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A network with tech as a top priority has reported that agents are increasingly crediting their future-facing offerings as the reason for coming aboard.
Upside Realty has experienced a 20 per cent increase in its sales team in the first four months of 2022, with agents citing concerns they’ll fall behind if not equipped with tech-driven selling skills.
Winning REB’s Innovator of the Year award in 2022 particularly helped draw attention to their proptech platform, NurtureCloud, which has now expanded outside of the network’s confines, being used by Ray White agencies as well.
The brand’s director of sales James Kirkland explained how the platform uses propensity modelling and artificial intelligence to sort through databases, noticing changes in constituent behaviour.
“The system then gives our agents 10 or 20 people to call that are ranked by the highest likelihood of coming to market,” he said.
Their members have expressed a growing confidence just by knowing that when they pick up the phone, the person on the other end has likely been thinking of selling.
Melbourne agent Campbell Noonan cited the tech as the main reason for joining Upside two years ago.
“I’ve been in the real estate business for 30 years but I was concerned about being left behind. I didn’t want to end up a dinosaur working for a brand that didn’t invest in their technology,” he said.
It was the main factor that helped Canberra agent Catherine Halloran decide which brand to align with, as well.
“I was attracted to the technology because it’s very agent focused and very agent led. We get multiple updates every month that is our feedback being drilled into the system to improve it based on our requirements.
“I’ve never worked with a system like that before where we’ve literally got a channel that adapts to our demands. It’s constantly improving and changing to make our job easier,” she said.
Importantly, she noted, Upside recognised the need to extend its tech capabilities to clients, which is why they created an interface where sellers can log on to see how their inspection is going, with real-time updates and feedback from potential buyers.
“Before I’ve even locked up the house they can see how the open home has gone,” Ms Halloran said of the client-facing functionality.
[It] means I don’t have to be on the phone to the seller every day – I can focus on the buyers which is what I should be doing”.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
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