Professionals Real Estate Group stepping into U.S., utilizing Virtual Agent
Posted by mbarrus in News & Press on September 14th, 2011
Australian real estate company Professionals Real Estate Group is expanding operations into the United States and has partnered up with Virtual Agent to offer its agents a full scale mobile solution.
Read more in this article from The Australian:
Bold step into homes of the brave as Glyn Morgan leads Professionals Group into the US
Press Release: OBEO and Virtual Agent Announce Partnership, Launch of Mobile Marketing Solution
Posted by mbarrus in News & Press on August 17th, 2011
Check out the article below from RISMedia to learn about how Virtual Agent has integrated with Obeo to offer a robust mobile marketing solution that complements Obeo’s powerful interactive real estate tools:
OBEO and Virtual Agent Announce Partnership, Launch of Mobile Marketing Solution
Virtual Agent featured in Dirk Zeller’s article “Marketing Yourself on Mobile”
Posted by mbarrus in News & Press on June 13th, 2011
Dirk Zeller, a very well known and respected Real Estate coach and author, has written a new article on mobile marketing featuring the Virtual Agent platform. Check it out below and be sure to try the demo at the end of the article!
“Marketing Yourself on Mobile”
Click here to learn more about Dirk Zeller and Real Estate Champions.
Press Release: VIRTUAL AGENT ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF NEW MOBILE TECHNOLOGY FOR PRUDENTIAL UTAH REAL ESTATE
Posted by mbarrus in News & Press on June 8th, 2011
Prudential Utah Real Estate Answers Consumer Demands with New Mobile Technology for the
Home Buying and Selling Process
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – June 8th, 2011 – Prudential Utah Real Estate is the latest in a number of large real estate organizations to enroll the services of Virtual Agent™ and its mobile marketing and communications platform. With over 400 real estate agents, Prudential Utah Real Estate is the largest brokerage by sales dollar volume in the state of Utah.
“With the movement toward prevalence with Smartphone usage by consumers,” says Steve Roney, chief executive officer of Prudential Utah Real Estate. “We are providing another valuable benefit to our real estate agent’s current and prospective home buyers and sellers.”
Virtual Agent developed customized voice, text and QR Code mobile marketing technology for the brokerage. Tom Roney, director of marketing and communications for Prudential Utah Real Estate, explains that Virtual Agent is an integral addition to their existing enterprise technology platform. The Virtual Agent platform provides a quick and easy way to integrate mobile marketing and communication services with existing real estate technology systems.
Prudential Utah Real Estate agents can now incorporate text messaging, automated phone calls and QR Codes (unique graphic codes similar in function to a barcode) into various marketing materials such as property signs, print advertisements and brochures. When a consumer interacts with the marketing, they are driven to view content such as virtual tours and property listing details on their mobile phone.
“Mobile technology fulfills the consumer desire to get the information they want, when they want it,”
states Will Cooper, chief executive officer of Virtual Agent.
Virtual Agent is a leading mobile technology provider for major real estate brokerages throughout the United States. The Virtual Agent Platform provides the foundation for real estate organizations to launch mobile marketing and recruiting solutions that span across a range of mobile technologies, including text messaging, mobile web, automated voice (IVR), QR and Microsoft Tags, mobile video and mobile applications for the iOS and Android mobile operating systems.
For more information about Virtual Agent, visit www.VirtualAgentConnect.com, and for more
information about Prudential Utah Real Estate, visit www.pru-utah.com.
About Virtual Agent
Virtual Agent is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah with additional team members in California, Arizona, Michigan and Florida and is recognized as a leading mobile technology provider for prominent real estate brands in the United States and Canada. Virtual Agent is founded by seasoned veterans in both the mobile and real estate industries and has been deploying technology solutions across a range of customers and industries. This experience has enabled Virtual Agent to amass a unique set of technology assets and expertise that make it well positioned to offer enterprise grade mobile solutions for the world’s largest real estate brands. For more information, visit www.VirtualAgentConnect.com.
