Realty Austin uses Real-Time Collaboration Tool to Sell More Homes

AUSTIN, Texas, June 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Realty Austin, an award-winning Austin-based real estate brokerage, uses the leading enterprise social networking solution, Salesforce Chatter, to collaborate in real-time with its team. From distributing hot leads, to sharing hot new listings, the team accomplishes more in a shorter period of time by taking advantage of the platform's technology.

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Drew Griffin of Realty Austin said, "In a fast-paced marketplace where things change by the minute, Salesforce Chatter gives us an effective way to broadcast important information across our entire company, without clogging up our inboxes. The ability to reach out to my team for ideas on how to handle a unique sales situation is priceless. Everyone sees the questions, and the answers, raising the experience level of our entire sales team."

Realty Austin agents and staff use Chatter to get answers to questions in real-time. Once responses are broadcast, they become viewable and searchable by the whole team. Sharing of answers is seamless and can be bookmarked for future reference, enabling every member to be educated and knowledgeable about the topic.

Sari Pearce of Realty Austin said, "Chatter allows me to be an expert. Even when I am out with my clients, I can use the Chatter app on my phone to answer their questions quickly. Having a team of 200 agents to poll makes me an invaluable asset to my client. If they have questions about schools, want to know the commute time from a neighborhood or simply need a vendor recommendation, I can retrieve answers for them fast."

Chatter is used by Realty Austin for internal discussions, too. When a hot topic surfaces, agents are able to brainstorm with a focus group made up of co-workers. Trial and error can be discussed in a Chatter community before engaging customers. Colleagues are looped in to solve the matter efficiently and increase responsiveness.

Laura Oleson of Realty Austin said, "Not only can I share my experience through Chatter, but also I can educate myself on a variety of scenarios from inspections to septic systems. I can add value to the home-buying process by finding solutions to safeguard my client."

Realty Austin is also using Chatter to distribute hot buyer leads to their agents in real time. In our business, if buyers don't hear from someone immediately, they move on and find another agent. Chatter allows Realty Austin's team of 200 agents to see the inquiries coming from buyers, in real time, and to pick and choose the buyers they wish to work with.

Drew Griffin is a true testament to the effectiveness of their system, "Because Realty Austin notifies us immediately of hot leads, we are able to contact and close prospects quickly and efficiently. This is not only great for customer service, but it also affects my bottom line by allowing me to close more transactions each year."

Beverly Williams of Realty Austin said, "Normally, I check Chatter at least 2-3 times per day to search for hot leads, upcoming listings, vendor suggestions, marketing updates, and contract questions and answers. Each day I learn something new when reading Chatter that helps my business continue to grow."

Williams continued, "As an independent contractor who works from a home office, I am dependent on Chatter. It allows me to be as engaged as I want to be on a daily basis while providing a convenient method of ongoing communication between team members."

Realty Austin is no stranger to innovation and applying new methodologies to mundane tasks. Its reputation as an early adopter to thinking outside of the box is well known in the residential real estate market and technology landscape in Austin. Founded in 2004 by Jonathan and Yvette Boatwright, the company has enjoyed tremendous success while strategically growing its team of 200 high producing local agents.

Jonathan Boatwright said, "Using Salesforce Chatter has given us another advantage over our competitors. The platform has enabled our team to work faster. In turn, our agents sell 5 times more real estate than the average agent in Austin. Part of that success we attribute to the efficiency and effortless application of Salesforce Chatter in our workplace."

Boatwright concluded, "Ease of integration with mobile devices, user friendliness, and collaboration were our key requirements for a sales and marketing platform. Salesforce Chatter continues to deliver a top-notch application to meet our growing needs. Our agents are happy and our customers are happy, which is all we could ask."

About Realty Austin
Realty Austin is the fastest growing real estate company in Austin with over $800M in sales in 2012, ranking as Austin's second highest producing agency in just eight short years. Realty Austin is headquartered in downtown Austin with locations in Westlake and Lake Travis, expanding into Southwest and Northwest Austin in 2013. Visited more than 10,000 times per day, realtyaustin.com is the most widely used home search website in Austin. Realty Austin's team consists of 200 full-time, high-producing agents who were hand-selected for their real estate experience, market knowledge and career accomplishments. Realty Austin is the most innovative and progressive real estate company in Austin, uniquely suited for its high tech, home grown culture. For more information, visit realtyaustin.com or call 512.241.1300. Become a fan on Facebook at facebook.com/realtyaustin.

Media Contact:
Jen Davis
512.484.6751
[email protected]

SOURCE Realty Austin