brandi Armstrong
Mobility is a crucial part of being a real estate agent. Sure, agents often have offices, but the best way to get sales is to spend time out in the field showing properties to potential buyers. It’’s therefore quite important for agents to find new ways to gain the freedom that supports their business. Call capture systems are providing a great new way for agents to attain that type of freedom, and offer new versatility in the way that their users interact with potential clients.
The basic idea of a call capture system is easy to understand. When potential clients call a real estate agent regarding a particular property, a recording gives them information about the property while collecting basic data that can be used by the agent. Basically, call capture generates leads for real estate agents while providing a valuable service for clients. Different numbers can be assigned to different properties, and the most popular services also feature call forwarding and other features that make them quite formidable tools. The advantages of call capture are numerous, and are really only limited by the imagination of the individual using the system.
Call capture allows for the forwarding of mission-critical calls, so if a lead is particularly interested in a property or ready to buy, he can get through to the agent instantly by dialing a certain extension - regardless of where the agent is. This way, every time a real estate agent’’s cell phone rings, he or she can be sure that the caller on the other end of the line is serious. On top of this, the agent can get information about the caller before even picking up the phone via the call capture system, such as the caller’’s name and the exact property that they”re calling about - this makes the system more valuable than a typical call forwarding feature, and can ensure that none of a real estate agent’’s time is wasted.
It’’s important to note that less serious inquiries are still treated as important calls, and that they aren”t simply written off. The purpose of a call capture system isn”t just to “weed out” the more casual callers, but rather to turn them into viable leads. The audio recordings played back to initial callers can be customized for each property to this end - by giving tantalizing details about a house and by using phrases that make the caller curious (such as, “to find out the price of this house, dial 4″), call capture works as an active part of a real estate agent’’s selling process. The agent spends less time converting the less serious leads and more time selling in the field - and the system ensures that the agent will always have a steady stream of interested home buyers and sellers to contact if business slows down.
Even missed calls can be developed with the use of the services. Calls that go to voice mail can be emailed directly to an agent, and text messaging features built into the system can notify an agent when a certain client calls, when a new voice mail is available, or in other common situations. This means that even when an agent doesn”t have his or her cell phone on, call capture works to develop each lead. This gives an agent freedom to actually turn off his phone every once in a while, which can especially be helpful when speaking with a client face-to-face, without worrying about the loss of revenue from such a simple action.
Most call capture systems also come with faxing capabilities, making them a more complete virtual office solution. Because real estate agents are on the road a lot of the time, they don”t have access to a fax machine. With a virtual fax feature, faxing from the road is done easily from any laptop or smart phone with Internet access. It isn”t then necessary to make a trip back to the office or a local copy store to send an important fax to a client. This keeps the real estate agent mobile and efficient while out showing homes and meeting with clients.
In the modern market, most of an agent’’s time is spent developing leads, so it’’s not difficult to see the advantage of successfully automating many of the stages of that process. An agent’’s talents and ability to create relationships with clients are still the most important tools that he”ll have, of course; a call capture system simply allows him to become more mobile and free to spend time out of an office (and more leads to spend that time on), and such investments can quickly be translated into sales.
About The Author
For salespeople in a sometimes difficult and crowded industry, the advantages call capture gives to its agents can be game changing, and can keep profits up when the competition is dragging. To learn more about call capture, or to get a 15 Day Free Trial, visit http://www.RealtyOne800.com today.