The pandemic—and the new normal it created — has made tech more important than ever.
As Brad Nix, co-founder of Path & Post in Georgia, recently told me, “You can’t be great today without great technology.”
So, which technology makes the cut?
Susan Jenkins, co-founder of Native American Group, a leading Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brokerage in Virginia, offers that great tech should be, “user-friendly, cloud-based, and have good integration.”
But many tech solutions out there are hard to use and often only tackle one small part of your business. Instead of helping create a frictionless experience for clients and agents, many tech options hold you back.
Both Brad and Susan have successfully navigated real estate tech to find solutions that help their brokerages rise to the top. One of their secrets to choosing great tech? Consolidation.
At Brokermint, consolidation was a core vision from the beginning when we started in 2014.
Regarding her use of Brokermint and the benefits of consolidation, Susan says, “Brokermint reduces labor cost, duplication, and data error. It gives me confidence that I have one complete system rather than patchwork. I have a singular system, which aids in preventing compliance issues, tracking accountability, and reducing costs.”
Consolidation can also come in the form of integration. While Brokermint brings the full back office into one platform, it also connects to systems like CRMs, MLSs, and franchise reporting platforms.
The key is that you end up with one source of truth for your data. No data silos, no manual data reentry from system to system.
For Brad, it’s essential that Brokermint connects with his CRM, BoomTown. He says, “The CRM and back office suite are the two critical pieces of software for any brokerage. Having one data flow reduces duplicate entry, makes us more efficient, and I can trust the data more when I don’t have human error in the middle.”
As a Realogy franchise, Native American Group is required to move a lot of data into Realogy’s reporting system, Dash. With input from Susan and some other Realogy clients, we developed a robust integration. Native American Group was the first franchise to go live with all three Dash data streams in Brokermint—listings, transactions, and personnel. She told us the “seamless integration into my QuickBooks and Dash for accounting and paying royalties,” has saved her team hundreds of hours a year.
So now that BoomTown has acquired Brokermint, what’s next for consolidation?
To start, two things are clear. First, both Brokermint and BoomTown remain committed to their integrations: Brokermint with other CRMs, and BoomTown with other back office solutions. Second, there is tremendous opportunity for industry-defining integration between Brokermint and BoomTown, moving the needle for complete end-to-end solutions.
For Path & Post, Native American Group, and other leading brokerages, consolidation has already been a key factor in their success. For brokerages that haven’t yet addressed their aging tech, this is a prime opportunity. Clients and agents alike are seeking a frictionless experience. That can only happen with a powerful, seamless tech stack.
The pandemic changed the real estate landscape by accelerating this tech consolidation. And the biggest mistake brokerages can make now is to think the pandemic’s end will cause a shift back to how real estate used to do business. It’s onward and upward (or get left behind).