The concept of outsourcing has crossed the borders of the real estate industry. No longer is outsourcing confined to IT, back-end office management or customer services. An increasing number of Real Estate Agents are seeing the advantage of outsourcing daily tasks allowing them more time to pursue their leads successfully. By outsourcing, a Real Estate Agency is able to focus on activities that are geared towards generating revenue instead of wasting valuable time on mundane, non-income earning tasks that can be done by an outsourcing company.
Marketing is increasingly responsible for more and more. More productivity, more effectiveness, more leads, more sales, etc. Marketing teams are feeling strapped with limited resources, smaller budgets, and there isn’t adequate training available. If you keep your entire marketing team in-house, you could wind up spending your entire budget on payroll and still not have all of the skill sets needed, on the other hand, if you outsource all of your marketing, quality and control become concerns. All industries are struggling with this dilemma and it’s something that every company, manager, and employee should weigh carefully.
Companies can realize the following benefits by hiring a performance-based marketing agency in real estate:
Cost/Risk
At much less than the cost of one full-time executive, you get an entire team of experts, and can expect cheaper ad costs and software costs, among others. Minimize the impact of marketing staff reductions.
More Value for Your Time
Time is one of the most valued assets in a Real Estate business. Income is earned by selling as many properties as possible. Easier said than done. An endless amount of time is spent every day doing back-end tasks that must be done but do not directly contribute to the end goal. Outsourcing this means your time can be better spent on selling more houses and in turn, earning more commission.
Experience
Get an outside perspective on your business. Your team will benefit from the experience the marketing team brings to the table, such as familiarity with your target market and the many marketing channels and opportunities available.
Saving Resources and Money
Outsourcing is definitely a cost-effective solution for most businesses, Real Estate Agents included. Having skilled and trained people to do non-revenue generating tasks will save you significant financial, time and human resources. Tasks such as preparing brochures, advertisements, updating the client database and website and posting on blogs, are usually done by either the Agent or an office staff member who needs to be paid Australian wages, sick leave, holiday pay plus have access to computer resources and office equipment. Outsourcing requires none of this and is therefore much more cost effective.
Flexibility
With uncertainty surrounding today’s global economy, companies need the ability to expand or downsize their leased and/or owned locations quickly. Look at the recent news on any given day, and you will see how companies like retailers – Best Buy, Circuit City, Sears, Staples, Office Depot and Office Max – have closed stores or reduced their store size.
By outsourcing for growth or downsizing periods for CRE functions such as sublease and assignment activities as well as supporting document and transactions – or “going dark” for underperforming locations to stop the bleeding of profits from healthier locations – companies can lower their risk of hiring, retaining and firing full or part time employees with paid benefits as well as incur office space costs typically required. Outsourcing allows businesses to adapt more quickly to rising or slowing real estate demand for retail, office and industrial space, as well as adaptation to corporate executive vision and strategy.
Peace of Mind
While the uncertainty surrounding outsourcing commercial real estate contract negotiations can be unsettling, companies often feel a sense of relief once people start signing on the dotted line to contract CRE outsourcing services, technology and support. Contractual agreements offer protection for both parties, and remove any nasty human interactions and/or liability that can take place when in-house workers are dismissed
Freeing Up Internal Resources
Why waste people in areas that don’t focus on core business functions? Capital and people are becoming higher commodities in a difficult financial environment, and companies need as many good people as possible to focus on what really matters with a business. By outsourcing commercial real estate (CRE) services, companies free up time and capital to move their business forward.
Geographic Reach
Outsourcing marketing services from makes you as an Real Estate Agency to cover wide areas that you could otherwise manage to reach with your current resource i.e. money, manpower and experience. Outsourcing marketing services releives you the hustle to try and reach all the areas that you have potential customers. Trying this activity yourself can see your company deviating from your core business on which the vision of the company lies.
