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Rechat is an end-to-end sales and marketing solution
Platforms: iOS, Android, browser
Ideal for: Brokerages, teams, agents
Top selling points:
- Full-featured email marketing
- Collaboration tools
- MLS-integrated marketing automation
- Video marketing library
- Connected transaction management
Top concern(s):
A couple of things come to mind if considering an application of this magnitude. The first is that it will likely require you to maintain some redundancy in your tech stack until Rechat is fully in place. It’s not a hard app to learn, but offers a lot of what you may be doing elsewhere. Second, it’s going to require a strategy, or knowledge of how to plan marketing, to fully realize its benefits. This is why its website is full of testimonials from big names.
What you should know:
There’s little this app can’t do to broaden an agent’s reach within their market. It’s well-versed in email marketing, video creation and outreach, listing promotion, creative asset production and distribution, contact management and then, on the post-lead capture end of things, it offers a competitive transaction oversight module that is surprisingly granular for a mobile-first approach. Rechat does a lot of what a lot of other apps do separately. It can consolidate a tech stack for tech-savvy brokers wanting to provide a single-point solution for lead nurture, brand-building, sales support and lightweight deal management. The mobile UX is tight and engaging, and that commitment to using front-end design as a tactic to invigorate adoption is reflected in the web version. Agents looking to fully embrace what it takes to support a growing brand and tightly tie business to software should find a lot to like about Rechat. I fear it’s a bit much for those unsure of their ability to plan strategically.
One of the reasons I envision Rechat being more effective in the hands of already productive agents is that its many tools ask for confidence in marketing from its users. This is, after all, a tool, a method of execution. If you’re not comfortable sharing dynamic first-person video, for example, Rechat’s ability to provide that may be lost on you. And, given the number of sessions Inman holds at its Connect events on how to be better at short-form video content, I’m going to guess not everyone loves to do it. Change that comfort level, though, and Rechat becomes a sharp knife to draw on your audience.
Users can apply stickers and overlay graphic titles to highlight listings, apply a long list of provided soundtracks and best of all, use your MLS feed to pull in the property you want to promote. You can also schedule publishing times and measure your video’s performance metrics.
The People module, under which Rechat’s CRM rests, focuses on lead conversion, offering a direct channel from already existing lead sources into the app, which I like. This can help in transitioning from an existing CRM, especially given that Rechat will automatically tag and categorize an individual. It clearly highlights the lead source in the broader database view, allowing the user to determine at a glance where to focus future marketing efforts. It integrates with a number of recognized names, like Realtor.com, Ylopo, and your social networks. Leads can also be assigned to others in your office or team.
New leads are accompanied by an alert, and the option for the user to trigger a pre-recorded follow-up or record a custom video to text or email. Or, at least scan the individual for anything that may demand a faster-than-normal response. However you reach out, the CRM will track it.
Rechat has a native business card scanner, something I’ve always brushed off as a tradeshow-inspired gimmick, but I suppose it has use when meeting folks in person for the first time. I just put cards in my pocket, not wanting the person to think I’m only interested in how to turn them into data. It’s a preference, and Rechat gives you the option.
Email is a big part of Rechat, and includes a host of automations, creative design tools, re-usable templates and a marketing library from which to repeat effective designs or modify one to better appeal to a lead. The testimonial-focused email sends are especially useful, I think, especially when trying to give a referral more credibility, for example.
The UI/UX here is high-level, aligning with what some of the larger e-commerce email engines offer. You can adjust fonts, import images, apply and edit templates and generally create, send and measure at will. Consider though the time required to build out a solid email campaign — it’s not easy. Point is, don’t look at this feature as a fun, useful add-on. Take email seriously. There’s a reason the world’s largest enterprises staff hundreds of people to manage it.
The Marketing Center is where you’ll find the email tool, as well as the social media, video generator, CMA builder, landing page creator and an integration to build and mange paid ad campaigns. Like I said, there’s a lot here, and it’s worth discovering as you go and need each component, don’t try to get your mandible around all of this at once. Rechat allows you to buy it in parts.
The web experience expands visually on the more streamlined mobile version, offering what I think would be the best way for marketing admins and team leads to manage the system. After all, that’s who I think is really best suited to have their hands on the strings of Rechat. It’s a marketing support system, in the end. And a good one at that.
A great deal of emphasis has clearly been applied to the user interface and experience, this is as consumer-inspired as it gets in the proptech space. It’s not the only good one I’ve seen this year, but it’s certainly a standout. The module-by-module approach is one way to make Rechat easier to digest, and the front-end only augments what I think is only a moderate learning curve.
Again, this is the tactical arm of what you and your team discussed at the beginning of the year regarding how things will look at the end of it. Don’t just set up an account and spray your market with disjointed messaging, take advantage of what this app can do for your business, not just your quarter.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe
Craig C. Rowe started in commercial real estate at the dawn of the dot-com boom, helping an array of commercial real estate companies fortify their online presence and analyze internal software decisions. He now helps agents with technology decisions and marketing through reviewing software and tech for Inman.
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