Connections and Intelligence: The New World of Real Estate

The real estate industry deserves greater modernization.

It needs more technological innovation, for the good of builders, brokers, agents, managers, and clients alike.

I write these words because of my own experience with this sector of our economy.

I also have specific recommendations about ways to improve the sharing of listings, connections among various professionals, referral opportunities for these brokers and agents, and more.

My research reveals that while there is a need for such a service, one does in fact exist: Proxio.

Their flagship product, Proxio Showcase, provides digital marketing tools and analytics for real estate professionals, along with a sharing and collaboration platform where real estate agents everywhere can “follow” and “share” listings.

Their global networking product, Proxio Connect™, is akin to LinkedIn for real estate: A library listings, which works in 19 languages and multiple currencies. The platform has over 750,000 agents from over 100 countries with over 3 million listings today. And, since everything is in the cloud, there is total control of branding; and every action is accessible – in real time – through an easy-to-follow dashboard.

Proxio’s goal is to empower real estate agents to be more proactive with digital sharing and collaboration – in any language, with anyone in their respective networks – thereby removing linguistic or locational barriers, so there can be a much higher return on investment (ROI) than traditional sales tools.

I cite this organization – and I am happy to highlight other groups with a similar mission, though I have yet to find any – because technology must fill a significant and existing gap, where agents who use mobile devices are themselves mobilized to take action.

That is, they must have the ability to capture leads and close deals, with a solution optimized for social media.

According to Janet Case, CEO and Co-Founder of Proxio:

“Technology is dynamic, and social media adoption means that organizations must quickly adapt to an online and mobile world, ready to meet client expectations for delivery of multimedia property information to tablets and smartphones, while still retaining an informed and engaged sales staff to create strong client relationships.

“Business has become more global, providing more opportunities to sell to buyers far away from a property or a project’s location—while also creating more competition to attract those buyers. And, those buyers may not speak the same language as the sales team does.”

This resonates with my own dealings with real estate professionals in both Southern California and New York City, as I think – indeed, I know – that these experts could be significantly more productive – and successful – if they were to use technology for the good of themselves and their individual clients.

We need greater efficiency, less friction and a faster rate of closings within the real estate industry.

We need these things because service matters. Period.

Builders and real estate developers also need analytics to guide their marketing and engagement with consumers.

Real estate agents need to better serve their foreign clients, too. These regional or local representatives must become global ambassadors, ready to promote themselves and eager to build enduring – and valuable – referral networks.

I welcome a technological revolution within the real estate industry, as it means I can enjoy the service I want and the service I deserve to receive.

Let the spirit of innovation thrive.

(Disclaimer: I am not an employee of, an investor in or a consultant to any company referenced in this piece. I maintain a strict code of professional independence, free of any conflicts of interest.)