Using Technology to Work With Clients Virtually

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In March 2020, agents were confronted with the sudden need to work virtually in an industry that, for as long as it had existed, depended on building relationships and touring properties in person.

For a moment in time, the industry seemed to come to a standstill, only to come roaring back as agents and home shoppers alike pivoted to using tools like virtual tours and video walkthroughs to view homes. While in-person touring has since resumed, with the Delta variant changing the game once again, it’s a good time to revisit the virtual options at hand.

At the start of the pandemic, we reached out to Zillow Premier Agent partners across the country, both to understand how they were impacted and to hear how they were adapting their businesses to keep things moving.

What they have demonstrated is that while these were and are incredibly challenging times, they coincide with an era where the technology you can leverage to help sustain your business is literally at your fingertips.

This guide is based on agent input, and designed for anyone working with a remote client, even if “remote” is only half a mile away. As the situation is different in every city, it’s important to customize your approach and take the appropriate steps to keep you and your clients safe.

Capitalize on the technology at hand — use your smartphone for virtual and video tours

Micah Harper didn’t have to pivot his business to deal with the complexities of adding video tours to his repertoire. Harper, a broker with Exquisite Properties and an Agent Advisory Board member, is based in San Antonio, Texas. Many of his clients are in the military and stationed overseas or out of state. Getting buyers from a connection call to homeownership — sometimes without ever setting foot in the house they’re buying — is one of his specialties.

Like Harper, you can show a property without your client at your side and still give them the level of service and information they need to make a confident decision about the home they’re viewing.

Many agents do this through a combination of live video calls and recorded video tours.

Tools you’ll need:

• A smartphone
• At least one video calling app — iPhone users often prefer FaceTime, while Android users might opt for Skype, WhatsApp or Zoom. Your client may have a preference, so be sure to ask!
• The Zillow 3D Home app for a go-at-your-own-speed tour

From here, the Conversion Playbook principles of ALM — Appointment, Location, Motivation — still apply.  

Applying a virtual lens to ALM

Here’s how to put a virtual twist on the familiar ALM framework.

Appointment

Even if a client is unable or has hesitations about viewing a home in person, your goal of getting an appointment with them does not change — now is the time to reassure them that you can keep their search moving.

“There’s a feeling from clients that they’re putting us out” by asking for a virtual tour, Harper says. “They’re not! We’re happy to show them homes just like we’d show them to anyone else.”

If you have any reviews from clients that mention video tours, this is a great time to point those out to your new customers and reiterate your familiarity and willingness to help them in the same way.

“Reading someone else’s experience of exactly what you’re looking for is pretty powerful,” Harper says. “We share those with them and explain to them, ‘We’re going to make it as much as if you were there in person as we can.’”

Location and Motivation

When it comes to location and motivation, best practices don’t change whether you’re trying to arrange an in-person or virtual tour.

If anything, when it comes to “Location,” you have more options to be extra-effective in helping your client by adding on additional recorded videos of other properties in the area. Harper does this all the time, he says. “I’ll send them the video on the offhand chance they’ll like it.”

A live video is also a great opportunity to ask deeper questions about motivation than you otherwise might have waited to ask in person.

Virtual tour logistics

There’s more than one way to give clients remote tours, and what works best may vary by individual. Some options include:

• A video chat in which you talk to the buyer in real time and can answer questions on the spot
• A pre-filmed video, to be followed by a live call for further discussion and questions
• A shared 3D Home tour, followed by a phone call, video chat, text or email

The 30-minute video tour

In this video, Harper demonstrates how to create a pre-filmed tour to share with clients.

There are about 10 minutes of pre-work to do before starting your live or recorded video tour. Familiarize yourself with the layout of the house, turn on all the lights, open all the doors, and plot your route so you don’t have to do any unnecessary doubling back. Generally it works best to start at the front door, tour the first floor, then the second floor if there is one, followed by ending in the backyard, says Harper. If you’re pre-recording a tour to send, put your phone in airplane mode so that your video isn’t ruined by an incoming call or message.

“You can’t do too much. The only thing they’re going to see is what you point the phone at, so make sure you point the phone at everything.”

Everything that you’d point out in a video tour is the same as what you’d be showing a client in person, but don’t forget to call out some of the areas that often get forgotten. According to Harper, those are typically the garage, closets and the neighborhood itself.

