RingCentral Online Blog

Washington Real Estate Agent Praises RingCentral as a Sales-Generating Tool

RingCentral Online spoke with real estate professional Eric Badgley of Bellingham WA Real Estate about how he uses RingCentral to reach potential buyers.

You wrote a blog post recently about using RingCentral to provide listing information to potential customers. Can you tell us about it?

EB: Yes. I'll make prerecorded messages about listings and assign them to about 10 different extensions. At the bottom of my listings it’ll say, "for more information, listen to the prerecorded message..." This feature is something that you should promote more often because some companies out there offer prerecorded message deals for $50 a month and I’m paying $20 a month and getting much more. The blog post that I wrote, which is about prerecorded messages for Realtors, is on ActiveRain.com.

What response did you get to the post?

EB: It’s kind of cool because RingCentral ranks number one for prerecorded messages. You can go on the site and read about it and learn about how I set it up (Eric's post, Prerecorded Messages for Realtors). I wrote about RingCentral because when I was trying to get a prerecorded message service for myself, I couldn’t find the right tool. I’m not providing this information for money, I just want to help other people. 

So can you tell us briefly how it works?

EB: I include our toll-free number and the corresponding extension on all advertising. When potential buyers dial the number and the extension they can hear a prerecorded message about the property, and the system then automatically sends a text message alert to me telling me that somebody called, which captures the lead. This is important since a lot of buyers are scared to call the number on a sign because they don’t want to talk to an agent, they just want to get the price.

Where else do you advertise the number and the extension?

EB: Print and Web advertising, flyers. This way potential buyers can call and they’re not intimidated…if they want to speak with a live agent, they can, or they can leave a message. It’s really cool.

What other features do you enjoy using?

EB: The RingMe click-to-call me button is on our Web site.

And how is RingMe working out for you?

EB: It’s working alright, I’m getting more calls per week from my Web site. What makes RingCentral even cooler is that you can do so many things with it.

Where do the calls go, and are you using Answering Rules to set office hours and route calls to different phones during different dates and times?

EB: The calls are forwarded to our cell phones. Calls are forwarded to me and if I’m not available they're forwarded to Angela, my partner, then they'll go to voicemail. In this business, we have to answer the phones all the time.

And the faxing service, I guess this is also a critical tool for real estate agents?

EB: It’s awesome. For instance, I went on vacation to Vegas and I was doing my work right in my room, faxing out. And that’s a big plus, too. It's almost like a freebie because other internet fax companies will charge $15 just for that service alone, and I think yours is way cooler because it keeps a record of faxes in an online account.

You mentioned other prerecorded message services that real estate agents use. Can you tell me about them?

Yes, they provide a prerecorded message service without an 800 number and it is still expensive, $50 a month. I’m paying $20 with RingCentral and I’m getting 15 extensions, a 1-800 number and I also get a fax number. I think it’s awesome and that’s why I love it, and that’s why I tell everyone about it.

Do you also use the Call Controller?

EB: Yes. For instance, when you called I tried to answer the call on my cell phone but I didn't get it in time, but because I’m on my computer the Call Controller was telling me who is calling so I could call you right back. I try to answer every call that comes in.

The fact that the calls are stored in your account, is that something that, as a real estate agent, you think is useful?

EB: Yes, because sometimes I don’t know where the calls are coming from. In addition, when a call comes in and I pick it up on my phone, a recorded announcement will tell me who is on the line before I "press 1 to accept." It’s nice to have it.

Do you work from home or do you have an outside office?

EB: Well, I have an office and then I sometimes I work at night at home. In my house, I don’t have a fax machine so I love RingCentral because I can make deals in my home without a fax machine, and the paper and maintenance that goes along with it. 

In a Glut Market, Real Estate Agent Uses RingCentral to Generate Leads, Sales

RingCentral spoke with David Blank, leader of West USA Realty’s Freedom Team in Arizona. Blank's creative use of RingCentral led to a spurt in sales leads, a savvy strategy in an inflated housing market.

