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Technology has rapidly changed our daily lives, and Toop&Toop has noticed that and embraced it.
The Adelaide real estate agency has three offices across the South Australia capital, and the company’s founder Anthony Toop says they are like Google centres.
Each office has a gymnasium, a creche, hangout spots and a barbeque area. But instead of embracing the trend for hot desks, everyone has their own workspace.
Toop&Toop was ahead of the pack, and it established a software division 10 years ago.
“It is exponential,” Mr Toop said. “We have gone from one software engineer to five, six, seven, eight, and now we have nine.”
“The other thing that has happened in the software world, it is much quicker to program. In the early days, we had to write code for everything, and now it is like building blocks.”
The firm has created its own database over the years from clients who have come through its doors, which has allowed them to target specific buyers.
“We used to spend $3 million in the press each year, this year we will be lucky if we spend $150,000,” he said.
The downside with listing property in the newspaper is it reaches the same people at the same time. Now its approach to advertising properties is consumer driven.
As a result, it means clients can pay less for advertising.
“I was [recently] with a client, they wanted to spend no more than $3,000 on marketing. Two years ago, we would have spent $15,000 on a house of their value,” he said.
Since real estate agents have built their brand and database, they no longer have to pay for these expensive advertising, which is why clients want to use them. As a result, Mr Toop thinks traditional advertising is dying, “as cassettes did”.
The iPad has already become an agent’s office. And although electronic documentation has been here for a decade, it has only recently been accepted, he said.
“Signing on a device has become mainstream. It means we can sign up people from anywhere,” he said.
“I’ve got a client, one is in New York, and one is in Bangkok, and we will be putting together a sale in real time.”
As he hands over the reins of the business to his daughters, he has noticed that technology is second nature to them and the younger agents coming through.
“A lot of people find it frightening; I find it exciting,” Mr Toop said.
This display of technology is what led the agency in entering the REISA Hall of Fame for Innovation.
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