“The neighborhood is a big one, because they have no idea ,” he says. When you’re taking someone on a showing and driving through the neighborhood to get to the property, they inherently get a sense of things, but that’s often missing in a home video tour.

Once you’ve prepared, start your tour in front of the home and pan the street before approaching the front door. Narrate the tour as you go, commenting constantly on things like flooring, finishes, and ceiling treatments. Open closet doors and assess the storage situation. If you aren’t doing a 3D Home tour, then remember to pan your smartphone up and down as you film to capture every aspect of the home.

“I always tell my agents: ‘You can’t do too much. The only thing they’re going to see is what you point the phone at, so make sure you point the phone at everything,” Harper says.

Remember to call out the specific things that the buyer is looking for in the home, and seize upon unique opportunities to build rapport. “Inevitably you’re gonna catch yourself in the mirror somewhere,” Harper says. “I just wave and say hi, and introduce myself if I haven’t met them before.”

End to end, Harper says a video tour takes about 30 minutes.

An important reminder

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) originally offered guidelines that most are familiar with now: stay six feet apart from others, wash hands frequently, use hand sanitizer, and stay home if feeling symptomatic. The amount of available documented guidance has expanded exponentially and can now be filtered by audience and topic. While guidance varies situationally, it’s still recommended to wear a mask “if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.”

Check with your broker or local MLS for additional guidance specific to your area. 

Addressing seller concerns as the buyer’s agent

When arranging for a video tour of a seller’s house, keep in mind that the seller may have concerns about in-person showings. Work with them or their listing agent to find the most comfortable arrangement for all involved. Encourage them with the reminder that the tour will take half an hour at most. If they’re still uncomfortable having someone they don’t know in their home, see if they would be more comfortable with the listing agent filming the video. If you go that route, be sure to share your client’s top questions and concerns with the listing agent.

Zillow Premier Agent partner and Agent Advisory Board member Hao Dang works in Bellevue, Washington. Washington was the first state to identify a COVID-19 outbreak, and guidance on how to slow the spread of the virus has continued to evolve ever since.

Dang stayed nimble, adapting his business practices to account for these changes He drove to private, in-person tours in a separate car from his clients. To help put sellers at ease, he wiped everything down after a tour to make sure they came back to a clean house every time. And he provided hand sanitizer at the door and wore a mask and gloves, and provided that option for his clients as well.

Helping your sellers as a listing agent

The same general guidelines apply for listing agents who are creating a video on behalf of a seller. Be sure to ask the seller about what they are and are not comfortable with, and what their priorities are. Reassure them of how you can manage their concerns. 

Since you won’t be able to tailor your narrative to specific buyer needs, focus on creating a great video by making a storyboard and ensuring it has a beginning, middle and end.

A 3D Home tour is another option for giving buyers a virtual touring experience. You can use the app to create and upload the tour to your client’s listing for free, or pair a 3D camera like the Ricoh Theta to create your tour faster and at a higher quality. 

In some situations, social distancing or health reasons require that no one else come into the seller’s home. If that’s the case, consider coaching your sellers with tips and guidance on how to create a video tour themselves.

Ways to keep your digital presence fresh

The world was already trending digital-first, and the pandemic merely accelerated that shift. Beyond offering remote tours and meetings, it’s always wise to keep your digital presence and services up to date. That way, home shoppers with on-demand expectations can promptly learn everything they need to know about you and what you have to offer. These are actions savvy agents can take to stay ahead:

• As people spend more time at home, they’ll likely spend more time online, so make sure your Zillow profile is up to date. 
• Go through your past reviews and find some worth highlighting and sharing. Now is a good time to find any reviews praising your video touring expertise.
• Use your social channels to reassure clients and remind them of your ability to continue working with them virtually. 
• If you aren’t meeting clients in person, dotloop can help you keep your paperwork and contracts moving forward virtually. 
• Build stronger rapport with clients who also have a little more time on their hands. Send them checklists and things to read relevant to their home search. 

If the past year and a half has proven anything, it’s that agents are incredibly adaptable, helping to support buyers and sellers in what turned into a blazing-hot market even when they couldn’t meet in person.

When this article first ran, we stated: “We are in this together, and our commitment to you is stronger than ever.” The world has changed since those words were written, but our commitment to bringing agents better tools and resources to overcome the challenges of today remains steadfast.

This is an updated version of an original article first published on March 19, 2020.