To someone looking to buy or sell a home, there’s not much science put to thought — slap a “For Sale” sign on the front lawn and let’s go.
To Coldwell Banker, there’s plenty of science behind the process of marketing residential real estate. For a company that has been doing it for more than a century, they’ve done so by keeping in front of industry trends and technological advances. In doing so, they boast to catering towards a global real estate market, with a brand recognized worldwide.
Here, in a place affectionately known as “Smallbany,” the man on the street is only concerned about what’s for sale in the Capital District. The name recognition throughout the globe, is of no consequence. Bob Sandberg, Coldwell Banker branch manager of the Delmar/Guilderland office sees the importance.
“We don’t do things exactly the same with each location, but people are coming from around the globe and know the name,” said Sandberg. “We follow the same standards. … We’re actually the No. 1 Coldwell Banker [branch] in New York state.” Sandberg’s sales numbers are compared to branches in New York City, Long Island and other urban locations.
Sandberg has been with Coldwell Banker since 1993. Next year, his assistant manager, Ellen Mark, will celebrate 20 years with the agency. In that time, they both have seen sweeping changes to the tools of the trade.
“We’ve gone from the era before the fax machine, through the fax machine, to now we can do an entire transaction remotely, electronically,” said Mark. She said technology has aided with accessibility between agent and client. For example, one client vacationing away was able to sign paperwork with an agent locally through a smartphone, all without paperwork, and the transaction taking place within 15 minutes, said Mark. “It also makes us accessible 24/7. We used to be able to go to sleep at 9 p.m,” joked Mark.
Sandberg and Mark recently merged the Delmar and Guilderland offices, now housed on New Scotland Road, next door to the Price Chopper Plaza in Slingerlands. The state of the art facility includes four, large screen televisions used in presentations for sellers and buyers to show comparisons. There’s a wireless café in the 7200-square foot floor plan, complete with access to four wifi-networked color copiers, that can be accessed by laptop, tablet or smartphone.
The office building is just another example of the efforts to utilize technology for a better customer experience. Another tool that has emerged has been the Internet. No longer the bright shiny novelty once called the Information Super Highway. Getting to the net was the first step, but the agency has done more than just that. Over the years, the realtor’s website has been voted No. 1 for promoting products, as voted on by local builders. The realtor has also developed text-to-phone technology that encourages requests by smartphone, and a prompt response back with a link to follow. Each property sold under the Coldwell Banker umbrella is assigned a personalized URL web address unique to the address; for example, www.123MainStreet.com. All of which allows a prospective buyer to learn about the property before speaking to an agent.
Coldwell Banker’s embrace of technology provides one advantage over competition. But, there’s also the relationships established through related services. Coldwell Banker has partnered with Trullia, enabling listed properties to appear above others on the popular real estate site. There is also the agreement with Multiple Listing Service that allows the realtor to use unlimited text on MLS fact sheets, 25 additional photos, and video capabilities on the Internet.
“It’s all about the customer,” said Mark. “It’s all about the property. That’s what they care about. They don’t care about the listing agent. All of our web presence is about sharing as much information on the property as possible.”
