VisualTour.com™ Contact: J. L. Winn, TRF Systems, Inc.
JLWinn@VisualTour.com 954.345.9701 ext 220

Source: National Relocation & Real Estate Magazine, October 1, 2001

There are always new products or vendors that aim to convince real estate professionals that their offering will help them win more listings, save time and make more money. As sales professionals and business owners, we all want more customers, to work more efficiently and to keep a bigger piece of our gross income, so it's natural for vendors to appeal to us through these promises.

What seems to get lost in these sales pitches is how the new product will sustain these advantages for sales agents over the long haul. Savvy business people should know if they are buying just a generic gimmick for all Realtors or investing in a product that can be customized to add personal branding-to keep a strategic advantage even when the competition has the same product.

The Right Tool for the Right Job

To be effective over the long term, we use products as tools to make us work faster, easier or more cost-effectively. For example, if an broker's company does the same 500 listings per year as before, but their cost of each transaction is cut by $50, then they can keep an additional $25,000 in her pocket. If an agent who uses a new tool can get her work done faster, saving her a few hours per week, then maybe she can squeeze in one more listing appointment each week. If she already closes one-third of her listing appointments, that means she'll get about 17 more listings next year. Or maybe, she can just take off a few more days to relax.

The reality is that very few of us can use today's product's leading-edge features to maintain a competitive advantage over Realtors who use newer products tomorrow. Why? These tools need to be something that we can master quickly and integrate with what we've always used. Of course, some tools have effectively replaced traditional ones that are now obsolete or too costly, such as MLS books or hard-wired phones.

To maximize effectiveness, new tools we purchase must be implemented within routine procedures that we've always used. That may be strictly taking listings, or working with corporate relocation clients, first time buyers, seniors or vacation rentals, to name a few. Our new tools must help us to communicate, promote, market, and perform better than before, but in a way that makes our prospects and clients benefit as well.

The virtual tour is one such tool that has improved the Realtor's marketing toolbox immeasurably. When virtual tours were first introduced, most agents felt they had just one choice in virtual tours. And as much of a "wow" factor as it was at the time, it soon wore off and it became apparent to Realtors that their one choice looked the same no matter which Realtor bought and used it. There was no way to individualize the tour, to exercise their control over it or to cut costs. As virtual tours have progressed, most Realtors now know they have a choice in tour providers. But more important is that today's virtual tours are more Realtor centric and economical to use.

The VisualTour Difference

Virtual tours from VisualTour.com for instance are designed to promote not just a few rooms of a listing, but the agent and real estate company as well. Each VisualTour is a self-contained marketing tool that shows up to 50 rooms and exterior scenes of a property, and keeps the Realtor's photo and company logo displayed while a home buyer is viewing your tour. If the buyer is interested, they can click on one of several buttons that either displays the Realtor's contact information or they can even e-mail the agent or office or page the agent's cell phone right from the tour for immediate contact.

The buyer can enter the tour code in a special box on your website and see the VisualTour of the home in the ad of flyer. They don't have to do another search through your website or portal.

And being able to showcase more of each listing is a powerful marketing point to your sellers that you control-you can add your own touches to the text description and voice narration to your VisualTour, creating a unique promotion of the home to the public.

By J. L. Winn

About VisualTour

VisualTour (www.VisualTour.com) is developed by TRF Systems, Inc. of Coral Springs, Florida. Incorporated in 1991, TRF Systems is the leading provider of innovative digital photo management software and services in a number of vertical markets. VisualTour.com is recommended by the Council of Residential Specialists, the Allen F. Hainge CyberStarsä™, and the Real Estate CyberSpace Society. For more information, please contact J. L. Winn at TRF Systems at 954.345.9701 or by email at JLWinn@VisualTour.com. VisualTour.com is a trademark of TRF Systems.