Digital prospecting ‘really relies on someone driving it’

In conversation with REB, REA Group’s Josh Wilson was highlighting how new processes can streamline prospecting in the digital sphere.

At its essence, the growth specialist in REA Group’s industry, partnerships and growth team outlined how prospecting is the idea of “seeking new business”.

Following on from that, “digital prospecting is essentially just applying digital technologies and digital solutions to that sort of existing prospecting model,” Mr Wilson explained.

“The difference is, essentially, agents just leaning in and embracing the digital technologies that are available to help them prospect.”

But, rather than taking away the work of agents, Mr Wilson sees digital prospecting as crucially requiring the agent and/or someone in the business to be in the driver’s seat.

While many agents and agencies already have access to digital prospecting tools via their CRM, not all agents are utilising them — or utilising them well.

Stressing that “there’s probably an element of change management” that will need to be implemented to actually adopt digital prospecting processes, Mr Wilson indicated that works best by having “a real driving force” in a business who will then amplify some of the benefits and capabilities of the technology.

That’s not always a top-selling agent, according to Mr Wilson, who admits that sometimes “the lead agent can be a bit of a blocker”.

“Getting down to the people that will actually use the platform on their behalf, they’re the ones that have those ‘aha!’ moments — and they’re the ones in some cases that turn around to their employer and say, ‘Hey, we need this. This is going to help us out, which in turn is really going to help you out’.”

Even then, that’s not always the case, since “it really depends on where that business is at.”

“You’ve got agencies where the principal has a really strong growth strategy — they might be the driving force and they’re then encouraging the adoption in the office. But in some instances, you might have a key agent that’s been in an office for 10 years [and] the rest of the office maybe not so willing to go on that tech journey.”

“It’s just got to be approached differently in different scenarios,” Mr Wilson imparted.

Importantly, all change management does contain an element of detailing the benefits of change.

So what are the benefits that digital prospecting can provide a busy agency?

According to Mr Wilson, one of the most easily relatable benefits of digital prospecting relates to “time and efficiency”.

Commiserating that “agents are really busy in this day and age,” Mr Wilson conceded that much of a “busy” agent’s time is actually spent on administration tasks associated with their current prospecting efforts “that they’re just so used to doing.”

When digital prospecting is employed, time spent on those administrative tasks is diminished — and the growth specialist explained that this is because digital prospecting tools are capable of real-time feedback.

“Whether it be market updates, pre-list or proposals, getting real-time feedback on when vendors or potential prospects are engaging with that content that they’re sharing, it just allows the agent to be a lot more responsive.”

“They get a little read receipt once something’s been engaged with, and they know when to pick up the phone and engage,” he highlighted.

In addition, digital prospecting “can fit in absolutely anywhere.”

“It’s just where it makes sense to them [the agent],” Mr Wilson touted.

Flagging follow-up calls as an example, an agent might get into the office and block out an hour or two hours for the purpose of getting through 20 follow-up phone calls.  

“In that session on a Tuesday morning, [9am to 11am], you make those 20 calls. You’re probably going to connect with, what, maybe five to eight people and then you’ve left 12 voicemails.”

Mr Wilson shared that rather than just leaving a voicemail, the ability with digital prospecting is to then engage them in means where you haven’t contacted them.

For example: “The ability to flick them a quick text message, ‘Hey, John and Judy, Josh from realestate.com, keeping you up to date with some market conditions. That was the point of my call this morning. Here’s a quick example of what’s happening in your market’.”

These actions acknowledge that a prospect could be busy too. It also enables the prospect to engage with the content at a time that suits them and can provide insight to an agent as to the fruitfulness of engaging with that particular contact, in turn, letting an agent know whether it’s worth keeping said prospect within their warm pipeline.

Digital prospecting and CRMs

With much of this power already located inside a CRM, it led REB to propose the question: “Are agents out there using digital methods of prospecting without even realising that’s what they are doing?”

According to Mr Wilson, that’s absolutely the case.

“In all honesty, with the capabilities of what CRMs have got — what agents have got available through their CRMs … That’s digital prospecting in itself.”

So, maybe agents aren’t as far off harnessing digital prospecting methods as they may think.