The benefits of going paperless are vast, so why do so many struggle with implementing a plan to take the paperless journey? Taking the journey will not be possible without a roadmap or plan to get you from your starting point to your destination point.
A large part of this plan is going to be the technology you will deploy to take your brokerage paperless. Now, within a brokerage you have many different people who perform different tasks and are at different skill levels where using technology is concerned – all of which will have to be considered in your planning. All team members – administrators, real estate sales professionals and any other stake holders – should have input.
Before going paperless it is prudent to look at your brokerage departmentally. Have stakeholders meet to discuss different aspects of their department and where paper plays a role.
- Administration may benefit from apps that assist with document organization, transmission, storage, payroll, creation of marketing materials, etc…
- A real estate sales professional may benefit from all of the above as well as apps that assist with marketing, researching properties and clients as well as performing due diligence.
- A marketing person within a brokerage may benefit from apps that enable them to market the brokerage and listings digitally.
If we were to fit it into a process, the process may look something like this:
Make the decision to go paperless → Gather stakeholder input → Research technology → Evaluate vendors of technology → Prepare plan to integrate into workflow → Put the plan into place
By involving real estate sales professionals in your brokerage as well as other professionals who work in the brokerage you achieve their buy-in as they are a part of the plan. You will also be positioned to identify real estate sales professionals who have limitations as far as technology hardware – this enables you to make recommendations to get them up-to-date.
Your plan may want to include:
- Technology – Departmental apps to support going paperless.
- Integration – Getting the apps installed an integrated.
- Training – A plan for training to get all team members up to speed on the apps being used and how they will use them.
- Communication – Communication, communication, communication. While you will have gone a long way by engaging your team as far as their awareness of the plan to go paperless, some team members may not be as engaged as others so routine communication about your plan is recommended.
- Support – Once going paperless you must continue to support your team by staying on top of the latest apps to ensure that you are using the most current technology, and as apps evolve, offer ongoing training and support to teach your team how to maximize their app use.
Going paperless can be tough, be stand up to the challenge with a plan. GeoWarehouse can help. Visit us online today at www.geowarehouse.ca.
