When you think real estate back office, what words come to mind?
Exciting, easy to use, and even fun?
Probably not.
If you’re like most brokers, thinking about your back office makes you groan. It’s frustrating and a headache you don’t want to deal with. But, it’s a necessary evil to run your brokerage.
However, it doesn’t have to be that way.
With the right real estate back office software, you can streamline your back office in no time. And, the right software can even give you a competitive advantage over other brokerages. Before getting into how to choose the right real estate back office software, let’s take a quick look at what real estate back office software is.
Real estate back office software is just a fancy way to say transaction management, right?
Nope, it’s not.
Legacy software mostly focused on transaction management. But, modern real estate back office software includes so much more. So, back office software has transaction management. And, it also includes other non-customer-facing activities like accounting, commissions, and agent management.
Instead of managing your back office with spreadsheets, generic accounting programs, and paper files, real estate back office software digitally manages everything. And, the best software helps you do everything in one place.
When you digitize your back office, you and your team can save hundreds of hours a year. Rather than wasting time on data entry and analysis, your team can focus on high-value activities – like working with clients. And, your back-office data will be more accurate when you eliminate manual data entry. This saves you from headaches like lost data, compliance problems, and tax issues.
Now that you know what real estate back office software is, here’s what you should look for.
While back office software can dramatically improve your efficiency and accuracy, it’s important to choose the right software. You won’t get the benefits of back office software if you choose the wrong one. So, here are the top features to look for in real estate back office software:
The first thing you should look for is back office software has multiple functions.
You could get a transaction management platform. And, a different accounting software. Plus, you could get a separate system to calculate commissions and one to manage agents. But, having so many different tech tools makes your back office more complicated – instead of streamlining it.
And, having so many different software solutions reduces efficiency and makes errors more likely. Your team could have to transfer data manually between all the software. This is a time suck. A lot of data entry also invites data errors.
Having so many tech tools also makes it less likely your team will use the tech. Learning 5 new tools could be too much for your agents. So, your team won’t use any back office software. This wastes your investment and negates any benefits from the software.
So, you should look for consolidated back office software. You want one platform that does everything you need. Transaction management, commission automation, accounting, agent management, and more. Your back office software should do it all.
Back office software likely isn’t the only tech you have. You probably also have a CRM like BoomTown!, franchise-specific tools, lead-generating software, showing tools, and more. So, your back office software needs data from your other tools. It might also need to send data to your other tech.
Without integration, your back office software can’t talk to any other software you have. So, your team will need to manually move data back and forth. If you need to send transaction and accounting data to your franchise, your team has to manually locate and transfer that data. This can take up hours each week. And, manually moving data is prone to errors.
So, you need back office software with good integration. It should be able to integrate with everything else you use. This means it should be able to read and write data to and from your other tech tools.
While good integration is essential, an even better option is to find a back office and front office platform under the company – like BoomTown! and Brokermint. Being under the same company, your front office and back office software work seamlessly together – further increasing efficiency and saving time.
Real estate is a mobile job. Your agents spend most of their time out in the field working with clients. So, they need access to your software to manage transactions, have clients eSign documents, and more – wherever they are.
However, many legacy back office software solutions use outdated tech. So, you can only run your back office software on a computer. And, when you or your agents need to access your data, you have to log into that same computer. If your agents need anything on the go, they have to stop back by the office to get it.
With this software, it’s also easy to lose your data. Since it’s stored locally on a computer, you’ll lose everything if that computer crashes.
Instead of legacy tech, you should look for a modern, cloud-based back office platform. With your data on the cloud, you can access it from anywhere. And, you and your team can access your data on any device – like your phone, tablet, or laptop. Plus, with your data stored in the cloud, you don’t have to worry about losing it if your device crashes.
Choosing back office software with awesome functionality is only the first step. You also need to look for software with a great user interface. Otherwise, no one will use your tech.
Real estate is one of the last industries to be digitized. As such, your agents probably aren’t entirely sold on using tech when spreadsheets and paper files have worked fine so far. Adding to this hesitation are the clunky and complicated user interfaces of legacy back office software. This software is often more complicated to use than doing everything manually.
So, it’s important to choose back office software with a modern user interface. Software with a great user interface is simple to use and visually streamlined. You and your team can easily find what you need in the platform. And, a modern user interface makes it easier for your team to learn the software – boosting adoption.
With a user-friendly user interface, you and your team can get the most out of your back office software.
Simply digitizing your back office can improve efficiency. But, to maximize efficiency and time savings, you need back office software with automation.
Much of back office work is tedious tasks – like entering data, analyzing spreadsheets, and moving data between tools. While this work is made up of small tasks, it can be extremely time-consuming. Instead of spending time serving clients better, your team has to waste hours on menial data entry.
With back office automation, that doesn’t have to be the case. Your software can input data, move it where it needs to go, and even analyze the data and make calculations. All without you and your team having to do much. You simply click a button, and everything is done for you.
So, you should look for back office software with automation throughout your back office. Not just in one area. That way, you can maximize time savings. And, free up your team to focus on revenue-generating activities.
One last thing you should look for in back office software is intelligent insights. This can give you an edge over other brokers.
Back office software should organize your data for you. But, that’s only a first step. Data doesn’t help you run your brokerage better if you don’t understand it. Or, if you can’t draw meaningful conclusions from it. But, manually analyzing so much data can be a huge time suck. So, you spend hours pouring over spreadsheets. Instead of taking action to improve your brokerage.
So, you should look for back office software that provides analysis, reports, and actionable insights. That way, you have concrete steps to take to close more deals, retain top agents, improve efficiency, and more.
Plus, these tech-generated insights are often better than manual insights. This gives you an advantage over brokers who are relying on manual analysis and conclusions. So, with back office software that provides business insights, you can outperform your competition to be a top brokerage.
The real estate back office often gets a bad name. Traditional back office management is tedious, frustrating, complicated, time-consuming, and an all-around headache.
However, it doesn’t have to be that way. The right software can streamline your back office. And, improve efficiency to reduce the time you spend managing your back office.
But, not all back office software can do that. To make sure you’re choosing the right back office software, you should look for back office software that is:
If you’re looking for back office software that does all that and more, consider Brokermint. Complete with 5 modules – transaction management, commission automation, accounting, agent management, and reporting and analytics – Brokermint has everything you need to streamline your back office.
Request your demo today to see how Brokermint’s best-in-class back office software can help you boost your brokerage.
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