How to Get Started with Text Messaging for Real Estate Agencies and Professionals

Why Real Estate Agents Should Be Texting with Leads and Clients

In today’s market where homes are being sold faster than average and buyers are paying above asking price, your response time is more important than ever. Studies done at MIT on qualifying and converting leads says that the odds of qualifying a lead if contacted within five minutes versus 30 minutes drop 21 times. Even more important is that most of the communication between businesses and consumers nowadays are done over text as people prefer texting over any other communication channels such as phone calls or emails.

If your business number isn’t text-enabled, there is no way your leads can text you about a home they’re interested in. It also means that your lead has to set aside a time in their busy day to call your real estate agency and jump through hoops. You may be thinking, what if they text your personal number instead? They could, but this means that you’ll have to list your mobile number on the internet. Once that’s done, you can say goodbye to your privacy and your personal time on evenings and weekends. You’ll be getting text messages at all random hours throughout the week and since it’s a personal number, they will expect you to reply back within reasonable time. 

But if you are texting from a landline using a business text messaging service for real estate agencies, it can reply on your behalf automatically letting them know that the office is closed and that you’ll get back to them during business hours.

You Should Text with Leads Using Your Office Number Instead

Why should you text using your office phone number? Not only is text messaging more efficient than phone calls or emails, it is the most preferred communication channel by consumers these days. By texting leads and clients using the same office landline number you’re using to make calls, you’ll significantly increase the chances that your messages will get a response as the phone number that shows up on their mobile phone will be recognized by them.

The question that gets asked over and over is how do you know when a text message is sent to your office number and how are you supposed to reply to texts sent to your office number when your landline telephone doesn’t have a touch screen or a keyboard you can type on like you have on your mobile phone? In fact, your landline phone service provider doesn’t even offer a text messaging service for your landline.

The answer is simple. To text with leads using your office’s existing landline or VoIP number, you simply need to sign up to a business text messaging service like Texty Pro to add text messaging capability to your existing office number.

How Can I Enable Text Messaging on My Landline Number?

Texty Pro has simplified the process of text-enabling a landline or VoIP number. There are no equipments to buy, no complicated technical expertise needed, and you don’t have to deal with signing a dodgy contract. Texty Pro is commitment free, can text-enable most phone numbers within a minute and comes with a 14-day free trial for all real estate agencies and professionals.

The Three Step Setup Time for You Should Also Take Less than a Minute:

• Register your account
  Add your business email address and a password you want to use to log in to Texty Pro.
• Enter billing information
  Your credit/debit card will not be charged until the 14 day free trial is over. No charges will be made if you cancel within the free trial period.
  Enter your office number
  After you enter the office phone number you want to text-enable, you will receive a phone call with a 6 digit verification code to make sure that you are the owner of the phone with access to it. That’s it. In a minute or so, you’ll be able to send and receive text messages with leads using your office number through the Texty Pro dashboard on the web.

How Are Real Estate Agencies Using Text Messaging?

2-way person-to-person conversational text messaging is a great way to build lasting relationships with your leads and customers. Here are some of the ways that real estate agencies and professionals are using Texty Pro to text with clients and creating a lasting relationship:

• Scheduling Appointments for Showings
  With text messaging, scheduling appointments for showings does not have to involve a game of phone tag or even a real-time interaction between an agent and a prospect customer. The asynchronous nature of sms text messaging means that neither of the parties have to be available to have a conversation or finalize an agreement.
• Scheduling for phone calls, or in-office meetings
  Phone calls and meetings are real-time events but everyone operates in their own personal schedule. Text messages can be a quick way to set a time that works for both parties for either phone calls or any type of meetings. Here are some ways you can use text messaging for scheduling with clients
• Following up with Leads and Clients
  Depending on the needs, a text may work better and may even be preferred by them compared to call backs with voicemails or emails.
• Appointment Reminders
  A no-show not only is it a waste of time, it may also mess up your schedule for the entire week trying to re-schedule the person in. With text messages, all you have to do is sent a quick text reminder to get a confirmation or a re-schedule days ahead.
• Sending and Receiving Documents
  Say goodbye to scanners and lost emails! In fact, you won’t even have to call them just to tell them to check their emails! With MMS picture messaging, you can easily send contracts, get a photo of a driver license, bank statements, and more. Here are some other ways to use MMS picture messaging for business.
• Qualifying Leads
  Sometimes, leads are just looking for information. Texting back a lead can be a quick and easy way to test if they are serious or not. If they aren’t responding to your texts in a timely manner, they may not be serious about working with you or your agency.
• Printing the Text Message Conversation
  Although your text messages are saved in a secure server on the cloud, you may want to print out a copy of a conversation for certain reasons. Here's how to print a text message.
• Use Text Message Abbreviations for Business
  You don’t want to text clients with abbreviations like ROFL but it is more than ok to text using abbreviations approved for business to save time and efford. Abbreviations in sentences such as “Please send the signed document by EOD”, “I’m OOO but I’ll check later”, or “if all goes well, you could be closing by EOM” works in most business settings. Take a look at some commonly used text message abbreviations for business use.
• Manage and review all text messages in one SMS inbox
  Business texting apps such as Texty Pro offers a universal inbox feature where every team member has access to all text messages sent and received using the business number. This allows one agent to hand over an existing conversation with a lead to another agent by assigning it to them or simply add your 2 cents using the private note feature. You can even change notification settings to either be notified of all incoming and outgoing text messages or only be notified on the text messages that are assigned to you.

Get Started with Text Messaging for Real Estate

For real estate agencies and professionals, text messaging is the quickest and the most effective way to communicate with leads and clients. Try business texting for real estate free for 14 days and start building better relationships.

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Popular Questions About Text Messaging for Real Estate Agencies and Professionals

How do I sent a text message using my landline number?

How can I collaborate with my real estate team members?

Why should I use my office number for text messaging?

How can I let my clients know to text our office number?

What is TCPA compliant text messaging?