Showing Suite Real Estate Blog » News

Seize the Day! The Annual REALTORS Conference & Expo is Right Around the Corner!

Michelle Costa — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:00:10 +0000

Anaheim Convention Center

It’s that time of year again, and we are proud to be an exhibitor at the 2011 REALTORS® Conference & Expo!

Be sure to visit the Showing Suite team at booth 1258 to learn more about some of our exciting products and offers, including our promotion for our Blueprint For 100 Deals book.
Be one of the first 10 buyers and get your copy of Blueprint For 100 Deals for half price!

As successful top REALTORS® and technology gurus who have continued to rise amid tough market conditions, Rick Bengson and Alan Shafran share insights, tips, tricks, and tools for real estate professionals that want to start closing 100 deals, or reaching $1 Million in commissions per year in any market. Purchase Now!

Don’t miss out on this opportunity, Register Now to reserve your tickets!

The National Association of Realtors is holding its annual REALTORS® Conference & Expo from November 11-November 14. The event is taking place in Hall D at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.

Why should you attend?

Explore the latest and most innovative tools in the industry from 385 featured vendors.
Learn some tips and tricks from nationally recognized speakers and experts in over 100 educational sessions.
Endless networking possibilities with over 18,000 real estate professionals from all over the US and internationally.
Numerous activities and special events including REALTORS® Celebrity Concert starring Diana Ross.

Be a part of this exciting event, Register Now!
Click here for full Conference & Expo details and information.

Hope to see you there!

New! Real Estate App for Android and Blackberry

Katy Dean Cebe — Tue, 10 May 2011 23:56:56 +0000

Our official Showing Suite Android App was released today! With the Free Showing Suite™ Real Estate Mobile Application for real estate agents, you can access the Showing Suite features you’ve come to love straight from your Android device.

Any changes or updates made within the Showing Suite™ Real Estate Mobile Application will be reflected inside your full ShowingSuite.com account, making it even easier for you to complete your everyday tasks on a daily basis. Manage real estate leads, showing feedback, contacts and more, on the go with these free apps for Realtors.

Showing Suite Mobile Real Estate Software Benefits

Have all your real estate contacts at your fingertips to call or email from your mobile device.
Have your listing information with you at all times.
Schedule new showing appointments and automatically request showing feedback.
View the statistical reports for all of the showing feedback collected on a listing.
See all of the latest real estate leads captured from your website.
Send e-Blasts to announce important listing changes (price reductions, repairs, etc).
Add marketing notes to log your marketing efforts that sellers can view inside their account with the option to email it to them.
Add new listing tasks as they come up; you can even set a reminder for yourself so you don’t forget!

And more…

Also recently made available for your BlackBerry devices within the BlackBerry App World.

Click the links below to download this free real estate app for your Android or BlackBerry device. Or, go to your Android Market or BlackBerry App World and search for ShowingSuite to locate our mobile real estate software app.

Download the Android App

Download the BlackBerry App

Showing Suite Mobile App Screenshots

Download it today for your current Showing Suite account or sign up for a FREE Showing Suite Lite account to enjoy the great features for your real estate business.

Announcing Software Update – Version 4.3

Katy Dean Cebe — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:15:24 +0000

Just Released Today: Showing Suite version 4.3, and we’re pretty excited about it!
Find out what has changed:

	Design and Layout Changes All of the links in ‘Action’ menus are now underlined. We added orange arrows to the dashboard to denote that you can expand and collapse the different categories.
	Listing Sync Wondering where your listings are? We’ve added an “I don’t see my listing(s).” link on the Listings tab to help you troubleshoot why you may not see your latest listings inside your account. You’re no longer required to enter your seller’s information as soon as new listings are imported. If you have listings that are missing seller information, the system will continue to prompt you when you first login, however you’re free to continue to use your account without any interruptions. Best of all, we’ve added a “No Seller” option for your vacant properties (or land) so you can assign the listing to yourself and get rid of those pesky notifications! If you update your MLS details and add a MLS that’s provided by ListHub, the system will automatically send you an email that outlines the additional steps to setup your ListHub.net account to work with your Showing Suite account.
	HomeFeedback There’s a new “Select All” option so you can easily send an e-blast to ALL of the contacts that have viewed a particular property. Showing Agent’s information has been removed from the print version of the Seller’s stat reports.
	Showing Sync Missing a few showings from your lockbox? Try clicking the ‘I don’t see a showing from my lockbox.’ link on the Showings tab to make sure your account is properly setup to sync showings from your electronic lockbox. The View/Edit Showing Sync Settings page has been given an interface-lift so you can now: Search for listings by MLS or address or even search for a specific lockbox #. If you use SentriLock, then you can switch views to display all lockboxes, assigned lockboxes, or unassigned lockboxes. Choose how many lockboxes (or listings if you use Supra) are displayed per page to help with page loading times if you have a lot of data to display.
	Seller Accounts Sellers now have a day, week, and month calendar view within their private seller console.

