Real estate company embraces customer interaction tools

Most of us can't go a full day without connecting in some way via social media – and some of us couldn't last a full hour.

That drive to connect is why Coldwell Banker has taken the lead in providing its customers with up-to-the-minute information about their future homes, from searches, to offers, to closings. In addition, Coldwell Banker uses connectivity to communicate instantly with its sales associates, arming them with market updates, sales trends and selling tips.

The result is a real estate company making the absolute best use of what is in essence a lightning fast international marketing vehicle, said Charles Richardson, regional senior vice president of the Tampa Bay division of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate.

"Coldwell Banker is really taking customer interaction to a whole new level, embracing the times and what customers want," Richardson said. "This collective tool set allows us to meet all of our customer demands, and to do it very quickly."

Coldwell Banker's YouTube Channel, On Location, is helping agents show properties to clients on virtual tours, helping to narrow searches down before actually visiting a property.

"By connecting with video, we can we bring people inside homes, give them community information and give them a full experience," he said. "We've even had clients, whose sales associates knew them and their requirements very well, buy a property just after watching a video."

Another way to virtually tour homes is through a smartphone. By scanning what are called QR codes (quick response codes, the two-dimensional images resemble pixilated bar codes) printed in newspaper ads, customers are taken via the internet to sites that list even more listings and open houses. The QR codes are also found on real estate "for sale" signs and other advertising pieces.

"With a QR code, potential homebuyers can be taken to a video link and instantly view inside the home and get a virtual tour, whether they are standing outside the home or not," Richardson explained.

But it's not just customers who benefit from Coldwell Banker's connectivity. Sales associates are also using an array of social media to connect with information that arms them with the latest details for ongoing and potential sales, as well as staying in touch with colleagues. For example, when Coldwell Banker agents go to listing appointments, they use iPads to make marketing presentations.

"Our managers and sales associates are engaging in social media to communicate and interact with customers on the same level they are used to communicating in today's world; so we can continue to provide an exceptional real estate experience in a technology-savvy environment," said Clark W. Toole, president of Florida Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, and Coldwell Banker Commercial. "Also, the median age for a real estate agent is 52 and yet the median age of a first-time homebuyer is 30. So Coldwell Banker is continuing to educate their associates — the tech-savvy ones and the not so tech-savvy ones — to ensure our sales associates are up-to-date with the latest technologies and can work with different generations of homebuyers and sellers."

Coldwell Banker goes to great lengths to give agents and managers hands-on social media training classes, white papers, PowerPoint presentations, and descriptive articles that continue to keep them up to speed with the latest social media craze and online tools.

Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate has long used the latest technology to help clients buy and sell homes, and it remains at the forefront for offering customer-centered, innovative tools that can help every real estate transaction progress quickly and smoothly.

Most recently, Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate updated its interactive website FloridaMoves.com so homebuyers can share properties they are considering with their social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and FourSquare) and get comments from the family and friends. The site also offers an interactive map for finding nearby schools, shopping, transportation, etc.

Another new offering is an online multilingual program that helps international buyers begin their home search in their own language. Partnering with Immobel – an online company that translates web content – Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate is posting its real estate listings in 13 languages to better serve its customers around the globe.

In addition, Coldwell Banker offers an international home search app for iPhone and Android-powered devices, which helps users search online, instantly providing details about homes and digital maps. Daily blogs posted by Coldwell Banker sales associates on the company's Insight website (bloginsightcb.com) give useful real estate news, information and tips for customers, like how to stage a home to sell and how to make a home more energy efficient and "green."

HomeBase, an online transaction management system, offers Coldwell Banker customers a secure account that tracks every detail of their real estate transaction, keeping them mobile and up-to-date on their real estate documents.

Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate has 18 offices in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. There are 83 offices and nearly 4,800 sales associates throughout Florida who closed more than $7.95 billion in sales volume in 2009. Worldwide, there are more than 96,700 Coldwell Banker sales associates.

For more information about Coldwell Banker, visit FloridaMoves.com or call 1-800-624-5292.