By. Tracy Wisneski
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way REALTORS® work. Big Data has greatly accelerated machine learning giving way to many tools that increase our productivity. The following are just some of the ways that agents can use AI in their businesses.
Identifying Sellers
As we navigate a very unique seller’s market with precious, little inventory, prospecting for listings is at the top of most agents’ priority lists. Not all homeowners are likely to sell within the next few months and it’s easy to water-down our efforts and deplete our marketing budgets on unlikely prospects.
There are time consuming guessing strategies we’ve learned over the years, like searching for homes that were purchased at least five years ago, but none can compare to the information now readily at our fingertips. AI is a very valuable tool for identifying which homes are most likely to sell using predictive analytics.
Greater Tampa REALTORS® members already have access to tools that use AI to determine the likelihood to sell. Homesnap Pro designates homes that are “likely to list” or “most likely to list.” Agents can then choose to include those homes in their marketing efforts, drop off CMAs in person or employ any number of strategies to concentrate their efforts on those homeowners in particular.
Remine empowers agents to search based on “Sell Score,” which is a scale that measures the likelihood the seller may be ready to list soon. The Sell Score is also included on each home’s details page allowing agents to cross-reference information when deciding which homes to target. Once homes are selected, agents can also choose to download addresses or mailing labels.
First-Time Home Buyers
While many digital marketing outlets have limited demographics that can be used to target ads, “first-time buyers” is still a target offered on platforms like Facebook and Google. A multitude of information is used to identify likely first-time home buyers. Agents can use this targeting to get their marketing in front of first-time home buyers, many of whom may then become lifelong clients if the agents take excellent care of them and maintain communication after closing.
Rating & Cultivating Leads
Several CRMs, use AI to rank leads on how likely they are to buy soon. Much like ranking homes likely to sell, this is very helpful to direct our focus on those leads most likely to convert soon. In addition, these same tools also utilize AI by analyzing user’s search history in order to suggest more homes in which they might be interested in. They “learn” what the buyers like the most and help by delivering more homes that fit their search patterns.
These platforms also use AI to strategically time emails and text messages that correspond with buyers’ activity. Did they saved a listing and look at it several times? The system then sends them a text message asking if they’d like to set up an appointment to see the property. Having this type of lead cultivation going on behind-the-scenes while we’re out on showings and appointments is very valuable.
Chatbots
Let’s face it, we can’t be sitting in front of a screen all day, every day waiting for prospects to contact us, but a chatbot can. AI chatbots are significantly better than the very basic chatbots that came before AI. They are far more intuitive, conversational and can even gather requested information faster than you can! There are several options that can access MLS and various sources in order to answer specific questions on listings, neighborhoods, schools and more. An effective AI chatbot can provide valuable information in real time and capture the lead so you can follow-up at your next opportunity.
Follow-up, Because YOU Matter the Most Technology continues to provide more and more sophisticated tools to help us in our industry, but keep in mind that our direct contact and personal touches are integral. AI helps us to streamline our work, concentrate on leads that are more likely to convert, tee-up leads from cold to warm, organize our work and more; but to really get ‘er done, we’ve got to work on our connections, follow-up and relationship-building. Combining new tools with tried-and-true strategies makes for a winning combination.
What AI tools are YOU using in your business? Join the conversation with us on Twitter or on Facebook @ TampaGTR.
Tracy Wisneski is a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Champions and a social/ digital media strategist.
