Call Capture: Real Estate’s Best After Hours Employee

By Brandi Armstrong

Client communication can never be replaced in real estate. Because the buying and selling of real estate involves many steps and is dependent on the relationship between the real estate agent and the client, the availability and promptness to which a call is answered or returned is crucial. Every call is the most important call when clients are the lifeline of the business.

Moreover, the unique nature of real estate is that once the relationship between an agent and client is formed, it can potentially be a long lasting relationship involving several deals over a long period of time. And because each client has the potential to provide referrals, cultivating a good relationship with the client is crucial to generating future leads.

However, when calls are missed and the time between missed calls and returned calls grows longer, communication and relationships can start deteriorating and eventually break down. The reality is that many calls for real estate agents come in after normal business hours. Clients are more inclined and available to call around the conventional business operating hours of 9am to 5pm. This poses a challenge to real estate agents that are trying to find a life / work balance.  They are left with the option of either taking calls at all hours of the day and night or leaving all those after hours calls unanswered.  

However, call capture technology can be a solution in dealing with this problem. Due to limitations in time and the size of many real estate businesses, it is not feasible to staff a 24 hour, 7 day a week work schedule in order to capture every call that comes in. Call capture technology can maximize the efficiency of how a real estate agent can address calls even after normal business hours. Calls that are made after business hours can be handled promptly and courteously without sacrificing communication or putting a strain on the agent-client relationship through call capture. It allows real estate agents to boost their ability to follow up with potential and current clients, which can lead to increased lead generation, better agent-client relationships and the ability to leverage time.

One of the unique features of a real estate call capture allows agents to load informational recordings into extensions on the system. These extensions can hold information on properties, promotional information, free reports, or any other kinds of information that the agent would like to make available to potential clients. 

When a call comes in to the call capture line, the caller enters in the extension and gets the recorded information of the particular extension that they saw on their advertisement. The advertisement can be a sign rider, Home magazine, from the agent’s website, or any other place the agent advertises their call capture number. The system records vital information the telephone number, and in most cases the name and address of the caller. In addition, that vital information is then delivered to the real estate agent’s e-mail, cell phone and online control panel.

Real estate call capture is a fresh solution to an old challenge that allows real estate agents to generate leads by capturing vital information whenever a potential client calls. Real estate call capture allows businesses to respond to a captured call for rapid follow up. When calling back, agents already have the vital information to make their follow up call more personal and their message more targeted based on the information that has been gathered by the call capture system. .

Potential clients also receive tremendous value from the call capture system because they are able to call in and listen to information about homes they are interested in at any time during the day. That means that even though an agent is unable to pick up the phone, two-way communication is still happening. Potential clients receive the valuable information they are looking for and agents receive vital leads.

Clients that can’t get in touch with their agents feel disconnected from them and often get the impression that they are not wanted or valued. Real estate agents thrive on giving clients top notch services, which include solid communication, personal attention and value. Call capture technology addresses this by allowing real estate agents to communicate with their clients even when they are not in the office. Leads are being generated even while an agent cannot get to the phone. Agents are able to leverage their time knowing that call capture is generating leads while they are able to spend more time with family and find a healthy life/work balance.

Learn more by visting RealtyOne800.com.