Each year, T3 Sixty releases its annual Swanepoel Real Estate Trends Report as a resource for brokers and owners to stay current on industry trends. The report actively prepares real estate companies for the year ahead.

This year, T3 Sixty lists “The Concierge Experience” as an emerging trend that gives brokerages a strategic way to enhance their client experience and drive value to their business. We’re thrilled to be included in this year’s report as “the largest and most established of the concierge service companies.”

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Aside from detailing what a moving concierge service is and how it works, the report also provides insight into the best ways to evaluate which moving concierge service is right for your brokerage. Below are the 9 things to consider, according to recommendations by T3 Sixty, and our unique take on each:

  1. Consider the quality of the consumer experience the service provides. Ask the company to run through the service as a consumer and evaluate the experience. 

    At Updater, we strive to make moving smooth and stress-free. We offer a full-blown app experience for movers. Whether our users complete their moving to-dos in a few clicks themselves, via our 1-1 personal concierge, or via text, each mover gets settled in with confidence and unprecedented efficiency.

  2. Each concierge service has slightly different offerings. Compare them with each other and pick the service that fits best with your company. 

    Updater offers 25+ features to make moving less painful for our users, and an entirely separate set of 10+ features to make moving less painful for our partners (view features for real estate brokerages). Our service is easy to implement, requires zero agent adoption, and works behind the scenes to streamline client experience. If that sounds too good to be true, take one minute to watch this video.

    We pose a question back to you if you’re considering a moving concierge for your brokerage: what services do you want to offer your clients? Evaluate all available features, make sure they align with your client experience goals, and go for it. Your clients will thank you.

  3. Customizations are a huge value-add in concierge services as they allow you to deepen relationships with local vendors and preferred service providers. Understand how broker-preferred providers will be featured.

    We understand how valuable your existing partnerships are and how hard you worked to nurture them over the years. That’s why it’s critical to show them off at the most opportune time during the transaction – the move. Being the best resource and helping clients explore their new neighborhood through local vendors and preferred service providers is a win-win for everyone.

    We give brokerages the ability to customize and display providers within our app. We offer this functionality at both the brokerage and agent level, though brokers have the ability to customize whether agents can add providers or not.

  4. How will the service be branded to consumers? Will your brokerage and agents be featured, how? Does the brokerage share branding with the concierge service provider or own it alone? 

    You can control what you’d like your clients to see every time they use Updater. Brokers and agents can configure their branding to feature their logo, headshots, and social media links.

    Brokerages and agents share branding with Updater, which is in the best interest of our partners and their clients. By co-branding our app, your clients will better understand that Updater is responsible for carrying out their reservations, as opposed to you. Any and all support needs are directed to Updater as the service provider.

  5. How much value does the concierge system add to the existing CRM the company provides agents? Does it provide marketing and value-add stay-in-touch opportunities?

    Updater provides agents with an innovative new tool in their toolbox. It further proves to potential clients that the agent is a local expert and deserving of their business, future business, and referrals. We provide something new and exciting to talk about with your CRM!

    We have a multitude of content that agents can leverage during their outreach to their spheres (with the ability to be co-branded). In order to better support users throughout their move, we also provide tons of moving tips, tricks, and support that agents can email to clients and prospects for years to come.

  6. Evaluate the breadth of the service’s consumer offerings. Some companies provide services to agents’ full spheres, not just those contacts who are about to transact or have just completed a transaction.

    We integrate with core transaction management software systems to completely automate the process of getting Updater into the hands of those in your sphere when they need it most. For the clients who are about to transact, invitations to Updater are strategically timed and sent before their move date, allowing them to complete all of their to-dos on time. For those clients who have recently completed a transaction or are transacting again but not with you, agents have the ability to manually invite clients, without relying on the integration.

  7. Some concierge services offer to share revenue with brokerages they earn from fees they collect from partners such as TV, internet, and home security providers. 

    In an effort to prioritize our users, we do not offer a revenue share. Some services view people that are moving as leads that can (and should) be monetized by any and all means possible. This completely undercuts real estate companies and movers themselves, resulting in the selling of data to third-parties and frustrating moving experience – the exact opposite of what you want for your clients.

  8. Does the service integrate into the broker’s key technology such as its transaction management platform and CRM: Integrations enable automation, a crucial component of these systems. 

    Updater integrates with top transaction management systems, including:

  9. Determine whether the service provides reporting around consumer engagement. These stats help brokers determine how much business they drive to partners and what benefit their agents derive from it.

    In order to make sure our partners receive the most value out of Updater, we provide them with access to their very own Dashboard which displays live engagement metrics and moving insights about their clients.

    In addition, brokers and agents receive monthly performance reports via email with key metrics and are assigned a dedicated Success Manager to help train, educate, and ensure ROI.

If you’re interested in learning more about “The Concierge Experience,” you can download the full chapter from T3 Sixty’s Swanepoel Trends Report below, or purchase the entire report here.

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