First of all, what is the Freedom Team?

DB: I’m a subcontractor with West USA Realty and I have a team of 12 under me that we call the Freedom Team. A good portion of our growth, I can tie directly to RingCentral.

You use RingCentral in a unique way. Tell us about it.

DB: On our sign, we advertise our 800 number and give buyers an extension to dial to hear recorded details about that property. Afterward, they can press a key on their phone to speak to an agent. Even if they didn't talk to anyone, we get a log of their phone numbers and call them all back. This solves the problem that real estate agents and buyers face when the box of flyers on a For Sale sign becomes empty.

So you use RingCentral to generate and follow up on leads?

DB: Yes. It’s like having an open house 24/7.

Can you elaborate?

My brother is my business partner, and a telemarketer for me full time. When we get calls on a property, the buyers' numbers are stored and we call everyone back to determine their interest.

Not only does our 800 number generate leads for the business, but we also don’t have clients getting upset that they’re out of flyers. 

So you've stopped using flyers altogether?

DB: We used to go through hundreds of flyers, and get no calls. Our pitch to sellers now is that flyers are a waste of time. We'll display them inside the more upscale properties, and a few clients will demand them, but for the most part the 800 number has eliminated our need for them.

You also use your 800 number to track an ad’s success or failure. Tell us a little about that.

DB: We started advertising our properties in real estate magazines, and we wanted to track the results. In each ad, we included our 800 number with a unique extension, and we changed the extension monthly. We can determine a cost/benefit ratio by the number of phone calls we receive.

How many extensions do you have?

We have 200.

200 extensions?

One big thing that I like about RingCentral is that every time we need more extensions, we get great customer service. This has made me a committed RingCentral user. You guys have been very nice.

Do you use RingCentral in any other way?

DB: When I become a broker, we'll expand our use of RingCentral to put on the façade of a larger real estate firm. RingCentral has changed the way we do business, absolutely.

Forbes magazine ran an article recently stating that Phoenix, Arizona is one of the best places for business and careers. How is the real estate market these days?

DB: Where are you from?

I live in the Bay area.

DB: We have about 70 properties for sale for right now, which is far too many and the market is inflated. We’ve had people from California, Vegas and other parts of the country flocking here like crazy. Now we’re paying for it. A couple of years ago, there were 8,000 properties on the market, now there are 43,000. We started using your service in 2004, and back then I was using 2-digit extensions for our listings. Now we’re using 3-digit extensions to give us more room.

Note: This is not inconsistent with Businessweek's Blog entry titled "Housing Glut?," which reported that the number of single family homes for sale is 35% higher than a year ago, a record.

Internet Marketing Strategy Includes RingCentral, Clients See Results

RingCentral recently spoke with Derek Parkes, Internet Marketing Director of Appraiser General, which lists more than 4,000 real estate appraisers nationwide on its lead-generating Web directory, www.appraiserdirectory.com. Derek's focus is on helping larger clients with pay-per-click advertising on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

You use RingCentral in a unique way. Can you tell us about it?

DP: I use it as a tool to help me prove to my clients that I can give them results, and it's been a great service for us.

Please explain.

DP: For example, If you're a real estate appraiser that covers the entire state of Virgina and you're coming to me saying you want me to market your business on the internet, part of what we do is set you up with a RingCentral account and then put your toll free number on our lead-generating Web site. The calls from that site are forwarded to your phones, and we can track all of the phone calls you receive. If we weren't able to track the number of calls, then we wouldn't know the results that are coming from the internet marketing we're doing for you.

How many clients and RingCentral numbers do you have?

DP: I manage between 25 and 30 toll free numbers.

Your clients also use the Call Controller quite a bit.

DP: The Call Controller is great because when they get multiple calls and the Call Controller pops up, they know to take the marketing call as quickly as they can. That's another reason I really like RingCentral, because my clients can use the Call Controller to prioritize calls. When they're unable to take calls, those messages are stored in their account and are also emailed to their home office or office.