About Prudential Utah Real Estate
After 35 years of award-winning success, Prudential Utah Real Estate continues to out-perform the local competition while relentlessly seeking ways to improve its legendary customer service. With 20 offices along the Wasatch Front and in Park City, Prudential Utah is the local market leader and is also ranked 14th amongst all Prudential Real Estate Affiliates (PREA) nationwide. Prudential Utah received the coveted 2010 Pinnacle, Gibraltar Circle and Round Table awards from PREA. For additional information, please visit www.Pru-Utah.com. Prudential Utah Real Estate is an independently owned and operated member of Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, a full-service residential and commercial real estate network with nearly 1,940 franchise offices and more than 62,000 sales professionals throughout the United States
and Canada.
Mobile set to become most dominant medium
Posted by mbarrus in Trends & Research on April 13th, 2011
Here is a great article that explains the exponential growth of mobile into more and more facets of our lives:
Mobile Marketing – Stats
Posted by mbarrus in Trends & Research on March 29th, 2011
- Of the world’s 4 billion mobile phones in use, 1.08 billion are smartphones and 3.05 billion are SMS enabled
- By 2014, mobile internet should take over desktop internet usage
- One half of all local searches are performed on mobile devices
- 29% of mobile users are open to scanning a mobile tag to get coupons
- 91% of mobile internet access is to socialize
- 200 million YouTube videos are watched on mobile devices each day
http://www.morganstanley.com/institutional/techresearch/pdfs/mobile_internet_report.pdf
Realty Executives and Virtual Agent in Real Estate Magazine
Posted by mbarrus in News & Press on March 14th, 2011
RISMedia’s Real Estate magazine has a great cover article about Realty Executives entitled “A Story of Entrepreneurs”. Read about their success and innovation, including their implementation of Virtual Agent as the provider of their “RE Mobile Connect” platform!
Get ready for the year of mobile marketing!
Posted by mbarrus in Trends & Research on February 2nd, 2011
I came across an interesting article with some great statistics and predictions about mobile marketing this year:
Mobile marketing spend to increase 59pc in 2011: study by Giselle Tsirulnik
From the article:
“The study found that a whopping 88 percent of brand marketers will use mobile marketing techniques in 2011. Seventy-five percent plan to increase their spend on mobile marketing initiatives by an average of 59 percent. In 2010, 62 percent of marketers used some form of mobile marketing for their brands.”
Mobile marketing is becoming an every day part of all our lives. We are constantly surrounded by mobile devices, and so are our customers. What are you doing in 2011 to increase the frequency and effectiveness of your mobile marketing efforts?
“The best option for marketing that I have seen in months”
Posted by mbarrus in Success Stories, Testimonials on October 21st, 2010
Helen Kacur, Coldwell Banker:
Thank you for bringing the CB Connect program to our intown office in Atlanta. It is the best option for marketing that I have seen in months. I was at a party just last weekend with people who were talking about how email is a time drain and talking on the phone is so 2006. And so, I welcome the opportunity to tap into mobile marketing through text messages, since text is now the preferred form of communication in 2010! So glad I attended the class.
“[Virtual Agent] put a nice size check in my pocket”
Posted by mbarrus in Testimonials on September 30th, 2010
Stephen Greenidge, Coldwell Banker:
I set an appointment to meet with a FSBO for a $500,000 listing. They had met with several agents already, so when I met with them they had already heard all of the “Traditional Marketing” techniques that agents use. But when I told them about CB Mobile Connect their eyes just lit up. They were so fascinated by the technology and how different it was that they gave me the listing. It sold in 26 days and I put a nice size check in my pocket.
The future of mobile apps and the mobile web
Posted by mbarrus in Trends & Research on September 27th, 2010
Here’s a great article that discusses the mobile web experience, the flaw in current enterprise app development strategies, and where things are headed in the future:
Mobile Web Users Are Ready For Enterprise Development
There are several major operating systems on smart phones. A robust app campaign involves developing a separate app for each of these. Needless to say, this is extremely expensive and time-consuming. However, with smart phones becoming so advanced and more and more devices becoming HTML 5 ready, the author sees a huge shift in this development process. By creating a mobile web app, enterprises can develop “a device-agnostic mobile Web experience.”
Read the article for some great examples of the many problems facing enterprise mobile strategies and how he believes this can be tamed by looking to the future and adopting the new emerging standards.
“SMS is dominant mobile marketing vehicle”
Posted by mbarrus in Trends & Research on September 9th, 2010
Good article from Mobile Marketer about the important role text messaging plays in mobile marketing:
SMS is dominant mobile marketing vehicle: Epsilon exec
A few highlights:
- “SMS will remain the dominant marketing channel in mobile even as more advanced technologies crowd the space”
- “Mobile can be easily integrated into email, print and Web site campaigns by using a mobile messaging campaign to connect all of these mediums to single or multiple promotions.”