Technology Warrants a Return to Basics for Modern REALTORS®

Alan Shafran — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 01:01:26 +0000

What sells homes—agents or the Internet? With the use of technology becoming increasingly more important to the real estate business, do consumers really need a REALTOR®?

We have all heard the statistics, which indicate that 90% of buyers have been researching homes online for a minimum of six months prior to contacting an agent. A wide variety of information can easily be obtained with the click of a mouse: virtual tours, homeowner’s association fees and assessed values to square footage, neighborhood and community amenities and the reputation of local schools.

For sellers, websites such as Zillow and Trulia have made listing and marketing a home as easy as filling out a few online forms. Many sellers are still relying on agents to sell their home; however, since they are aware of the challenges the market is currently facing, will this trend continue when the market rallies?

When I got my license back in the late ‘80s, the tools at my disposal included a pager, business cards, print advertising in the local newspaper and one central computer for the entire office, where a staff member would manually enter listing information, sales and price changes. Our local REALTOR® association would actually print out a monthly MLS book, with weekly inserts to show updates. Back then, buyers needed us to find available properties and sellers needed us to market their homes. We were essentially the gatekeepers of all the information.

Over the past 20 years, I have been lucky to witness some of the most radical changes our industry has ever seen. My passion for real estate and ability to succeed has always been enhanced by my passion for technology, which began with the purchase of a Brother high-end typewriter/word processor that memorized form letters. Since that time I have focused on utilizing every tool available to me as an agent, and have watched the Internet change our world. The last decade has been particularly memorable for me; I co-founded and worked as the president for ShowingSuite.com, and, as the #1 agent for Prudential California Realty, I have grossed over $1 billion in real estate sales.

Wow, what a ride! I give you my history because as I speak to new agents and other industry leaders, there appear to be a few common questions and concerns that are addressed to me. “What is the latest and greatest technology? Where should I market? What applications, phones, and computers should I use?”

Fast forward 20 years and buyers are contacting us to set up showings for a small number of homes, in a specific price range and neighborhood. They are well-informed and pre-qualified. Sellers are contacting us with questions about our pricing and marketing strategies for their home, as a result of research they have conducted in their spare time.

Does all of this mean that REALTORS® will become obsolete? That depends on the effort we apply to advance our knowledge, develop our skills and re-define our role as agents. In today’s constantly changing and demanding real estate market, agents have to be pricing masters, home stagers, project managers, marketing professionals, transaction coordinators and negotiating experts. To succeed, we have to educate ourselves about all of the technology the consumers are using and then combine that knowledge with our own specific set of skills.

I will be writing several columns in the coming year, and my goal is to deliver “Boots on the Ground” information about exciting technological advancements and the latest trends in real estate.

For starters, let me address the question above. More than ever before, our role as agents is to act as consultants for our clients, educate them about all of the options and strategies available to them, discuss the various costs and effects that result from implementing each one, and in the end, help them decide on the best course of action. As consultants, we should help our clients use what works best for them, not just what we understand or have available to us.

Technology is an extremely effective tool, but it is only a tool and there are limits to what it can achieve. That being said, as agents, we should constantly analyze what our clients use and approach each transaction from their point of view. By researching our competitors’ websites, and the latest advancements in technology, we can refine the level of service we offer and ensure that we are indispensable to our clients on an ongoing basis. For example, which websites have the best search functions? Which have the most comprehensive information about sold comps? Which have the most pictures? Best virtual tours? We should never forget to ask each client which sites they like the most, so that we can teach them to use their favorites more efficiently.

Technology makes day to day tasks easier but nothing replaces the human touch. The future of the industry lies in the basics that have always been critical to success. As technology improves, people skills will become progressively more important. There will always be a need in this business for agents who have the ability to have a real-life conversation, knock on doors, coordinate open houses and make phone calls.

A focus on providing a positive experience for our clients is the best marketing campaign we can create for ourselves as agents, and actual face-to-face networking will always be vital to success in real estate. Having conversations, collaborating with our colleagues and attending networking events will always be an essential strategy to match buyers with the perfect neighborhood and property to fit their needs. I believe that our clients will also continue to appreciate it when we take time out of our day to talk to them, share our insights and expertise about the community, explain market trends or pass on our knowledge about service providers.

