As humans, we’re hardwired to love consistency. Consistency creates habits. Builds reputations. Enables efficiency.
When something (i.e; your brand and service) is consistent, we trust it.
Take McDonald’s. When you walk into any one of McDonald’s 38,695 restaurants, you know exactly what’s on the menu. At every McDonald’s, a Big Mac tastes like a Big Mac. You order, tap your card and receive a warm bag of (highly processed, delicious) food within minutes.
It’s consistent. Familiar. And highly efficient. Just like good real estate service.
Consistency comes from standardisation
McDonald's is rumoured to be worth a staggering $163 Billion. It’s the world’s largest fast-food chain. However, that kind of success can’t simply be chalked up to cheeseburgers and chips. It’s all thanks to obscenely consistent service, driven from the top down.
This is called ‘standardisation’ – and it’s going to help you drive referral business, save time, boost agency insight and earn more commission.
Don’t worry, we’re not talking about sucking your agency’s personality out like a Deatheater. You have your own special way of doing things, that’s what makes you “you”. Real estate is a people industry – that personality brings in business.
We’re talking about implementing workflows and time-based reminders so you can be you more consistently, with as little effort as possible.
Tracks in Rex for process standardisation
‘Tracks’ are Rex’s lists of best practice, time-released reminders. A track is effectively a list of things that need doing in relation to a contact, a property or a listing. Rex reminds you what to do, at exactly the right time. And, thanks to our latest feature release, Rex can even automatically send SMS and email communications from tracks or reminders – making your processes watertight.
But tracks are so much more than just a convenience measure. They’re your best friend when it comes to standardising your agency processes, and this has some huge benefits.
Consistent quality
Consistency creates lifelong customers. If you make a client’s journey pleasant, you’re one step closer to your next listing. How? Repeat and referral business.
To build up a solid base repeat and referral business, you need to be sure you can deliver that same quality of service again and again. If you standardise your processes using tracks, this is easy to do.
Higher conversion
Solid processes don’t just ensure consistency. They also ensure repeatable success.
If a series of monthly market updates work well for one lukewarm seller lead, that same process will probably work for another. And, if it doesn’t, you can always tweak your processes to fit! As you continue to refine your processes, you’re going to start seeing a much more consistent conversion rate on leads and sales.
The point is, tracks will make sure you don’t forget to follow that lukewarm lead up. Nothing falls through the cracks.
Efficiency
There are certain things that need doing in every property transaction. Why waste valuable brain power calculating a certain number days out from settlement, or remembering to send the vendors a reminder text about an open home, or thinking about anniversary dates?
A predefined system saves you time, but also the mental energy you would have expended deliberating “what’s next?”. Standard processes help ensure the cogs are well-oiled and things are running smoothly.
Greater insights
Finally, tracks are great for directors or managers wanting to keep an eye on how their agents are working. If someone is failing to meet their KPIs, it’s a lot easier to see if their performance has been affected by the market or by their own decisions – just check to see if they’ve been following the workflows you’ve established for your agency.
Customising your own tracks in Rex
Rex comes with a whole bunch of useful tracks, out of the box. We built them based on the way leading real estate agencies across Australia, New Zealand and the UK operate and communicate. However, as we’ve already said, your agency has a personality. We strongly encourage all Rex users to customise and build their own tracks to show off that personality.
Here’s an example of a Rex track that delivers a great experience to homeowners who are actively considering selling their property. This track is one of many that comes pre-built with Rex. You can personalise the letter and email templates to match your brand and your personality, or even tweak the track itself.
Every agency is unique. Take some time to jot down your ideal prospecting, sales and marketing processes.
What works well in your farm may not work well in another; no one knows your area, or the buyers and sellers within it like you do. If you’re a rural agent, you might want to extend some of the time frames in your tracks to reflect the low turnover rates. If you sell luxury, high-end property in a competitive market, you might increase the number of touchpoints in your cold seller tracks. It’s up to you.
The point is, tracks should be an integral part of every agency’s workflow. Tracks are incredibly powerful automation that enhances, rather than detracts from, your agency’s unique selling proposition.
Need some help getting your tracks set up and automated? We’ve got you covered:
- Check out the help centre. We have a whole section on Tracks
- Take a look at our Rex University Training video about Tracks for more information (the course you'll be looking for is Number 4 - Customising Your Client Interactions)
- Get in touch with Kev, our legendary Rex Trainer, for some personalised attention! You can reach him at kevan.matheson@augustcompany.com.au
