Along with travel, education, healthcare, and finance, real estate is at the forefront of industries that benefit the most from chatbots.
A chatbot, in its simplest sense, is a program that can converse with users on its own. Smart chatbots or AI-powered chatbots are widely used by businesses across various sectors because they can respond to customers instantly and can be used for a variety of purposes.
Since the 2019 pandemic, most real estate transactions happen primarily online. The solution lies in technologies like chatbots that can lessen the load on real estate agents by automating lead generation, customer service, and sales. At the same time, a chatbot can deliver great customer experiences by streamlining the buying and selling process.
Here are the main uses of chatbots in real estate:
Increasing Customer Reach
A chatbot can be a part of your website, app, and preferred messaging platforms for omnichannel customer engagement. Your chatbot can be the one to greet and assist visitors and potential customers when they are looking for information or someone to talk to. Additionally, by being on popular social media and messaging apps like Facebook Messenger that people use to connect with businesses, you can be closer to your customers and be able to build a more personal relationship with them.
Lead Generation and Lead Nurturing
With a chatbot, you can capture and convert leads more effectively. No need for electronic forms as your chatbot can simply start a conversation with customers and ask them questions. Your chatbot can find out if the customer is looking to buy, sell, or rent a property, what their preferred location is, their budget, and other information that agents can later use to propel them into the sales process. Not only does this take away a huge amount of time spent in checking emails and ultimately fast-track the lead generation and nurturing process but it also makes customers’ first experience of your firm more engaging.
Showcasing Properties
The most crucial aspect of selling real estate online is showcasing properties. The presentation of a property is usually the deciding factor that drives potential buyers to make a decision. That said, a chatbot can help you display properties in a way that will get the attention of customers. A chatbot’s interface allows you to make use of mobile-friendly carousels and visual media such as images, GIFs, and videos to skillfully exhibit properties and highlight their best features. You can even offer virtual tours with 360-degree panoramic views. With a chatbot, you can make way for an interactive experience that will leave a lasting impression on potential buyers.
24/7 Instant Inquiry Responses
Answer inquiries in real-time, at any time of the day with a chatbot that is perpetually online and operational. Even when your agents are away, your chatbot can provide customer support 24 hours a day and resolve queries without delay. Natural language processing capabilities allow your chatbot to distinguish between different types of questions and respond accordingly. You can incorporate topics such as payment options, requirements needed, and other FAQs in your chatbot so you can provide customers with complete information that can help them move forward to the next step.
Scheduling Appointments and Property Visits
By linking your chatbot to your agents’ calendars, prospective buyers and sellers can directly set a time and date for appointments and property visits at their convenience. This significantly reduces the number of calls that agents have to take and gives them more flexibility to focus on more important work such as meeting clients and scouting new properties. Your chatbot can also send users reminders for their upcoming appointments and viewing schedules through the push notification feature of messaging apps.
Property Appraisal
Your real estate chatbot can also help with property appraisal requests. Customers only need to answer a few questions and the chatbot will hand over the information to your agents for review. The chatbot will then inform the customer if the property valuation is successful and provide them with an expert estimate of their property’s value as well as a complete appraisal report. As the next step, the chatbot will schedule a property inspection and customers can easily set their next availability.
Acquiring Customer Reviews
Displaying property reviews is a great way to build trust and credibility for any business. Customers often rely on the opinions of other customers for their purchase decisions, which is why referrals work and why reviews and testimonials are highly valued. Having a chatbot can help you gather feedback from your customers in a conversational manner and make the experience more casual and personal. Your chatbot can also display customer reviews in a carousel menu that customers can easily view.
Providing Recommendations
Lastly, businesses also commonly use chatbots to collect customer data and build customer profiles. Conversation transcripts, user activities, demographics, and other data collected from your chatbot can help you gain valuable insights that you can apply to improve your strategies. Through the push notification feature, your chatbot can send customers relevant recommendations based on their previous interactions with your business. For example, your chatbot can inform a customer of newly opened properties in the city where they live. This can help you reengage old leads as well as upsell to current customers.
In conclusion, a chatbot can help brokers and agents in so many ways and augment your real estate firm. With a chatbot, you can reach more customers, generate and nurture leads more efficiently, provide 24/7 instant customer support, automate daily operations such as scheduling appointments and property visits, and boost your sales through an overall positive customer experience. Get a chatbot for your real estate firm today! Alfafusion is the Philippines’ pioneer chatbot solutions provider for big brands and enterprises. Book a bot demo with us!