Most of us have the latest iPhone or Droid packed with a dozen applications to simplify our lives, but real estate is a relationship industry. Like my partner in ShowingSuite.com, Rick Bengson always says when emphasizing the importance of communicating with people, “The best feature of my phone is that it makes phone calls.”

Alan Shafran is in the top 1% of Prudential agents worldwide, the President of ShowingSuite.com and the #1 agent of Prudential California Realty in San Diego. For more information please contact him at Alan@AlanShafran.com, or visit www.AlanShafran.com.

Published by RISMEDIA for Real Estate Magazine

Photo Credit: pubimmoconceil

SentriLock and Showing Suite Integrate Systems

Kesa — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 20:55:28 +0000

Cincinnati, Ohio (PRWEB) November 5, 2010 — SentriLock, the number-one rated provider of electronic lockbox systems to the residential real estate industry, and Showing Suite, makers of Homefeedback.com, have integrated systems to better serve their mutual customers. SentriLock users now have access to a free version of Homefeedback.com, the widest used showing software in the US and Canada.

The seamless integration between these two companies allows users to manage showings, feedback, and contacts. The Homefeedback.com system saves countless hours over the course of a listing gathering feedback and managing all of the lockbox showing information. Users also have the option to upgrade to more robust versions that provide seller transparency or add a showing portal to your website for your sellers, among other features.

Rick Bengson, CEO of Showing Suite, Inc., states “Right out of the block this partnership is fantastic for SentriLock agents. This is just the beginning of managing all of your data, starting with your SentriLock lockbox showings. The mobile integration we are launching next blows away any other system. You will be able to look up all of your showing information and call, text, or email any of your showing contacts, view feedback, or eBlast price reductions right from your iPhone, Droid, or BlackBerry.”

Scott Fisher, CEO of SentriLock, adds, “The beauty of this partnership is the ability to combine key features from two amazing systems resulting in an extremely powerful combination for our users. We are always trying to provide our users with tools to allow them to be efficient in their work, and this partnership is just another item on that list.”

About SentriLock

SentriLock is majority owned by the National Association of REALTORS® and is a proud partner in NAR’s REALTOR Benefits® Program. The company’s REALTOR® NXT Electronic Lockbox System is known for its reliable and secure technology, ease of use and its outstanding customer service, rated tops in the industry for the past three years by two independent market research studies. We provide secure, easy and reportable access to every listing via more than 500,000 lockboxes in use by 250,000 Agents from over 210 different Boards, Associations and MLSs in the United States and Canada. SentriLock’s award-winning Customer Care Team provides world-class support seven days a week, exclusively from its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. www.SentriLock.com or www.SentriLock.ca

About Showing Suite

Showing Suite™ is an all-in-one real estate productivity software suite to help real estate agents, real estate teams, and real estate offices harness their full sales potential by automating time-consuming tasks to allow more focus on sales. Showing Suite™ boosts real estate productivity by automating the showing feedback process, allowing prospects to schedule showings on your website, and employing email marketing to communicate with both clients and incoming leads. Along with saving REALTORS® hours of times every month, Showing Suite keeps clients and leads happy and informed during their real estate transaction, resulting in obtaining more listings and selling them in less time for more money. Showing Suite™ is a web-based real estate productivity software suite that can be purchased for individual real estate agents, real estate teams, real estate brokerages, or even entire MLS boards. www.showingsuite.com

Showing Suite(R) Mobile Coming Soon!

Rick — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:15:16 +0000

UPDATE! Showing Suite Mobile has been launched. Visit www.showingsuite.com on your smartphone to access your Showing Suite account on the go!

Screenshots of the Showing Suite(R) Mobile Site

Imagine having the power of the Showing Calendar® and HomeFeedback® service on the go with Showing Suite Mobile!

Soon ShowingSuite.com members will have that dream become a reality when the Showing Suite® Mobile Site rolls out in August.

With Showing Suite Mobile, members everywhere will soon be able to do the following straight from their smartphones:

Book showing appointments, approve/deny pending showing appointments, or check on the status of other pending showing appointments.
Request feedback on real estate showings and view any new home buyers’ feedback logged.
View your listing information including the property photo.
View and edit seller information – plus all of your other Showing Suite contacts.
EZ search your contacts and call or e-mail them from your phone.
See all of your latest leads captured from your real estate website.
Send e-Blasts to announce important listing changes (price reductions, repairs, etc).
Add marketing notes to log your marketing efforts – choose whether your seller can see the note from inside their account or if you want them to receive it via email.
Add new listing tasks as they come up; you can even set a reminder for yourself so you don’t forget!
Plus many more features not listed here with more to come!

