Michael Price – IDX Trainer
Have you heard the term, “tech stack”?
It’s techno-speak that refers to a collection of software and technology-related tools that “stack” or connect to achieve a specific goal and/or task. Understanding how each tech tool you work with, interacts, connect, and may impact the entire stack, is important.
Evaluation is critical
Whether a broker or agent, you already (perhaps without realizing it) use many tech stacks to accomplish just about everything from lead to close and beyond. While still quite complex, there have been some advances in efficiencies as they relate to transactions. MLS data standardization efforts are making great strides. Of course, It’s no mystery what impact it’s had on your business and property marketing funnels. It’s easy to become so familiar with a process or tool that you may not know a better version exists. Click the button below to download an interactive document that you can duplicate and use to evaluate the tools within your technology stacks.
Today, more than ever, evaluating each component of your stacks is critical to:
- Improving productivity
- Creating cost efficiencies
- Retention & Recruiting
- Marketing (your business and your listings)
A few things to keep in mind
- Do your due diligence on startups. If you decide to employ a new app or program in one of your stacks that becomes a critical business process, you want to be prepared for risks that could cause a nightmare if the company fails. Check reviews and talk to other clients.
- What happens if your vendor is gobbled up? Read your end-user license agreements to see what impact there may be if the vendor is acquired. There’s been quite a bit of activity lately with large brokers and well funded iBuyer companies acquiring technology vendors.
- Free is just a hook. Beware of any tool in your stack that is provided “Free” of charge (especially if it’s by a start-up.) If the tool within your stack is a critical part of your business, employing a “Freemium” product (meaning a free product offered as a means of providing an opportunity for the company to sell you on a paid version) could become problematic at best, catastrophic at worst. A good example would be utilizing a “free” product to handle something as important as your IDX home search website. There is typically no support at all for “free” websites and if a problem prevents your site from working, you’ll need to get it resolved. If the vendor fails or is acquired by one of your competitors, you’re out of business until you can rebuild a new website.
Look…A Butterfly!
The pace of real estate technology innovation & investment has accelerated rapidly in just the past few years. Artificial intelligence, iBuyers, Predictive Analytics, Blockchain, etc… etc… There have been plenty of technology-related distractions and there will never be a shortage of predictions on what the next best thing you should be doing might be. It’s important to keep your finger on the pulse. Yet there’s no reason that, with the right investment in resources and a well-reasoned strategy, any broker or agent can’t thrive and build a solid business model for now and the future.
Conclusion
I created this article and the tech tool test resource last year. It’s now more relevant than ever. I hope it helps you make the best choices possible concerning your tech strategy and your IDX home search website marketing efforts as we emerge out of uncertainty and back to what we all do best!
The most important item in your tech stack is your IDX home search website. If you need to get started or upgrade your current platform to a better lead capture experience, you owe it to yourself to get a personalized demo from an IDX specialist, it’s free and fast. Just click the button below to get on the schedule.
Here’s To Your Success!