One lesson I’ve encountered in my tenure as a realtor is that learning to stay away from the shiny object syndrome is a big challenge. I’ve always admired technology and what it has done for my business and industry. I admit I am the agent who downloads every new application I can find and I love finding ways I can apply it to my business. Technology has made my life simpler in many ways, but I believe it has also taken some of the true essence of real estate away from us. We can communicate faster; we don’t have to drive documents around or even worse, fax them; we can instantly have all the information we need about a property at our fingertips; and we have numerous platforms to connect with the people we serve. However, everything comes with a cost. The cost is the threat of losing that personal, face to face connection with our clients.

Something on which I advise my team, and the agents I mentor and train, has always been preventing yourself from being replaced by technology. At the end of the day our clients need us for many things that technology cannot provide. My personal experience has taught me that clients, especially millennials, love using technology; they love being able to sign things digitally on their phone, look up schools in the area, browse homes in a neighborhood by using GPS and even utilize email and text to communicate while they are at work and can’t talk. What I have also learned is more than ever, people are longing for human connection, guidance and support. Believe it or not, millennials are craving this the most.
Continue reading →