- “… there are numerous ways to use the SMS platform to engage and excite customers. Some examples include alerts and reminder programs, loyalty programs for special giveaways and coupons, direct text to screen used at large events to drive audience participation, and location-based messaging.”
Good article on successful marketing strategies
Posted by mbarrus in Trends & Research on September 2nd, 2010
Here is an excellent article from Mobile Marketer on successful marketing strategies:
Mobile video ads perform 100 times better than online video ads: iVdopia
Some key points:
Why/how should a brand integrate mobile advertising into its 360-degree marketing strategy?
A successful marketing strategy includes a mix of marketing mediums or channels to be considered.However, studies have shown that the combination of mediums or multichannel communications has proven to be very successful.
However, I will say that mobile advertising is proving to be an extremely effective advertising medium, allowing portability and giving users the ability to interact and experience the “depth” of the brand like no other medium can while allowing them to share their positive experiences with others.
[Virtual Agent] leads are by far the best lead in the real estate and mortgage industry
Posted by mbarrus in Testimonials on August 26th, 2010
Jared Schneider, Axiom Financial:
CB connect leads are by far the best lead in the real estate and mortgage industry. Can you really ask for a more qualified lead than a person who is out actively calling on properties and requesting for more information? Internet leads are expensive and are most of the time non-exclusive. People are clicking all over the web and requesting “free info”. Leads coming from CB connect are real potential clients that are most of the time only calling on a few properties at a time. Figure out the ROI for yourself and you’ll see how this program is a no brainer.
I took one of the riders with me to ‘wow’ some potential sellers. They loved it! The seller said, ‘This is slick.’
Posted by mbarrus in Success Stories, Testimonials on August 5th, 2010
Elizabeth Vasti, Coldwell Banker:
Dear Carol,
Just a quick note to encourage you as you market your virtual agent riders:
About a month ago, I bought five of the riders, just to try them. At first, I wasn’t getting any calls, but now the buyers have started calling. In one week, I had five inquiries on only two riders. Of the five, I was able to put two buyers into my Listingbook account.
Today, I took one of the riders with me to “wow” some potential sellers. They loved it! The seller said, “This is slick.” That was before I showed him how his name and phone number showed up on my phone immediately.
I wish you all the best as you market this great tool! I love virtual agent.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth
Jim had a prospect call him off the rider and they are working with him exclusively for a $200,000 purchase
Posted by mbarrus in Testimonials on July 13th, 2010
Sue Flaig, Coldwell Banker, Florida:
Carol, once again, thank you for the extra effort you gave my agents yesterday. I thought you’d enjoy a little story. Jim Chapman, new agent (experienced in sales in other fields previously) subscribed to Virtual Agent the first time you presented to my Clearwater group. He’s the one I told the story about to the Tarpon group… he was so excited and wanted to show me what a super tool it was and did demonstrate it for me. Well, the attached message came with a photo of the For Sale sign with the 866 rider attached to it (his first listing already under contract in less than 25 days). Jim had had a prospect call him off the rider, he has ‘captured’ them and they are working with him exclusively for a $200,000 purchase.
How’s that for a success story!
I’m loving Virtual Agent and looking forward to beating out my competition again!
Posted by mbarrus in Testimonials on June 21st, 2010
Robin Kaplan, Coldwell Banker, California:
Good Morning John,
I wanted to thank you for introducing our office to a fabulous new marketing product that has already generated business for me.
Virtual Agent was able to convert a seller who was going to list with my competition the day it was presented at our office meeting. Right after our meeting I sent an email to this client asking them to test drive the product using the virtual agents demo site. They were so impressed with this unique marketing tool, they immediately called me to let me know they were listing with me right away.
These sellers could see that this marketing tool provided excellent quality photos instantly to their cell phone and allowed me to capture the buyers contact info unlike conventional flyers on the sign.
I’m impressed with the cost of Virtual Agent vs color flyers that disappear from the sign box without the ability to stay connected to the buyers who take them.
I’m loving Virtual Agent and looking forward to beating out my competition again!
PS…This listing went pending in 7 days!!!
Thanks Again,
Robin Kaplan
Coldwell Banker
