Don’t Let your Back Office Software Take a Back Seat, It’s Time to Invest in Newer Technology

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit many industries hard, including the real estate industry. Many real estate brokerages have been forced to evolve policies to limit the interaction between realtors and clients due to the pandemic. But in a lagging industry, it’s been challenging to evolve for real estate brokerages. Just consider your brokerage’s back office software — innovative likely isn’t the word that comes to mind. Now is the time to invest in a real estate back office and accounting platform that simplifies the process for you and your agents, and here’s why.‍

Failing to evolve can lead to tragedy 

Numerous brokerage firms currently let their back office systems take a backseat. Whatever the excuse — it gets the job done, fear of change or failure to see the value in the investment — it’s not a valid reason for sticking with dated software. Down the road, it will jeopardize your bottom line. Plus, the real estate industry has never seen anything like the COVID-19 pandemic or reliance on technology before. Investing in new back office software has become a necessity. 

We’ve seen it tons of times before — when industries are forced to adapt to new technology, a paradigm shift happens. If you fail to evolve, it leads to a dangerous mindset. Take the infamous Blockbuster for example.

Blockbuster underestimated the value of renting movies from the comfort of one's home. They thought this was a short-term fad, but fast forward to the streaming era, and they are an industry giant. By the time Netflix was gaining market share, it was too late for Blockbuster to change their way of thinking. We all know how it went from there; Blockbuster was forced to close stores across the country. 

Choose an application that simplifies and streamlines

One mistake brokerages continue to make is settling for “newer” but similar applications. Let’s face it, a lot of us hate change. However, adopting a back office application because it’s “familiar and safe” is flat out, a mistake. All across the board, from our cell phones to smart TV’s and even our workflows, everything is becoming simpler, faster and automated. We are used to convenience. Sure, a brokerage can continue utilizing their current solution. They still get the job done, but for how long? At what pace? And how many employees are needed to manage and operate those systems? 

Think of it this way — Uber, Amazon and DoorDash, to name a few, didn’t necessarily solve a problem. Most people didn’t have an issue getting from point A to point B, or purchasing books, household goods or gifts from stores, or ordering and picking up food. What they did was simplify and streamline a process for an already established, massive customer base. That’s the goal with today’s back office solutions. 

Integration is a priority need in the real estate industry

In 2018 alone, the real estate industry contributed more than $1.1 trillion of the U.S. GDP. But in a booming industry, we rely on one-off tools and applications that have limited integrations to streamline the real estate transaction process. There is no consolidation or ecosystem where the client, broker and agent can work together. Think about it — Most real estate brokerages, lenders and title companies all work off separate systems, which rarely talk to each other, but they all have the same client in common. Why do we make it that much more difficult for ourselves? 

A back office software that streamlines the transaction process is game changing. If you’re considering a new system, integration should be an absolute priority. 

Your agents and clients are used to convenience

Here’s what brokerages may or may not realize: your customer base is 100% used to convenience. On top of that, they have access to more real estate market information than ever before thanks to tools like Zillow’s rollout in 2006. Your clients can now tell you what their home is relatively worth, which homes they want to see based on the accessibility to all homes for sale, etc. But there’s a reason homebuying is labeled as stressful — it’s not convenient and it’s not streamlined. 

First-time home buyers represent half (half!) of the home purchase market. Those buyers are a great way to accumulate new clients, but make that first purchase stressful, and we highly doubt you’ll see them again down the road. To truly create a client-first approach, adopt back office software solutions that streamline the homebuying process and retail clients. 

Zipi is a back office and accounting solution that aims to make real estate simple from agents and deals to commissions and billings. Request a demo to get in contact with one of our expert team members.