In recent years there has been a big push to learn how to better and more efficiently obtain leads. Volumes of literature have been written and a myriad of software and social techniques invented. After so much effort has been exhausted to generate these leads, eventually folks realized that transforming suspects into prospects is as difficult as finding them, if not more so.

So how DO you get people off the phone and email, and through your door? One thing you must constantly be aware of is your responsiveness to your prospect's requests. Most first time home buyers are Generation Xers, 20s and 30s-somethings brought up by the "www" - a virtually immediate gratification device. There's no more waiting for the morning news, traffic, or weather reports - it's all there when they want it, at the click of a button.

Moreover, in a recent California Association of Realtors (CAR) publication entitled "Internet versus Traditional Buyer Study", 63% of traditional home buyers felt agent responsiveness to be either an "extremely important" or "very important" aspect in selecting the right RE professional. These numbers climb even higher - up to 83% - when polling internet home buyers.

To keep up with what consumers are expecting, agents are going to have to continue to decrease their response time, and mobile technologies is their vehicle. With almost any standard PDA, an agent can use the mobile technologies available to boost his or her availability to nearly 100%. These technologies take you to the next level, from answering phone calls, responding to agent or single property website inquiries, or even browsing the MLS.

Those agents who are successful know a quick response time is part of the complex recipe to winning more listings turning their leads into clients. Have you gone mobile yet?

We had the pleasure of interviewing Roxanne Tidmore, a recent REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHER™ (REW™) certificant and Virtual Assistant with EliteREVA, based in Cincinatti, Ohio.

Roxanne is a National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) certified Real Estate Professional Assistant (REPA) and a certified Point2Point Virtual Assistant (VA). She is able to support a number of Real Estate agent and broker activities, such as Lead Generation, New Listings coordination, Marketing, Online Transaction Management, Point2Point services, and much more.

Roxanne has completed the REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHER™ (REW™) certification recently and we asked her a few simple interview questions on her thoughts of the program.

1) What is your background?

My background, before I became a Real Estate Assistant, was working as an Executive Assistant for about 20 years. I then decided to research the Virtual Assistant industry. I chose the Real Estate Assistant niche because I have strong administrative skills and I have always had an interest in selling real estate.

2) Why did you undertake the REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHER™ (REW™) certification?

I undertook the REW™ certification because I liked the concepts offered and wanted to learn more about them through the training. Prior to hearing about their training, I had not throught of creating a seamless web presence through a series of different software programs and it interested me to see how it all would work together.

Also, I am always looking for outlets to improve my skills as a Real Estate Assistant. Webographers has classes that I could learn from and then immediately apply those skills in my services to real estate agents and brokers.

3) What are your impressions of the online experience

It was great! Big piece for me was the ability to engage and play with various products as well. Simply stated there is no other vessel that allows assistants to engage ZipForm, which is used by hundreds of thousands of Realtors, thus opening the doors to new clients and more hours.

I liked the self-paced learning which made it perfect for my situation. I was able to fit the training into my schedule and still have time to take care of my clients. Also, if you need technical assistance, you can always contact the Webographer support team. They have always been very helpful and courteous and able to solve any technical issues that I encountered.

4) How long did it take you to complete the certification?

The training took about 10 to 12 hours, spread over my spare nights and weekends.

5) What would you tell those who are considering this certification?

Do it! If you do not have real estate experience, it gives you a foundation to build your knowledge about real estate. If you have had previous training, this will definitely add to it. You really can never get enough training!

Also a big help for me was the book that accompanied the training. I would read a chapter and then take the online portion. The lessons really made more sense to me that way - I could see them in action.

REW™ contains techniques and technologies that are another series of valuable services you will be able to offer to real estate agents and brokers.

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Thanks Roxanne and all the Best!

It's been noted heavily in real estate news and from real estate bloggers that provision of training by Brokers, especially technology training, from initial to long-term continuous learning, is not only the key to recruitment and retention, but key to create a winning environment. There are two noted articles/blog posts I'd like to reference.

Finding-and Keeping-the Best Agents (05/22/07)

By Maria Patterson

http://www.rismedia.com/wp/2007-05-21/finding-and-keeping-the-best-agents/

Agent Recruitment and Technology (03/09/07)

By Pat Kitano

http://transparentre.com/2007/03/08/agent-recruitment--technology.aspx

There is a huge value-proposition established to recruiting agents with technology training. There exists (1) core technology training on "in-house" technology products that are utilized throughout the company. There is (2) product training particular to technology commonly acquired and used by the member-agents (i.e. vendor visits at broker meetings).

However, there is (3) technology training that speaks to competencies, generalizable to a topic like single-property websites, to create a mindset of aggresive technology adoption. Such training speaks not only to awareness, but to strategies for agents to build a cohesive, unified web presence across technologies and across service providers.

As it may, agents are typically independent contractors, their own entrepreneurs. In everyday employer-employee relationships, perks to: training, career development, educational scholarships for example, are paramount; standing "tall" next to benefits of health care and retirement programs.

Technology training, as with the REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHER™ (REW™) certification provides that value-proposition to current and potential member-agents (recruitment & retention), just like typical employer-employee relationships. Also, the fact that agents are independent contractors means technology adoption cannot be forced, rather encouraged.

Brokers who make the REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHER™ (REW™) available to member-agents not only encourage technology adoption, but the Commitment Document speaks to adoption & implementation; as certificants must adopt technology within their first year to remain in "good standing".

For details on how Brokers can make the REW™ Certification to member-agents, please contact us using our contact form, or give us a call at 888.877.0159.