Any changes or updates made within Showing Suite Mobile will be reflected inside your full ShowingSuite.com account, making it even easier for you to complete your everyday tasks on a daily basis.

Showing Suite® Mobile is compatible with all major smartphones, including the iPhone, Blackberry, Android-based phones (DROID), and Windows Mobile phones. An Ultimate Showing Suite plan is required to use.

Be on the lookout for Showing Suite Mobile, coming soon in late summer 2010!

Prudential California Realty Selects Showing Suite, Inc. to Provide Agents HomeFeedback® to Sell Homes Faster

Rick — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:46:27 +0000

SAN DIEGO (May 18, 2010) – Showing Suite, Inc., a leading provider of Internet-based tools that help real estate professionals sell homes faster, announced today that Prudential California Realty, Southern California will implement Showing Suite’s technology in their 58 offices.

Since 2001, Showing Suite’s HomeFeedback® system has been the industry leading solution for gathering showing feedback in over 150 US and Canadian markets. Agents average a 71% response rate across the United States and Canada. Agents are able to customize the feedback questions for each property as well as eBlast every Showing Agent that has viewed the property updates on any price reductions or property changes with the click of one button – making the system a true time saver!

Mark Johnson, Vice President of Marketing and Technology for Prudential California Realty, states, “HomeFeedback® is very valuable for our sales associates; it saves time and simplifies the buyer-feedback process. We are confident Showing Suite’s tools will help our agents enhance their service to their clients.”

The system will allow every agent complete automation of sending feedback to showing agents after a property showing, allowing them to keep their clients better informed on what potential buyers think about their property.

For press inquiries and/or to speak with a Showing Suite, Inc. representative please contact Justin Mayerick at (858) 270-1055.

About Prudential California Realty

Prudential California Realty is the largest company in the Prudential Real Estate Network and one of the top five brokerages in the nation, with over $10 billion in annual sales. Based in Southern California, Prudential serves clients from over 58 offices from San Diego to Santa Maria. For more information, visit www.prudentialcal.com

About Showing Suite, Inc.

Showing Suite, Inc. develops and implements market-leading tools that allow real estate professionals to sell homes smarter and faster. Since 2001, the company has brought a suite of web-based software solutions for the real estate sector to market, including its flagship product, HomeFeedback®, as well as HomeFollowup®, Showing Sync®, Showing Calendar®, and ForeclosureFeedback®. Since its inception, the company has helped more than 800,000 real estate professionals in markets across the U.S. and Canada obtain valuable feedback from potential buyers and increase home sales.

Facebook: Real Estate Marketing Online Made Easy

Rick — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:37:42 +0000

You probably have a personal Facebook page, but do you have a Facebook page for your business?

With over 350 million users logging into Facebook every day, it would be crazy for you to not include Facebook in your real estate internet marketing strategy. Facebook provides a unique way for real estate agents to connect with people to share real estate news, information, and potentially attract new business.

Helpful tips for those who are looking to add Facebook to their real estate internet marketing strategy:

Post Fresh Content to Your Business Facebook Page Every Day

Producing a steady flow of fresh content is key to any form of real estate internet marketing and your Facebook business page should be no different. Create new content on a regular basis to develop a following of repeat visitors. You don’t have to flood them with content throughout the day, just try posting a good piece of information here and there. Share links to your listings, news articles on real estate, or even promote blog articles you’ve written!

Add Facebook Social Plug-ins to Your Real Estate Website

Facebook has definitely made real estate marketing online very easy by creating plug-ins that you can place right on your company website. Now people can see your Facebook page activity, “Like” your Facebook page, comment on your page, and more. (Hint: The “Like button” Facebook social plug-in is used above!) Checkout Facebook’s social plug-ins.

Comment and Engage All Facebook Page Visitors

The entire purpose of including Facebook in your real estate internet marketing strategy is to make connections, right? Although you may get caught up in trying to attract people to your page, it’s important that you don’t forget to actually engage visitors. Be sure to comment, reply to visitor comments, start discussions and more. Things may start out slow, but with constant effort you can cause an avalanche of popularity.

By adding Facebook to your real estate internet marketing plans you’ll have a simple and effective way to connect with more people and build your reputation as a knowledgeable real estate resource online.

Is Facebook included in your real estate internet marketing strategy? Comment and share your experience below!

Does Your Real Estate Website Cover All Bases?

Kesa — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:32:14 +0000

In today’s technology driven world, your real estate website plays a crucial role in your business.

