Ubertor Real Estate Blog

Get expert advice from an Ubertor specialist on how to use the basics of the system. This is a great start for all new Ubertor users eager to learn how to begin maximizing their website for the most return. This is a live guided tour of Ubertor’s control panel – so if you’re on the fences about Ubertor’s software, click in and join the tour. See how easy it is to get a website up and running.

Join in 2 easy steps (Live Tour is FREE):

1. Register for the Live Tour on May 3rd @ 10:00 AM PST.

Simply click on this LINK at the time of the LIVE TOUR and JOIN!

2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) – a headset is recommended.

The live tour will go over the following topics:

1. Logging into your control panel (1 minute)

2. The Dashboard – Overview of cool tools to get your site running (9 minutes)

* Google Maps – Map your listings with 3 different views
* Google XML SiteMaps – Get found on Google faster than others
* Feedburner – Get your blog going with Feedburner
* Google Analytics – Start tracking the number of people coming to your site
* Favicon – Change your favorites icon

3. Crafting your own page (15 minutes)

* Adding content
* Adding photos
* Adding videos

4. Power marketing your listings (15 minutes)

* Display your photos
* Adding files, like floor plans and strata docs to your listings
* Mapping your listing on Google
* Giving your listing its own domain (URL)
* Adding music to your listing
* Have an open house? Advertise the listing as an open house
* Virtual Tours
* Get your listing on Craigslist – and looking good!
* Adding your own filmed video to the listing

5. Unveil the power of CSS and how it can help you mastercraft your website (5 minutes)

6. What is Twitter? How to use it with your website (5 minutes)

7. Q & A (10 minutes)

**1 LUCKY attendee will win $57.00, just for taking the tour!**

If you’re unfamiliar with the term Kaizen, it is defined (by Wikipedia) as Japanese for “improvement” or “change for the better”, and refers to philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, supporting business processes, and management.

They key thing to take note of is the “continuous improvement of process”. Kaizen is based on making little changes on a regular basis, always improving productivity.

At Ubertor, our Client Service team document a “Team Kaizen” at the end of their work week, that offers 1 way to improve workflow within Ubertor. Kaizen’s submitted range from simple improvements like adding a knowledge base article for a highly asked question in live chat (submitted by Uber Carl) to documenting step by step procedures for newly used programs like Basecamp for our Design and Client Service teams (submitted by Uber Tin).

In my first post for Ubertor culture, I explained that we are a team of 6. If we calculate how many Kaizen’s are applied per month, that’s 24! Which means, each month our team is improving 24 different aspects of our work flow.

The key to a great Kaizen (and probably the most important aspect), is not only the idea, but also the action plan that follows suit. I like to tell my team that a Kaizen without an action plan is simply a suggestion, and anyone can suggest “this” or “that”. Actions plans must state a clear goal, and ways to achieve this goal.

Test out the Kaizen philosophy with your team, and see what aspects of your business you can improve on.

I had the pleasure of doing an interview the other day with Ken Cook from RETSO (Real Estate Tech South) which is a real estate organization from Atlanta Georgia. Within the interview I talk about Ubertor as well as some online tools (Yammer, Wikis, Video, etc) that agents can use to grow/run their businesses. You can listen to the 16 minute interview over on their website.

Later this week there is a REALTOR ONLY event in Victoria that is designed to kickstart the season of selling. I have the privilege of being one of the guest speakers and look forward to seeing lots of agents out. Today is the last day to register and there are only a couple spots left.

“Discover why NOW is the time for your clients to buy Victoria Real Estate and how you can reap the benefits of current market conditions”

They will also have the following Developers / Projects from within the Greater Victoria market showcasing their product. A few more will be announced in the coming days.

Townline – The Hudson
Anthem – Union
League Assets – Colwood City Centre
The Airey Group – 601 Herald
Aviawest – Parkside Victoria

“As part of this educational event, you will be able to visit each of these developers and learn more about the current incentives and promotions available to purchasers and Realtors.”

To register email: Coralie McLean coralie@magnumprojects.ca

One of my goals for our team is to continually pursue growth and learning – both professionally and personally. What better way to do so, than to pick up a book and engage it. The Ubertor library has a handful of books to choose from, but as a team, the first book the Client Service team will read is the “The E-Myth” by Michael E. Gerber.

