This year Rex jumped headfirst into the world of automation. The focus came from our conversations with users frustrated by the humdrum of monotonous and mundane tasks that are vitally important, but time-consuming, and fuelled by the desire to deliver more personalised service at scale.
Never miss another listing opportunity
From the introduction of auto-send of emails and SMS from tracks (or workflows) and automation of calendar follow-up reminders to the integration with the leading automation tool, Zapier, Rex has introduced a toolset that lets you put your agency on autopilot.
Rexfest LIVE
While 2021 is giving us a rollercoaster ride, with half the country currently in lock-down, the team at Rex were excited to bring a live pop-up event format back to the Brisbane market. As part of a trial program of three events, Rexfest LIVE is positioned to really deliver insights and community sharing amongst our growing audience of property professionals.
Our first event championed automation and allowed us to showcase some pretty cool outcomes from agencies using the combo power punch of Rex and RiTA. With an AI layer over our Rex CRM, RiTA works like a digital employee, doing all the upfront work to find and secure your next appraisal.
The Future of Work
Our Automation Superhero lineup started with Ian Campbell, CEO of RiTA/AiRE Software (channelling The Thing) discussing the future of work for estate agents. With data underpinning everything agents need to do, growing at scale can be challenging when it comes to delivering a consistent level of service.
Did you know?
- 30% of the database have NEVER been contacted
- 91% have not engaged within 6 months
- 92% have not engaged within 3 months
Source: AiRE Software 2021
Whether your database has 5,000 contacts or 50,000 contacts, it can be challenging to know where to start. Often getting new leads feels more efficient than mining the ones you have. And that’s where the combo of automation, AI and your data comes to the fore.
Being human wins the race
While the tools can help power through the mundane tasks, Ian shared his top 5 – the things you need to make sure you and your software are doing together:
1. Build relationships by showing empathy
2. Influence and negotiate using social channels
3. Stay positive and optimistic, imagining the untapped potential
4. Solve new problems with emotional connections
5. Adapt quickly, showing warmth and humanity
The Hero Panel
Part 2 of Rexfest LIVE featured a panel discussion with some really successful Rex + RiTA users. With the conversation lead by Rexlabs CEO, Anton Babkov, we took a look under the hood of 5 agencies that are navigating their way through Brisbane’s current property boom. While each took a slightly different approach to automation within their agency, what brought them together was their genuine passion for great customer service.
And in keeping with the theme, we asked each of them which superhero they channelled. Many of the responses came from their team, with surprising insights!
Peter, from Hutton and Hutton
Superhero: David Dunn from Unbreakable (the quiet hero)
“COVID let us get back to basics. We reset our views and our approach and delivered 2X growth”
Automate your tasks slowly with what makes sense.
Justin, from Watt Realty
Superhero: Dr Strange
“When you have 3 OFIs on a Saturday morning and 140 groups, you have shit conversations and deliver shit service”
For the team at Watt Realty, that’s not at all what they want but the sheer volume is overwhelming right now. So, they are focusing on the customer experience and the human side in their processes. AI and automation help agents who want to deliver great service but don't have the capacity.
Henry, from Henry Hodge Real Estate
Superhero: Iron Man
“Our challenge is like David and Goliath. To compete we need to use tech to its fullest ability”
“You need to have an obsession about cleaning your data. When automation is implemented well, it enhances your business and is powerful, but you have to focus on the customer experience instead of money”
TOP ZAP TIP “Is that phone number real?”
When contact uses QR Code check-in, automatically send them a welcome text message to the number they provide. When they are entering the inside of the property, check their phones for the message.
“Use automation to deliver good service, not for evil”
Melina, from RE/MAX Springfield
Superhero: Super Girl
“Starting a new business and building a database was a real challenge. We jumped all-in and still only scratched the surface of what is possible”
“The prize for us = good-quality call connects”
It's all about having the right balance between high tech and high touch. You can't miss out on the human touchpoints and automation creates a structure each day for agents to know exactly what they should be doing (that is important v urgent).
Braden, LJH Property Hub
Superhero: The Flash
“Find the staff that genuinely love talking to people on the phone, and give them the first-call opportunity”
“What matters to us is G.C.S. (Gross Clients Saved)”
During COVID-19, Braden and his team focused on what they could do and automated buyer conversations to maintain their level of customer service. They asked the right questions to show that they genuinely cared and wanted to help.
This was a jam-packed 90 minutes, and the feedback has been hugely positive. A big thanks to all our speakers, and to everyone who helped in the set-up and staging of this event.
Get the #fieldnotes
Our legendary note taker Tracey has done it again, and we’ve got them here for you to download.
After 90 minutes of great insights and some good chats, we headed upstairs to enjoy a few drinks and some great catering (thanks to our Teneriffe friends at No 68 - the arancini balls were bliss!). For our first event, we are thrilled to see a bunch of 5-star reviews coming back from the feedback survey.
Not a local?
Don’t fret, we have a full recording of this event being posted soon. In the future, when we’ve settled our AV-demons, we’ll be live streaming this across the globe.