Not only does your real estate website provide you an online presence to easily reach a broad audience, but it helps you create and strengthen relationships with those who stumble upon it.

Yes, your real estate website acts as the bubbly receptionist when someone steps inside your virtual address and should cater to the visitor’s every need. Therefore it should be clean, decked in a well constructed outfit, and easy to get along with.

So did your real estate website get the proper training it needs in order to keep newcomers interested and make returning visitors (aka clients) feel right at home?

Naturally you will want to spark the interest of new potential leads with marketing content that will charm them to the point where they will want to work with you and no other real estate agent ever again. Great marketing content that lists all of your services, an IDX search, and clear cut ways to contact you whether it be via telephone, e-mail (use a contact form instead of a regular mail link), or chat are the bare essentials your real estate website needs in order to please newcomers.

Have you written up a few email campaigns that you feel visitors would want to have sent to their inbox? Strategically place a few sign-up forms on your website so they can subscribe to it. There are plenty of email marketing solutions that can be integrated with nearly any real estate website.

If you haven’t heard, blogs are all of the rage today (you are reading one right now) due to their ability to easily generate traffic and this trend can easily drive people to your real estate website. As a real estate agent, you should be full of valuable information that any real estate seller or buyer would love to read up on. Be sure to share your knowledge with the world – both clients and leads love it and it’s a great way to promote yourself.

If your listing sellers aren’t already visiting your real estate website looking to contact you, sign up for that seller advice column, or to read your latest blog entry, they can always drop by to see the latest activity on their property. Depending on the real estate software you’ve added to your collection, you can add a login to your real estate website for sellers to use in order to see upcoming showing appointments, feedback, important documents, or any comments you may have left for them. Some software is even sophisticated enough to where you can customize the seller accounts to match the unique color scheme of your layout!

A little tip for those who are curious on how their real estate website is holding up: The best way to see how an outsider views your website is to have a friend or family member visit your site and give a little feedback. A fresh pair of eyes, a little insight, and a few minor adjustments can easily point you in the right direction in making sure your real estate website is putting your best virtual foot forward.

Photo Credit: Atlantic BT

All the real estate software you need wrapped in one.

Easily manage and schedule showings, automate the feedback process, email marketing, and more. Harness your full sales potential today!

4 Surefire Ways to Kill your Listing Presentation

Rick — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:09:48 +0000

Your listing presentation should be life affirming. Don’t make the mistake of incorporating the following examples into your listing presentation which are guaranteed flatliners.

Accolades, Accolades. So impressive How Much You’ve Accomplished in Your Career

Not. Remember, it never has been about you. Address what the sellers are thinking, but not saying. Make a point to tailor your presentation to ‘unvoiced’ concerns that may be going through the home sellers mind. “Can I trust him?” “Is he/she going to follow through?”

Of course they want to know you can get the job done, but they really don’t care about that 6th Chairman’s Club story that took place last year at the beach resort in the Caribbean.

Hear No Evil and Never Record Your Presentation

This is one of the most effective methods to bring awareness to your strengths and weaknesses or your listing presentation. Socrates said ‘an unexamined life is not worth living.’The way you earn a living deserve the same respect.

If you’ve never busted out the voice recorder during a listing presentation, if woudl be a good idea to do so before something else gets busted (your wallet). Your competition is certainly polishing up their listing presentation skills, so should you.

Stick to the Pics

Beautiful pictures just won’t cut it now that there is such an easy way to create videos. Just take a look at this site an you’ll see how it’s done. By having video on your site, you will surely stand out compared to those who just rely on static pics. Get yourself a simple video recorder for just a couple of hundred bucks and you’ll instantly become a videographer that brings these properties to life!

Only Embrace the All Mighty ‘CMA’ and Ignore the Power of Social Media

The comparative market analysis has always been a foundation and a resource for how you make key decisions on how to market a property.

However, with the evolution of the web, you now have access to nearly ‘real time’ conversations about what’s going on in the neighborhood. You can create a Facebook neighborhood group that provides a platform for discussions on HOA meetings, social block parties, yard sales, etc.

With Twitter, you can show examples of how you’ve interacted with the community by posting tweets such as, “who is the best carpenter in the Uptown neighborhood in Minneapolis?” People love to know that you have your finger on the pulse of the neighborhood.

Conclusion

Now that you have more real estate tools than ever before, you must participate or you are at risk of being perceived as a dinosaur. And while they are big and strong (if that is important to you), there are not many of them around moving houses these days.

Photo Credit: ClassifiedFlyerAds

Struggling to get feedback after showings?

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