Agent Reboot 2014: Our Takeaways

RankMyAgent.com was  proud to be present at Agent Reboot in Toronto this week. We were demonstrating our latest mapping technology that allows home buyers, sellers and renters to find agents by using interactive neighbourhood-based maps.

Inman News is a thought leader in the real estate industry, and their line up for the Canadian leg did not disappoint.

James Dwiggins, Vice President of Realty World Northern California and Nevada, did a great job in his role as MC. In his opening remarks, he said that he hoped everyone would have at least one useful ‘takeaway’ to implement. The stellar line up of speakers featured some of the most well-known names in Canadian real estate today. The quality of the presentations was excellent – here are some of our highlights:

•    Canadian real estate agents are the best!
We got a chance to meet with some of those in attendance and were impressed at how progressive the thinking around technology, reputation management and business development is amongst real estate agents in Canada. We welcomed several new members to the RankMyAgent.com community.

•    Managing your brand and reputation
This was discussed from a few different perspectives. Sunny Daljit looked at this from a personal development point of view, examining the relevance of knowing yourself so that you can effectively communicate your brand.

Valerie Garcia discussed how online reviews are critical in the minds of potential clients, illustrating the prominence of agent reviews. RankMyAgent.com member Melanie Piche and Toronto’s Ara Mamourian highlighted the importance of blogging and creating your own unique content. Both stressed the importance of this for SEO and as a means of positioning yourself as a knowledgeable and credible source of information.

•    The Power of Video
Are you using videos for your listings? If you aren’t, the resounding message from the presenters was ‘Well, you should be!”. It’s an incredibly effective tool that can convey images and emotions that can’t quite be captured in a still photo. If you are planning on making videos of your listings, you probably also want to pay close attention to the soundtrack that you use.

Budget shouldn’t be an excuse – if you get a little creative, there are several gadgets that could you could literally clip onto your smartphone and turn you into a budding Spielberg (many of them are inexpensive and are a one-off expense). You could also look at hiring film students or clubs to help you out.

•    Building a lasting connection
A salient point that Bob Sage made about marketing videos was that they should make an emotional connection with the audience. This means taking comprehensive steps to understand your audience and plan your material accordingly. Sage spoke about how the most effective videos actually don’t try to sell you anything, but rather focus on showing you ‘how it feels’ to own or experience something.

Another highlight came from Inman’s social media guru, Laura Monroe. She talked about using social media to stay in touch with clients. Keeping up to date with new developments in their lives and engaging on a regular basis helps by keeping you top of mind – helping you to generate leads. Richard Silver’s discussion of CRMs raised a good point – there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to relationship management – it requires a combination of different channels and methods.

Were you there too? What was your favorite takeaway?

We look forward to Agent Reboot 2015!