The technical challenges facing real estate agencies are very similar to those facing other businesses as more reliance is being placed on technology to run and manage our daily operations.

We all know the systems we should have in place today – transaction processing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), business data reporting, connectivity to external portals (realestate.com.au, etc) and synchronisation with other applications (e-mail, calendars, CRM, etc) – but what will we need in the future?

The current development is the increased prevalence of web-based applications. This comes with a range of benefits, including: 

• Mobility of hardware:
  You can take your application with you via a netbook or laptop, a mobile device such as a PDA, or even your mobile phone. This lowers the cost of the hardware you will need to run the software and keeps you and your employees on the road making sales, attending inspections and generally contributing to the vital tasks involved with business maintenance and growth.
• Accessibility:
  It really is a case of anywhere, anytime with web-based applications. While we don’t want to be working 24/7, it is possible when you have access from wherever you are.
• Web evolution:
  Once you are using the web to access your software, you are better placed to take advantage of the next evolution of the internet. Often referred to as Web 2.0, this encompasses Facebook, Twitter, blogs,forums (plus whatever they come up with next!) and opens up a whole new way to communicate with clients and prospects.

• Security of the data:
  We are dealing with personal details of clients and transactional information, so it is critical to be very sure that the system we are using is as secure as possible. The providers who do this best will use security protocols already in place for secure banking and credit card transactions.
• Ownership of the data:
  With the data sitting on a supplier’s server, there are potential issues about who owns it and what each party can do with it.

What you can do right now...

The future has a habit of seeming a long way off, but there are a few things you can do to prepare your business right now.

Is it time to equip your business with mobile devices: netbooks, PDA’s or web-enabled phones? Do you need to investigate a better internet connection and provider? How good is your data security and back-up procedures? Can you reduce the number of software programs you are running and achieve greater efficiency? Do you, or any of your staff, need training in the programs you currently use?

Remember: it wasn’t that long ago we were only using paper files and computers took up whole office floors. Being prepared for the next step in the software evolution will be the key to surviving and thriving in an increasingly competitive market.

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Craig Thwaites (MBA, B.Comm, CPA) is CEO of Console, a leading provider of Real Estate software solutions for property management, sales management and trust accounting.