Takeaways from Inman Connect Las Vegas 2019
6 Tweets from ICLV
Inman News’ first Vegas convention took place this year at the beautiful Aria hotel.
Jam-packed with learnings for realtors, developers, marketers, and any professional in the industry, the three days of the conference went by in a flash. Inspiring keynotes, spectacular parties, and knowledgeable panels and speakers made ICLV Inman’s biggest event yet!
If you weren’t able to attend — or even if you did — our team has been keeping an eye on the proceedings and have come up with some of the top takeaways from the event.
Check them out below!
Your brand matters — a lot
Familiarity with a brand can influence decisions. 82% of US adults claim loyalty to a product brand; and brand management is strongly related to customer acquisition and retention.
Brand recognition and loyalty can have major impact in real estate. Sellers will choose realtors they’ve worked with before; buyers will refer friends and acquaintances to developers and projects they recognize.
Getting that loyalty, both as an individual agent and as a company, is an ongoing campaign of advertising, content, and sustained communications that will ultimately pay off: strong brand recognition goes a long way in swaying a target buyer’s decision to close.
Tools should help your team do more
Almost all real estate professionals have some form of contact management — especially if you do, or intend to, sell new development, it’s a simple necessity for the job at hand.
CRMs are a relatively newer addition to a sales team’s arsenal. Like all tools, it needs to be the right fit for your organization in order to be effective. Jumping on the newest technology trend isn’t going to automatically jumpstart your ROI; instead, carefully weigh the usefulness of the tech against the potential downfalls. And once you do decide on a CRM, it’s important to utilize it to the fullest extent.
“If you don’t use your CRM for follow up, it’s just an expensive spreadsheet.”
—Casey Reagan, Co-Founder of Reeazily.
Especially because something like a CRM affects your team’s day to day, make sure that your team is adequately trained on the software, and are able to incorporate it into their daily processes without major disruption to their productivity.
Buyer experience matters more than ever
Real estate is a people business. Sometimes this can fall by the wayside as we get caught up in the latest technology, new disruptors, troubling legislation, and the seismic-feeling shifts of major industry players.
But ultimately, a buyer wants to feel heard. Keynote speaker Molly Bloom highlighted how important this is: everyone wants to feel seen, heard, and remembered. Agents need to demonstrate to buyers that they are listening; a buyer’s needs should be reflected in the homes that the agent chooses to show them. Brand loyalty can only go so far. Your team and organization needs to be able to adequately meet, even exceed, the expectations of the buyer on a consistent basis.
Quality is the answer to disruption
Disruptors in real estate come from all angles. Proptech and AI have brought up questions around whether real estate agents will become defunct; national groups like Compass are blurring the lines between brokerages and technology companies; and tech giants like Amazon are making a play for space in the industry.
But these disruptions might indicate that there’s a gap where buyer expectations and realities don’t quite meet.
The importance of improving the experience for buyers, from prelaunch to close, cannot be understated. Give your team the tools that they need to regain the trust of consumers, operate more effectively, and positively impact the bottom line.
Multiple touch-points are necessary
“One and done” has never been the way of real estate. Social media consultant Katie Lance highlighted this in her Keynote speech. Working with a buyer is a constant back-and-forth as you build trust and establish the relationship.
This can be difficult with new developments in particular as agents are often dealing with multiple leads from different real estate sources, and over a longer time. Multiple touch-points are crucial, but hard to maintain and keep track of.
And that relationship can’t drop off as soon as the completed contract is in hand. Keeping up communication with previous buyers and sellers can help create a robust database of contacts and referrals for your next project.
Agents have to always be learning
Agents should be always learning.
Not all trends will pan out over time, and not all tools are applicable to your particular market or project. But agents have to be aware and familiar with the ups, downs, and new disruptors on the market, simply in order to ensure that they’re able to stay on the cutting edge of innovation in the industry and keep up with competitors.
A solid sales and marketing tool can provide the competitive advantage that allows developers to capture a slowing marketing, or help marketers and brokers win new development projects.
The Las Vegas connect was the biggest one yet — our team definitely felt it, between the amazing new location, exciting speakers, and fantastic people that we met over the three days of the conference.
The panel on the Canadian market was of particular interest to us: stay tuned for a recap article on that discussion very soon.
It was exciting to see all the perspectives on real estate, from how technology should be used, to the best way to manage your real estate team, and even tactics that can provide solutions to industry disruptors. We can’t wait for the next one!
What was your favourite takeaway from ICLV? Let us know in the comments!
If we didn’t get a chance to connect in person, be sure to reach out so we can set up an online meeting.
Remember to leave us some applause!