One of your clients received 50 to 60 calls a day from an ad with a their toll free number.

DP: That particular client was a national company, and one of the advertisers on our directory. Now, the only way I could prove to him that he would be getting calls from the ad was to put a call tracking number on his ad. And as soon as we put his ad on our directory, he was getting 50 to 60 calls a day and that's pretty good, but if I didn't put that 800 tracking number up there, there's no way he would have realized the calls were coming from us.

How often do your clients view the Call Logs?

DP: I can have the Call Logs automatically emailed to them once a month so they can see their results. And I have a summary of what's happening.

Why RingCentral?

DP: We love your service because it's really simple for our clients to log in and see the volume of calls they're getting, and it's easy for me to log in and keep an eye on their account. It's easy for us to use and for them to understand.

Do they set up their own service?

DP: No, I set everything up for our clients, and I have professional voice scripts available for them to upload to their voicemail. My clients set up their own Call Forwarding rules, which lets them pick up their calls while they're out in the field and they can forward them to a cell phone or a home office. Some clients use the multiple extensions, and all of them use the Call Controller.

What problem did RingCentral solve for you?

DP: I was working with clients and unable to track the calls, so in order for my program to be successful, it was critical for me to have a tracking phone number to show them the call volume.

Do you use RingCentral for your business?

DP: Yes, I use it for the main company number.

Well, this has been interesting. It's the first time I've come across this kind of usage before.

DP: I imagine you'll see a lot more. There's a lot of internet marketing companies out there that manage accounts, especially internet marketing companies. Our advertising niche right now is real estate appraisers, but we're growing and we'll roll it out to real estate agents, and others in the industry.

Thank you, Derek.

DP: Thank you.

RingCentral to Attend REALTORS' Expo

Join RingCentral at the National Association of Realtors' 2006 Conference and Expo, NARdiGRAS, booth #1067 in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 10 – 13, 2006.

Key note speakers for the event are Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr., co-chairs of the Bush-Clinton Katrina fund.

Numerous real estate agents and brokers use RingCentral for on demand telecommunications including Roger Flowers, a Century 21 agent in Yucaipa, California, and David Jones, office manager of Coldwell Banker Tennessee Valley Realty. The need for Web-based telecommunications services that effectively connect agents and brokers with customers is becoming widespread.

We recently spoke with Mr. Jones and Mr. Flowers about how they use RingCentral.

“In order to meet the demands of today’s increasingly competitive real estate market, it is mandatory that our top performers have convenient access to time-saving technology tools that afford them the most control and flexibility” noted Jones. “Time and again, RingCentral allows us to maintain a winning advantage. With the many convenient features included in RingCentral Online 3. 1—particularly fax by phone and new call notifications—our agents will never have to choose between servicing clients out in the field and processing important documents.”

Like Mr. Jones, Mr. Flowers also uses RingCentral to "save time;" however, he noted another critical reason: "I don't even have a desk in the Century 21 Lois Lauer office," he said. "Part of the reason I have RingCentral is because I do all of my own sales and marketing from my home office."

Mr. Flowers has a "virtual assistant" whom he pays on a per transaction basis to manage his files. When customers call about a specific transaction, they dial an extension and are automatically forwarded to the offsite assistant. "If callers want to talk to me directly and I answer while I'm in my car," Mr. Flowers added, "and they want a document faxed to them, I just transfer the call from my cell phone to my assistant's phone, and she handles the request.”

To attract sellers, Mr. Flowers includes his toll free vanity number on For Sale signs. When callers dial a property number, they hear recorded property information and their phone numbers are logged in to an online Call Log, a tool that can be used to generate sales leads. "This helps to convince sellers that I will do a good job for them. It’s a selling point because it ensures that when the box of flyers is empty, potential buyers can still get information -- and in America, we want information now, not in a day."