Two Century 21-affiliated estate agents have revealed how the COVID-19 virus has impacted the property sector.
Like many industries, the estate agency sector has had to make significant changes to the way it operates during the global pandemic. Gabriel Mendez (Century 21 San Diego, California) and Nicholas Sloney (Century 21 Curran & Oberski, Royal Oak, Michigan) explained more.
Gabriel believes Zoom is the most useful tool Century 21 has discovered during the lockdown. The estate agency and property franchise has used it for listing and buyer presentations, webinars, client consultations and more. This change has helped streamline daily tasks, so it’s likely to become a permanent feature of Century 21’s operations. Gabriel says:
“We’ll have some clients who want to do things the traditional way, but as Millennials, Gen-Y and even Gen-Z buyers and sellers move into the market as the new dominating demographic, tech will drive the way we do business.”
The Century 21 team found they could become even more productive by using online technologies:
“I can take more buyer consultations and listing presentations in a single day than ever before. I have the freedom of making any place my office. We’re doing more social media advertising which saves us time out in the field door knocking, hosting open houses, etc.”
Gabriel admits he would have encouraged his team to use videos and webinars earlier if he’d have known how valuable they were. He also supports Instagram, Facebook and YouTube advertising to get word out.
For Nicholas, the COVID-19 outbreak has also created the need for a greater understanding between buyers and sellers. He believes people need to have “even more empathy”:
“They need perspective on where the market is today, where it’s going and what needs to be done to achieve their goals.”
What would he do if he could travel back to the start of the year?
“I would hire two support coordinators and work harder to stay ahead of as many problems as possible.”
The Century 21 agents have shown there’s still progress to be made when it comes to working well together through the pandemic. But online tools like Zoom have certainly revolutionised the workplace for the better.
Alice Tuffery, Point Franchise ©
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