Overview

Cressy & Everett is an independent real estate broker company that serves select regional areas within the states of Indiana and Michigan. The company has a well-established reputation for being a leading real estate partner in the 50+ cities it operates within and currently supports about 200 agents. Buyers and sellers in these areas choose to work with Cressy & Everett agents over other competitors because of the dedication they have to getting results, the vast knowledge they possess of local areas and market trends, and the commitment they keep to providing the best buying and selling experiences possible for each and every client they interact with.

The Problem

John De Souza, President of Cressy & Everett, and Sherri Reiner, Director of Marketing, wanted a real estate tool that their agents could really rally behind. They had tried implementing a real estate app in the past, but the lack of features offered ultimately meant that they couldn’t get their team excited enough to use it regularly when engaging with buyers. Understanding the importance of arming agents with the right tools to engage with buyers and close deals, the duo knew they had a problem on their hands that required immediate attention.

“If we didn’t do something, we knew the sellers and agents would eventually start using one of the national apps instead like Zillow or Trulia instead of the one from our brokerage.”

“We knew that by not having a better app that had full features that the agents could be proud of promoting, we knew we were missing opportunities, said De Souza. “If we didn’t do something, we knew the sellers and agents would eventually start using one of the national apps instead like Zillow or Trulia instead of the one from our brokerage.” De Souza went on to say that HomeSpotter provides feature parity with the national apps, but with better data which helps them compete and ultimately makes it a much better solution.

The Solution

When they recognized the need for a better solution for their real estate agents, De Souza and Reiner began searching for alternative options. They eventually decided to entertain the idea of switching to HomeSpotter for four main reasons:

Reason #1: HomeSpotter allows them to easily create branded apps for agents.

Reason #2: HomeSpotter provides them with the opportunity to track powerful analytics that they could leverage to help their agents succeed.

Reason #3: HomeSpotter provides a seamless experience across all iPhone and Android devices.

Reason #4: HomeSpotter incorporates Matterport virtual tours directly in the app, which allows users to quickly and effortlessly view homes from every angle.   

The Rollout

In order to effectively roll out the app and encourage agents to start using it on a regular basis, the Cressy & Everett management team focused on two main tactics:

Tactic #1: From day 1, De Souza and Reiner made an intentional effort to send weekly email reminders to their team of agents about using the HomeSpotter app. These emails typically restated the value of the HomeSpotter and highlighted specific features that agents could be leveraging to improve communication and engagement with buyers.

Tactic #2: They set specific milestone goals and created incentives in order to motivate agents to meet the goals that were set. De Souza and Reiner were able to track usage by reviewing real-time agent engagement analytics collected by HomeSpotter.

The Payoff

The Cressy & Everett team has been using the HomeSpotter platform for almost one year. In that time, De Souza and Reiner have been able to boost app adoption and usage among their agents by at least 400%.

Through educational onboarding and weekly reminders, the duo has been able to successfully power the Cressy & Everett app using HomeSpotter which has helped boost the success, availability, and reputation of the agents working to serve communities on behalf of Cressy & Everett.

In addition to helping the company compete on a local level, HomeSpotter is also being used as a value-add that Cressy & Everett can reference when recruiting new real estate talent to join their company.

“As a strong regional, independent company, we always have to compete with the national franchises, and that means we need to have comparable tools for our agents and the sellers we interact with, said De Souza. “Having a fully stocked toolbox is a really important part of our value proposition. Having this app is an essential component of that toolbox. It makes us more competitive, both when we are in a marketplace competing for listings and trying to attract buyers, and also when we are in the marketplace to recruit other agents to our business.”