If you’re unfamiliar with The E-Myth, the underlying message revolves around “franchising” your business so that your company’s results are predictable. Here at Ubertor, we use internal tools to do just such. We use tools like Google Apps and Yammer to open communication lines between our employees, and Wikis to document company operations and procedures, so that anyone can learn how to accomplish any task.

The goal of reading The E-Myth for our team is to increase our knowledge on the above and to implement Kaizen in the client service realm of Ubertor. In addition reading The E-Myth as a team will help me answer employee questions like “Why do we use a Wiki?”, “Why do we do things this way and not the other?”. My answer will be simple, “It’s in The E-Myth, seek your answer there.”

Take a quick look at your business. What resources are you and your team using to constantly improve ‘your game’? If you draw a blank, pick up The E-Myth and start there.

Get expert advice from an Ubertor specialist on how to use the basics of the system. This is a great start for all new Ubertor users eager to learn how to begin maximizing their website for the most return. This is a live guided tour of Ubertor’s control panel – so if you’re on the fences about Ubertor’s software, click in and join the tour. See how easy it is to get a website up and running.

Join in 2 easy steps (Live Tour is FREE):

1. Register for the Live Tour on April 28th @ 2:00 PM PST.

Simply click on this LINK at the time of the LIVE TOUR and JOIN!

2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) – a headset is recommended.

The live tour will go over the following topics:

1. Logging into your control panel (1 minute)

2. The Dashboard – Overview of cool tools to get your site running (9 minutes)

* Google Maps – Map your listings with 3 different views
* Google XML SiteMaps – Get found on Google faster than others
* Feedburner – Get your blog going with Feedburner
* Google Analytics – Start tracking the number of people coming to your site
* Favicon – Change your favorites icon

3. Crafting your own page (15 minutes)

* Adding content
* Adding photos
* Adding videos

4. Power marketing your listings (15 minutes)

* Display your photos
* Adding files, like floor plans and strata docs to your listings
* Mapping your listing on Google
* Giving your listing its own domain (URL)
* Adding music to your listing
* Have an open house? Advertise the listing as an open house
* Virtual Tours
* Get your listing on Craigslist – and looking good!
* Adding your own filmed video to the listing

5. Unveil the power of CSS and how it can help you mastercraft your website (5 minutes)

6. What is Twitter? How to use it with your website (5 minutes)

7. Q & A (10 minutes)

**1 LUCKY attendee will win $57.00, just for taking the tour!**

Vancouver speaker, businessman and author Cameron Herold has a new book out called “Double Double, How to Double Your Revenue and Profit in 3 Years or Less“. I have had the honor of speaking at a few events with Cameron across North America over the past few years and always pick up something new. I sent Cameron a quick email asking if he would answer a few questions. Check them out below as well as an opportunity to WIN a copy of his book “Double Double“.

Tell us about yourself?
I’m likely best known in the business arena for being the Chief Operating Officer & driving force behind 1-800-GOT-JUNK?’s spectacular growth from $2 Million to $105 Million in revenue in just six years (2000-2007). Now, As the founder of BackPocket COO, I mentor a select class of promising CEOs, entrepreneurs and their teams, helping them make their dreams happen. With my book Double Double & my speaking events I’ve reached an even broader audience of entrepreneurs on five continents.
I also love golfing, skiing, tennis, cooking, red wine and spending time with my kids.

You new book “Double Double” just came out, how does it apply to Realtors?
It’s all about focus. Entrepreneurs, which Realtors are, need the systems & tools to grow their companies. There is so much noise in the business book area, and too many books that are just theory. My book Double Double was written for entrepreneurs, and written in the same way entrepreneurs tend to learn. It is loaded with easy to use systems to grow any company.

What advice do you have for todays Realtors, many of whom are working in struggling real estate markets?
It’s all about focus. Focus strategy, focused marketing, focused networking, focused efforts day-to-day, etc. Too many Realtors are trying to find the silver bullet – and their isn’t one. One of the top realtors I know has focused for the last 15 years on the same 16×16 block area, he drives every street in his area every day. He owns it. He’s focused. And I guarantee he isn’t wasteing time on social media, or marketing outside of his focus area. We can’t get more time, but we can get more focused.

