Buying a new property is one of the defining decisions that people make. As it involves high-value transactions, people expect the realtors to remain available, accessible, and reliable.
Given this, a lot of realtors in the market have started using messaging applications to engage with prospects and clients. WhatsApp Business remains the most popular messaging app, with a huge user base of more than 2 billion people worldwide.
Read the blog to understand the benefits of using WhatsApp for real estate agents. We have got interesting insights on how you can use the application and scale your customer service quality.
Benefits of Using WhatsApp for Real Estate
From sending prompt responses to customer queries to providing property updates, WhatsApp Business offers several benefits to real estate businesses. Here, we have covered the most important among them.
1. Quick and easy communication
WhatsApp offers a quick, easy medium for customers to reach out to businesses and seek support or information. Emails act as formal means while phone calls are slightly intrusive. WhatsApp offers a level-playing ground, in terms of being more accessible than emails and less intrusive than phone calls.
2. Add a professional image
Because the real estate sector involves a lot of money, building a professional image is important to win customer trust in the space. Communicating with customers through a personal number may not look professional. This is more important when you scale your business and involve a larger team.
In that case, communicating from a WhatsApp Business account through a shared inbox can add a professional look to your business. Doing so also offers an opportunity for you to centralize conversations happening across multiple numbers and supervise them.
3. Allows media sharing
While choosing a communication app for your real estate business, you must choose one that allows you to exchange multimedia files and documents with clients.
WhatsApp Business supports real-estate businesses by allowing them to share brochures, property pictures, 360-degree videos, documents, etc. with prospects and customers. Such files offer comprehensive oversight of the properties and boost conversion.
4. Showcase your business catalog
On WhatsApp Business, you can add the details of your profile including name, address, operating hours, recent projects, business catalog, properties available for sale, etc. This is an opportunity for businesses to educate the audience about their business offerings and increase visibility.
5. Automated messages
With WhatsApp for real estate businesses, you can automate responses to frequently asked questions, appointment requests, and sign-up tasks. This helps save agent productivity and time.
You can also set templatized greetings and away messages to help customers when they reach out to you beyond business hours.
6. Send timely updates
Buying a property involves several steps and different milestones. Updating the customer about the progress keeps you connected and adds a professional image. It is not always possible to do that by a phone call or an email.
WhatsApp Business account offers a conducive option for businesses to update customers at each milestone, say when they sign up, close the deal, complete the documentation, etc. Doing so adds a personal touch and helps businesses forge a lasting customer relationship.
7. Improves sales
Of all the platforms, WhatsApp has the highest open rate which is around 98%. In other words, 98 messages out of 100 are opened and read. So, promoting real estate communication using WhatsApp helps businesses improve the effectiveness of outbound marketing campaigns which in turn improves sales and revenues.
How to Use WhatsApp for Real Estate?
WhatsApp communication in the real estate industry helps promote effective engagement with potential buyers and customers. In this section, we have included different use cases for WhatsApp in real estate businesses.
1. QR code to capture leads
While running ads and marketing campaigns, adding click-to-WhatsApp or QR codes helps leads and prospects establish a quick connection with businesses.
For example, when a real estate business advertises to sell a property, using a click-to-WhatsApp feature navigates people who click on the ad to a WhatsApp conversation with a real estate agent. This offers a quick, convenient way for leads and prospects to connect with your business.
Similarly, including the WhatsApp QR code in your ads, billboards, brochures, and other marketing materials can help leads reach out to you instantly by just scanning the code.
2. Send broadcast messages
WhatsApp for real estate businesses helps send broadcast messages to reach out to several people at once. For instance, when you have updates about a new property for sale, you might want to reach out to potential prospects and leads.
WhatsApp broadcast campaigns help send updates, property information, follow-up messages, feedback forms, etc. to a group. With advanced features, you can also segment prospects and customers based on their location, demographics, etc., and send appropriate messages.
Based on the response received and customer history, you can group them and design retargeting campaigns.
3. Performance monitoring
WhatsApp Business helps collect data and information about the performance of your real estate agents and customer feedback. Supervisors and managers can monitor customer communication and ensure consistency.
Data collected from the WhatsApp Business platform can be used to make informed decisions and promote corrective actions. They can also be used to draw trends and patterns from customer conversations.
4. Seamless internal collaboration
WhatsApp Business API allows businesses to eliminate communication gaps and promote seamless collaboration between real estate professionals. For instance, real estate agents can rope in a house insurance agent into an ongoing thread and close deals swiftly.
Also, within the business, a unified WhatsApp Business platform helps customer support, marketing, and sales teams eliminate silos and work in collaboration to improve customer service quality.
5. In-chat payment link
WhatsApp platform can be used to generate an in-chat payment link so customers can pay the booking fee directly in just a few clicks. This helps accelerate the process and avoid in-person meetings. In case of refunds, you can also process the payment easily through WhatsApp communication in real estate.
WhatsApp for Real Estate: Best Practices
The WhatsApp Business App has exclusive features that support startups and small businesses. To use WhatsApp for real estate businesses, you must use a third-party WhatsApp solution that helps access and manage high-volume conversations.
