Is Technology Important for Small Brokerages?

As a data enthusiast, I love using our analytics account to browse the search terms that bring people to RE Technology. It provides a great glimpse into what real estate professionals are thinking about.

Yesterday, among all the iPad and CRM related queries, a lone question caught my eye: "How important is technology for a small real estate office?" Since it wouldn't be right to leave the collective real estate mind wondering, here's a definitive answer:

Technology is absolutely, 100% mission critical to small brokerages. Especially to small brokerages.

Beyond streamlining processes and transactions, technology can be the key tool that helps small firms compete against large franchises and listing portals like Trulia and Zillow.

Real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran agrees. "On the Internet everyone is equal. The small agent can look as classy as the big agent," she told The New York Times in an interview. "Ten years ago, if you wanted your property noticed you were far better off with large brokerage firms because they were the big buyers on the print ads. That's out the window now."

Too many small brokerages make the mistake of thinking that technology is an investment that only larger companies can afford. In fact, it's the smaller companies that can't afford to not invest in technology. Without a strong web presence, how will consumers find you? Without tools like electronic signatures, how can your customer experience compete against big brokerages with in-house mortgage and insurance services? No CRM solution? How will you retain the clients you do have?

You risk losing (or never attracting) top producing agents, too. A survey by InmanNext found that high income agents report technology and support as the main reason they would leave their brokerage within a year. That's because top earners know how crucial technology is to their success. High earners spend more on marketing and technology and list web search as "very important" to their business. Average income earners rank the web as lower in importance.

You may be small, but you don't have to be average. Yes, the web is important, and yes, technology is crucial. Just ask the GoodLife Team. Based out of Austin, Texas, this brokerage "is small in terms of people, but our use of our websites and Facebook generates 50 percent of our business," says CEO Krisstina Wise. "Technology allows us to serve our customers better, work better and attract the best agents."

If you're new to the world of real estate technology, don't despair. We've rounded up a few of our favorite educational articles to help answer any questions you may have:

• Electronic Signatures FAQ
• Document Management vs. Transaction Management
• Choosing a Valuation Tool: CMA vs. AVM
• Listing Syndication Definitions