It’s the first Sunday of the month. One of your real estate agents, Gary, is ready for a BIG day. He scheduled several meetings with new potential buyers at the office prior to hosting a 2pm-4pm open house. It’s his busiest day thus far for the year. He really needs to earn a good commission the next few months. He has many extra bills looming over his head including car repair bills, hospital bills for his daughter, and a senior living home down payment for his dad. He convinced several of the prospective buyers to come into the office that day. He knows meeting them in the office is the best method that will lead to a client and purchase. Needless to say, he is well rested, ready and prepared for this day.

He drives his 30 minute commute to Broward County, arriving to the office extra early ensuring he is fully prepped; however, upon arrival, he discovers the Multiple Listing Service Website is not loading. As this has previously occurred, he is already prepared with a few backup website listing options. However, these websites are not loading either. He realizes the internet has slowed down or malfunctioned, even though his computer displays that the internet is fine.

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He immediately roboots the office router with no luck. He then calls the service provider, they cannot fix the problem remotely and do not see any issues. They inform him it has to be something on his end and they cannot send out any technicians that day. As the other agents and realtors start arriving, Gary calls you. You immediately start calling tech service companies. Three of them, no answer. Two of them, a voicemail states their hours are: Monday-Friday, Saturdays with limited hours, and closed Sundays.You call another provider, they require a year long retainer to obtain their services. Then one more try,  you find a company that is available, but cannot come out until after 4pm. They also charge double rates for weekends as well as travel fees. You need to choose whether to go with this company at the end of the day or decide if it is best to just wait until early Monday.

In the meantime, your employees are now on-site, but cannot do any work. Some try to access the listings through their cell phones, but many have issues with cell phone reception in that area. Gary is one of them. They have clients starting to arrive in a half hour and most will not able to show them on-line listings. This makes your company look bad. You look unprepared, unprofessional and ultimately this will hurt your business.

People's lives are so busy that getting potential buyers out to your office in the first place can be very difficult. Some of Gary’s potential clients call other agencies as they are on a time clock.

Nicol Jenkins down the block at Nilsen Realty has some slots open, and her firm’s internet and servers are working perfectly . She’s not only happy to fit them in, but has some great available homes to display on-line and even show that very afternoon.  

Some of Gary’s potential clients now become Nicol’s clients. With her diligent work and friendly, genuine, and attentive personality, she acquired two of Gary’s potential clients. This is lost commission to your local competitiors.

You also discover the network malfunction was caused by a botchy installation. A bad patch cable by an unreliable technician was the root of the problem. 

This would not have been an issue if you initially hired a reliable and professional tech services company. Also, a reliable IT services company would have been on-site, same day with no fees.

Lessons Learned

 1.

Always be prepared for every situation. Plan in advance what can go wrong. Always have a backup plan ESPECIALLY when your business relies on fully functional technology and has its busiest hours on weekends.

You want to be sure you work with a firm that is available 24/7, 365 days of the year. This includes live phone support and on-site tech services.

The company does not charge for weekends, holidays or travel.

They can provide a reliable technician on-site within 4 hours of the initial phone call.

They do not charge a retainer.

Do your research on-line and through customer referrals to ensure you are hiring a trustworthy, reliable technical services company. The last thing you want is to pay for a poor installation job that can wreak havoc on your business operations.

Just remember, when it comes to your company you want to hire the best and that should include your third party technicians or techical services company. Without proper IT network and telecom installation and maintenance, your business is at stake. You want to be sure you provide the best resources for your staff ensuring they can get their job done efficiently and effectively; ultimately bringing in business and revenue.

If you would like to learn more information about IT services and how it can help your business, do not hesitate to contact us.

If you are a large real estate or property management firm with multiple locations nationwide, join us on a very informative webinar Wednesday 4/20/16 on the Best Practices for IT Rollouts in the Real Estate and Property Management Industries.