Tag: technology

Save time and automate! Freshdesk is one tech tool you should not be without

Anne Ewasko Leave a comment

In this fiercely competitive market, a modern real estate agent requires innovative technologies to succeed. Having an automated communication system is key to helping you save time to grow your business and provide your clients with the most effective service.

Nowadays, clients want prompt, individualized communication through channels of their choice — some prefer emails, some prefer texts and others through apps or other means. With so many options, it can be hard for us agents to keep up. The solution is to digitize your customer engagement.

Check out Freshdesk, an intuitive, omnichannel customer support platform, which does just that.

What is Freshdesk?

Freshdesk is cloud-based customer support software that’s feature-rich and user-friendly. With a variety of support channels available, such as live chat, phone, email and social media, it helps you assist consumers in their chosen mode of communication. In short, it is online cloud-based customer service software that offers support with all smart automation systems to do the work more efficiently and faster.

How does Freshdesk work?

Freshdesk enables real estate agents to:

1. Keep all data in one place

Maintain and track customer information, do away with various systems, emails, spreadsheets, etc. Instead, utilize a single, easily accessible system of records to manage all of your business dealings in one place.

2. Address customer needs with ease

Deliver customized experiences every time a customer contacts you via phone, email, social media, WhatsApp, live chat or Apple Business Chat. One of the keys to preserving a positive client relationship is personalization.

3. Increase output

Automate repetitive, time-consuming activities to speed up your service and make resources readily available. Quick responses and problem-solving demonstrate your sincere respect for your client’s time.

4. Cooperate with clients as a team

Give your internal and client-facing team members the tools they need to collaborate and communicate without difficulty to address clients’ needs and to facilitate a smooth transaction.

Some of the Pros and Cons of FreshDesk

The Pros:

• Simple to use

• Inexpensive

• Stylish and practical design

• Provides an expansive platform for customer assistance

• Automates advanced workflows

• Numerous integrations with other Freshworks products are simple
Mobile applications available for both iOS and Android devices

Cons

• SMS and Instagram integration are not available

• Limited rules and automation

• Can be challenging to set up

• Poor dashboard (Please note that Freshdesk Analytics is still in beta. The current dashboard only provides essential functionality)

• Support for all essential functionality is not particularly inventive compared to alternatives

• Not all the plans provide dashboards and analytics

Freshdesk Pricing

Freshdesk offers four pricing plans:

1. Free plan

Gives access up to 10 real estate agents for the basics.

2. Growth plan: $18/month or $180/year

Intuitive, industry-leading support for developing businesses. Includes all features in the free plan, including agent collision detection, plus automation, business hours, SLA management and more.

3. Pro plan: $59/month

High performance using advanced automation. Includes all growth plan features, custom apps, time tracking, performance reports, CSAT survey and a multilingual knowledge base.

4. Enterprise plan: $95/month

Fully functional with bots for business-level support.

Additionally, you can buy extra add-ons if the listed plans do not suit your requirements.

Bottom Line

Freshdesk offers the most comprehensive and user-friendly assistance across all channels from a single, unified platform to quickly answer client concerns with workforce automation. It’s a great way to keep things straight and automated, allowing you to reduce repetitive tasks and save time. Having a system like this in place will maintain client satisfaction and provide a better client service. Who wouldn’t want that? Happier clients mean a happier bottom line for your business.

Anne Ewasko is a veteran Realtor in the Chicago area and a longtime techie. Visit her at anne.luxhomechicago.com.

How to get started with video marketing

Anne Ewasko Leave a comment

Video-enhanced real estate listings generate 403% more interest than those without, and while video marketing is extremely powerful for agents, it remains highly underutilized.

According to the NAR Research Group’s 2021 Technology Survey, 37% of participants claim they use video in their marketing, while 27% admitted they don’t. The other 35% said they are not presently using video for marketing but plan to do so soon.

For agents still putting off video marketing, it’s not too late to get started in learning to create high-quality video content for each property you list and to market it yourself.

Four advantages of using video marketing

  1. The facts are self-evident. Customers are increasingly interested in videos more than other mediums, such as text and photographs. You will generate leads, beat out competitors and showcase your properties and services in a visually striking manner.
  2. One of the most important aspects of real estate is trust. Helping clients buy or sell a home entails winning their trust and demonstrating your integrity. Video can be used not only to showcase an agent’s skill or property, but also to build trust — thus building a good relationship with potential clients.
  3. Time is money. And with the initial investment of your time to create your marketing videos, it will pay off, as you can reuse them again and again to promote your business, saving you time in the long run.
  4. Google and the other search engines love videos, and with fresh content, your website will rank higher and higher as you go.

Getting started

A wide variety of tools is available for creating videos. If you are a beginner, I’ve found that WeVideo works best. It is easy, fast and flexible. You do not need prior experience or sophisticated equipment to create fantastic videos with WeVideo.

Advantages of WeVideo

The free online video editing application combines the ease of use of a simple editor with the functionalities of professional editing software. You can quickly upload videos and begin editing them in the storyboard thanks to its JumpStart feature.

It has an easy-to-use interface and dashboard that allows access to all features with a single click or through drag-and-drop.

With a paid subscription, you have over 1 million videos, stock images and audio clips at your disposal. You can also integrate a wide range of media resources into your project.

It gives you the ability to work on high-resolution videos up to 4K Ultra HD, allowing you to provide your audience with an unforgettable experience. And, because these high-end videos take up a lot of space, the software includes cloud storage, where you can keep all of your data, including ongoing projects.

WeVideo syncs all of your work across multiple devices, ensuring that everything stays in sync even if you work on a project on multiple devices.

Create videos on any device, including Chromebooks, Macs, Windows machines and smartphones. In addition, WeVideo mobile apps for Android and iOS smartphones allow you to edit videos on the go.

After you’ve finished editing, you can share your work with the rest of the world directly from the app on social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube.

Disadvantages of WeVideo

WeVideo offers practically everything you need for editing. However, it lacks some advanced features that professional video editors frequently use. For example, picture-in-picture, multicam editing, support for 3D and 360-degree videos, LUTs and other features are absent.

More advanced options

WeVideo is great for beginners, but if you need something more advanced, there are many available, though you will need some prior experience to navigate through some of them. Here are a few of the better ones:

Adobe Premiere Pro CC
Shortcut
HitFilm Express
Final Cut Pro X
Lightworks
Corel VideoStudio Ultimate
Blender

The bottom line

Our real estate industry is one of the few sectors with significant video potential yet to be exploited. As a real estate agent, you’ll find that video offers a level of value that images and text simply cannot match. So, start making use of videos today and take your business to a new level.

Anne Ewasko is a veteran Realtor in the Chicago area and a longtime techie. Visit her at anne.luxhomechicago.com.