The coronavirus is slowing down businesses everywhere and grinding some to a complete halt. Moving around becomes difficult and meeting people even harder. Just the two things you are counting on when selling real estate.

Many real estate companies are not equipped to handle this change. How do we reach the customer at home and give them the trust to buy, or at least stay interested until the time the Corona crisis is over?

Now it is time to adapt to the changing times rapidly. You can't afford to slow down your sales machine, so here are a few tools that can help you reach your customer and keep on selling. Who knows, maybe you like the results and keep on saving time by converting customers online.

Online Meetings

We are all used to online meetings, whether you have that international meeting or the call with your kids when you are travelling. It might be different than meeting up physically, but it is the next best thing.

With a video conference call, you can still see the reaction of the person you interact with; you can share screens, share presentations and even take notes depending on the software that you are using. When it comes down to software, there are many different options, depending on what you are searching for, you can try one of the options listed here.

Vectera
Video call, session recording, share screen, co-browse, take notes.
Zoom
Video call, session recording, share screen, take notes.
Skype
Video call, share screen
Whatsapp
Video call

And all of them have a free or trial based account, so what do you have to lose?

To get the most out of the experience it is important you do the online call in a quiet place and mind the surroundings in which you are. In the following article, you can find a guide to the perfect setup: https://thewirecutter.com/blog/professional-video-call-from-home/

Virtual tours

While an online meeting can be a great replacement for a meeting, the customers still need to see the property. And if you can't bring the customer to the property, bring the property to the customer. Depending on the property you are selling, you can choose from many options.

Existing real estate

Matterport
Virtual tour based on a 3D scan. Dollhouses, images and a full walkthrough.
Nodalview
Virtual tour based on photos. 360 tours and panoramas.

To create these virtual tours, you will still have to go to the property yourself. There is no way to get this information while staying home.

Newly build
Since the building does not exist yet, you have to use 3D to simulate the environment. You might already have some 3D images but these still need to be converted to 360 images. Besides that, your pictures, videos and virtual tours are not linked to each other. Or are they?

Check out Prompto
Every piece of content can be linked-to each other to tell a story to the viewer, a great way to show a full view of the property.

If you want to get some more information about the use of virtual showings, check out this article: https://prompto.com/360-virtual-tour-as-marketing-tool/

Follow up data

When sending out information, you need to know if customers are interacting with your proposal. Reaching out at the right moment makes the difference between interrupting the customer and signing the deal. With the tools below, you can track the interaction of the customer and know when they are ready to be convinced.

Hubspot
Full CRM and marketing automation tool.
Salesflare
Sales CRM that integrates into your mail client.
MailTrack
Tracking of emails in your Gmail environment.

Most professional tools out there have some tracking integrated into their software. If not, you might consider changing to a software that has more focus on sales enablement. This way, you lower the risk of losing customers along the way.

Digital signing

When it comes down to making a deal, it's only over when the signature is on the contract. But since you can't meet each other, how do we tackle this hurdle? Well, luckily, digital signing of agreements is legal and binding.

Docusign
Adobe Sign
eSignatures

All of these tools work the same way, you email the contract, and the customer has a few ways of signing it (type, sign on the phone,...) .Both of you get a copy, completing the transaction in a transparent and legally approved way. This all happens online and results in a faster turnaround time

In search of a complete tool

Well, when it comes down to getting most boxes checked, you will have to look for a tool that can help you on many fronts. Let's say "One tool to rule them all"
Unfortunately, no such tool has been released for the real estate market just yet.

At Prompto we are trying to create the best buying experience a customer can get, so you can start selling smarter. With a lot of the above features already implemented, we can definitely help you with your need.

Besides that, we are constantly looking for that next feature that will help your business. Got time for an online meeting?