With the switch to the remote workplace, it’s essential to have the right tools in place to keep your team organised and productive and keep your agency moving forward. While some may be anxious about the changes needed to switch to remote work, you can rest assured there are plenty of amazing tools available right now – many of them free of charge – that can unite your team and streamline your agency management.

Here are some of the cloud-based tools that can help your team collaborate, innovate and thrive in a remote working environment and remember – isolation doesn’t mean hibernation. Keep moving forward, implement new tools and ideas into your business to survive and thrive in 2020. List and sell!

Openn Negotiation

Transparent online auction platform – www.openn.com.au

Openn Negotiation is an online bidding platform which provides a transparent sales method – helping buyers and sellers find the true market price for a property. Once a buyer is qualified, they can start bidding from day one and all bids are visible. Designed to encourage buyer competition in a shorter time frame, you and your vendor will be able to see competing bids and watch the process occur in real time. With transparency comes trust – and real estate agents who use this process are restoring value in the profession, selling more property, in less time, with better results.

AuctionNow

Online auction platform – www.auctionnow.com.au

AuctionNow is a live streaming service for auctions that allows buyers to bid live using a traditional auction method. Bidders can register online and once approved (and paperwork digitally signed), can view the live auction and bid as if they were holding the paddle outside the actual home.

Instagram / Facebook Live

Live streaming services

Using the live streaming features of these social media platforms is an amazing way to do a ‘live’ open home. You can still schedule and advertise your opens as you have before – but instead of buyers visiting the home, they’ll be visiting your Instagram or Facebook account, ready for a live open at a set time. Each agent can have their own unique account, or the agency as a whole. It’s up to you. Announce the live open times to your buyers (along with your social media details) and you’re good to go – and you’ll also have the added bonus of raising your social media profile.

Jigglar

Graphic design platform – www.jigglar.com

Jigglar is a real estate focused DIY graphics tool, that lets you create and customise amazing real estate flyers and social media posts from a range of stunning lead generating and marketing templates in minutes. It’s easy to use, saves you money & time, and unlike other tools, it’s 100% real estate.

ProposalPoint

Digital proposals – www.proposalpoint.com.au

ProposalPoint is a fully branded, interactive and customisable digital proposal solution for real estate professionals. It lets you create and send on-brand, personalised and interactive digital proposals in minutes – that showcase your unique services and will help you win more listings. You’ll be notified when a potential client interacts with your proposal, and  It’s a system that’s sure to impress leads and convert potential vendors and landlords into satisfied clients.

Zoom

Online meeting and webinars – www.zoom.com

No doubt you’ve heard of this one! Zoom is one of the hottest apps on the planet right now, offering video conferencing and webinar features to keep your team connected. It’s easy to use and allows your team to join together on a single video call. On the plus side, it’s great for after-work virtual drinks too.

Camtasia

Screen recorder and video editor – www.techsmith.com

A fantastic tool to quickly create and edit screen recordings with voiceovers to send out to your vendors, tenants or agents. This method saves time writing out complicated emails that are long and difficult to read. Camtasia speeds up the whole process by letting you make a screen recording with your voiceover, and then send the video as needed. It’s a great way to explain complicated processes that are too difficult over the phone or via email.

DocuSign

Digital signing – www.docusign.com

The company that pioneered the eSignature – DocuSign allows you to send agreements, contracts and other documents and get them signed digitally. Used by top companies in 180 countries, it streamlines agreement generation and contract lifecycle management and provides an 80% faster turn-around time.

Slack

Instant messaging and communication – www.slack.com

Used across the globe by leading companies (LockedOn included), Slack brings your team together online. Featuring instant messaging (in channels you create or privately), video calls, screen sharing and more, Slack unifies your team communication under one roof and all but replaces email. An essential tool for remote teams.

Calendly

Appointment scheduling – www.calendly.com

Calendly helps you schedule meetings without the back-and-forth emails. You set up your availability in Calendly, and your clients can pick an appointment time that suits them by visiting your online profile.

Basecamp

Project management – www.basecamp.com

Created by the people who (literally) wrote the book on working remotely (check out REMOTE), Basecamp is a project management tool that allows teams to collaborate, work and report on projects easily and efficiently. Need to create a new listing presentation? Create a project in Basecamp and your team can set tasks, add milestones, add files, add comments and much more.

BoxBrownie

Real estate photo editing, staging, renders and more – www.boxbrownie.com

Need your photos enhanced, day-to-dusk touch-ups done, or a 3D floorplan created? Sunshine Coast based BoxBrownie offers professional high-quality photo editing, virtual staging, floor plan redraws, renders & virtual renovation at great prices – geared specifically for real estate.

HootSuite

Social media scheduling – www.hootsuite.com

HootSuite allows you to schedule hundreds of social media posts across multiple accounts, all in one place. You can prepare all your content in advance, set up a schedule and HootSuite takes care of the rest. This is a great option for those looking to promote live open homes on their social accounts.

BombBomb

Email videos in minutes – www.bombbomb.com

BombBomb lets you record and send a customized video message via email to one client or many. It’s easy to set up, and gets you face to face with the people who matter most – using video. BombBomb features detailed tracking & analytics features, and is a great way to add simple, personal videos to your emails which will rehumanise your communication and achieve better results.

Dropbox

File hosting and management – www.dropbox.com

Dropbox is more than just a place to store files. It’s a cloud-based file management platform which keeps all your files and folders in one place and keeps your team in sync.

LockedOn

Real estate CRM and marketing platform – www.lockedon.com

And last but not least, LockedOn is a poweful, easy-to-use client relationship management and marketing platform for real estate agents. You can check out our full list of features here – but the important thing to focus on in 2020 is nurturing your database. Take the time to clean your database, so you’re fully prepared to come out firing on when things return to normal. Stay in contact with your database and provide value like no other agent in your area – and think of innovative ways to engage with your clients.