Here are some of the best practices you must follow to elevate efficiency while using WhatsApp communication in real estate businesses.
Using a WhatsApp shared inbox helps centralize customer conversations and promote consistency in communication. Supervisors can monitor the conversation happening across multiple numbers through the shared inbox and ensure professionalism and coherence.
Shared inbox helps eliminate silos and gaps, and promotes transparency in the process. As it offers a unified view of conversations, businesses can watch out for customer trends and patterns, and adapt the communication strategies to better serve them.
The conversation history is readily available and businesses can refer to the messages at a later point in time for training and dispute resolution.
2. WhatsApp for Real Estate: Automate Common Processes
While using WhatsApp messaging for real estate businesses, it can be used to automate workflows and processes like appointment scheduling, answering FAQs, follow-up notifications, lead collection, etc.
Automated appointment scheduling
On WhatsApp Business, you can develop a custom flow to allow leads to automatically schedule appointments for property viewings and meetings.
The application could take the lead through questions that help the business collect information about the customer’s requirements, preferences, etc., and make recommendations accordingly. The tool could also present available dates and times for site visits so the customer can choose one at their convenience.
The platform can also be used to send automatic notifications based on the customer response. Once the deal is closed, you can also use the WhatsApp Business App to send out congratulatory messages and feedback forms.
Answering FAQs
While using WhatsApp for real estate business, you can identify frequently asked questions and automate responses for the same. Once you identify the questions, you can set up a FAQ menu. For instance, the FAQs in real-estate business would be around property listings, financing and loan options, available properties, etc.
Customers shall interact with the menu and garner relevant information as automated responses. They shall be navigated to the agent when they seek advanced information that is not covered under FAQs.
: 25+ WhatsApp Business Greeting Messages to Impress Your CustomersLead collection
WhatsApp offers various contact and entry points for customers. For instance, while using WhatsApp for real estate businesses, they can attach a QR code to the brochure or embed the WhatsApp link to the website.
Businesses can also use the click-to-WhatsApp feature when they run targeted ads on social media, search engines, etc.
3. WhatsApp Business for Real Estate: Integrate your CRMs
The best way to build a unified communication platform for customer relations is to integrate the WhatsApp Business App with the CRM tools. By doing so, a real estate agency can sync customer information across the CRM as well as the WhatsApp platform.
The integration enhances the efficiency of customer communication and agent productivity as they can access customer data without switching between multiple platforms.
: Learn more about WhatsApp CRM integration4. WhatsApp Business for Real Estate: Send Quick Replies or Promotional Messages
As explained earlier, the WhatsApp Business App can be used to send promotional messages through broadcast lists and reach many people in a go.
Agents should prepare different broadcast lists based on the interests and preferences of existing clients and prospects. People who have displayed interest in a property type or location, etc. shall be put under a single list.
When a property that matches their preferences becomes available, it becomes easy for you to send a broadcast message. You can include exhaustive details about the property including location, type, price, features, etc. in the form of text, images, and virtual property tours.
For instance, if you wish to offer a 10% discount on a property in Los Angeles, you may use this template to send a promotional message to potential clients and customers who have shown interest in Los Angeles property listings.
Hey John, Here's a Christmas treat you will never forget. There is a new listing in Los Angeles that fits your search for a farm property. And what's more special? On the special occasion of Christmas, we have an exclusive offer for you. Get 10% off on this purchase. Offer valid till 31 December 2023. CTA- Arrange a visit.
You can send this to as many people as you want using broadcast lists on WhatsApp Business Application.
: Checkout Best Omnichannel Platforms for Effective CommunicationControlHippo – A Better Choice to Use WhatsApp for Real Estate
ControlHippo is a leading communication platform known for offering a robust WhatsApp shared inbox with CRM integration, analytics, dashboard, automation, multiple user access, chat labels, etc. All these features offer a competitive advantage when it comes to using WhatsApp for real estate businesses.
Real estate agencies can gain a consolidated view of conversations happening across multiple numbers and elevate customer service efficiency. With 24/7 onboarding support, quick setup, extensive automation, and affordable pricing, ControlHippo has evolved as a go-to tool for real estate businesses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, many real estate agents have WhatsApp Business App as a key part of their communication strategies. Businesses take advantage of the advanced features in WhatsApp to enhance customer support quality and boost sales.
If you are in the real estate business, you can use the WhatsApp Business App to centralize communication, send quick replies, broadcast messages, lead collection, automate responses to FAQs, in-app payment collection, etc.
To promote yourself as a real estate agent on WhatsApp, you must set up your profile using your name, address, operating hours, business catalog, properties available for sale, etc. Once you set up the profile, you can send broadcast messages to your contacts and prospects.
Updated : November 20, 2024
Jainy Patel is a content strategist who specializes in omnichannel communication solutions. She develops innovative marketing strategies that unify messaging across various channels, ensuring a consistent and engaging customer journey. Jainy is passionate about optimizing communication processes and crafting targeted content that resonates with audiences at every touchpoint.
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