It's the time of year when Real Estate companies review their technology tools and make decisions on what is needed for the new year to improve sales and productivity. Back Office Software is no exception to this rule. If you are evaluating your Back Office software and are considering a change, here are a few questions you should be asking:
1. Does your back software accurately calculate your agent commissions? It seems very obvious, but if you can't trust the solution you're using to calculate your agent's commissions, then it is a sign that a change is needed.
2. Do you have to rely on "work arounds" to close out a deal or calculate commissions? The Back Office software you use should handle 100% of your deals. If you find that certain deals you're processing need some sort of work around to close out, then it is time for a new software that offers more flexibility.
3. Are you able to run reports that help give you a good idea of the health of your business? A strong Back Office Software is going to also have a strong reporting module. The reports should be easy to access, distribute, and allow for some customization. If you are stuck with system reports that are not relevant or don't provide the needed information it is time to search for a better solution.
4. Does your Back Office software integrate with other real estate software solutions? This is a big challenge for many real estate brokers. Disparate software products that don't talk to each other leads to duplicate data entry and lost productivity. Make sure you're using software vendors that offer open API's and have existing integrations with complimentary solutions.
5. Does your Back Office Software vendor offer strong customer support? Closing transactions and calculating commissions are pretty important activities for a real estate broker. If you run into an issue with closing a deal, or if you're running into a software bug, you should be able to submit a support ticket and expect a response within a reasonable time frame relevant to the issue. If it is a critical issue you should be able to make a call and talk to a live person who will escalate your issue.
These are just a few of the key questions you should be asking when evaluating Back Office Software.