How do you choose your Realtor?
I recently chose one in Whistler to purchase our chalet there in December. I went out to a few friends who owned there already and I asked them who was focused & hardest working. I found someone who has lived there for 20 years. Being a Realtor isn’t just a flash in the pan idea. Jeff Hume was focused. He showed us 18 places in one day, beating his previous showing by 10 He listened to us. He didn’t over sell on anything. He worked really hard to help us buy.

Would you like to WIN a copy of Cameron’s new book?

To enter:

1. Post a comment in this blog post as to why you should be chosen

or

2. Join the Ubertor Facebook page and comment there as to why you should be chosen

or

3. Tweet the following: I want to win a copy of @CameronHerold’s book Double Double. Hey @Ubertor – Pick Me!

Tuesday morning’s email brought the team a big smile. Thanks to our Webinars and this blog, you may already know that you can submit your suggestions to our team via your control panel. These suggestions are then passed to our developers and launched as New Ubertor Features on this blog. We thank clients that submit their suggestions and let them know when they are launched.

Well, realtor Jeffrey Sefton suggested we added a button to turn off/on twitter updates for new listings and new openhouses. We told him that, thanks to his suggestion, all clients will now get the feature. Here’s how he replied:

Cristian,

Thanks for letting me know, great to hear!

When I put in the request to turn on/off the auto updates to twitter I was curious if I would hear back.  What a pleasant surprise to know that the Ubertor team listens and acts on client requests and implements them.

Having worked in my past life in the hospitality software development and services sector I know that the process of managing and implementing software enhancements takes plenty of time and effort behind the scenes. First and foremost it takes a company that is customer centric.

Thanks again,

Jeffrey Sefton

Thanks Jeffrey for the note! We really appreciate it.

Get expert advice from an Ubertor specialist on how to use the basics of the system. This is a great start for all new Ubertor users eager to learn how to begin maximizing their website for the most return. This is a live guided tour of Ubertor’s control panel – so if you’re on the fences about Ubertor’s software, click in and join the tour. See how easy it is to get a website up and running.

Join in 2 easy steps (Live Tour is FREE):

1. Register for the Live Tour on April 19th @ 10:00 AM PST.

Simply click on this LINK at the time of the LIVE TOUR and JOIN!

2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) – a headset is recommended.

The live tour will go over the following topics:

1. Logging into your control panel (1 minute)

2. The Dashboard – Overview of cool tools to get your site running (9 minutes)

* Google Maps – Map your listings with 3 different views
* Google XML SiteMaps – Get found on Google faster than others
* Feedburner – Get your blog going with Feedburner
* Google Analytics – Start tracking the number of people coming to your site
* Favicon – Change your favorites icon

3. Crafting your own page (15 minutes)

* Adding content
* Adding photos
* Adding videos

4. Power marketing your listings (15 minutes)

* Display your photos
* Adding files, like floor plans and strata docs to your listings
* Mapping your listing on Google
* Giving your listing its own domain (URL)
* Adding music to your listing
* Have an open house? Advertise the listing as an open house
* Virtual Tours
* Get your listing on Craigslist – and looking good!
* Adding your own filmed video to the listing

5. Unveil the power of CSS and how it can help you mastercraft your website (5 minutes)

6. What is Twitter? How to use it with your website (5 minutes)

7. Q & A (10 minutes)

**1 LUCKY attendee will win $57.00, just for taking the tour!**

If you’ve signed up for an Ubertor website, you probably noticed a hand written ‘Thank You card’ pop into your mailbox a few days later. Expressing your gratitude for a favour, gift, or in this case a ‘sign up’ is extremely important, and in the end speaks greatly about the way your business operates and essentially your company culture.

Ubertor has been hand writing thank you cards for years (close to 10!), and now our Client Service Team has adopted the handwritten thank you card program and have begun creating personalized cards for people they chat with in Live Help.

Check out some of the cards below:

There are a handful of reasons to send out thank you cards to show your gratitude. Here are some ideas, if you’re stumped:

• New client, customer or sale
• A referral from a current client, friend, or family member
• After a kick-butt live chat, phone call, or meeting
• Any job well done by someone you worked with

With technology these days, many take the easy route and send out E-mails to serve as thank yous. An E-mail message is “OK”, but it does not have as much weight as a handwritten thank you card. Handwritten thank you cards show appreciation and effort, and actually provides the receiver with something physical to hold and appreciate.

In the end, who doesn’t like to be appreciated and thought of? This is an extremely powerful emotion you should be tapping into regularly. It’s a very simple process, that works for any business.