Due to the growing popularity of chatbots, there is no need to spend too much time restating what they are. Simply put, chatbot is a virtual assistant that automatically respond to users’ requests, whatever they may be, via chat. Since people spend more time than ever on their phones, the most popular way of communicating is via messengers (Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, WeChat, Line, Etc.).

Naturally, businesses are following suit; they are always trying to keep up with the new ways their customers are receiving information. Chatbot is the future of communicating with customers, as they can deliver products and services through chats. If people spend a significant amount of time instant messaging on their phones, businesses should find a way to be there as well.

The future of business-to-customer communication

It is still early in the game for chatbots, so they are not as sophisticated as some people expect them to be. That is not a surprise. If people went back through the App Store and looked at very early apps, I would also expect them to be underwhelmed. But technologies improve rapidly, and chatbots are the future of business-to-customer communication, the question is just in what scope?

Right now, there are completely automated and semi-automated (half bot and half-human agent) chatbots on the market. Some companies boast having chatbot services, but really just provide live chats with people. For something to be considered a chatbot, it must have at least some automation and AI included.

With chatbots, businesses will get the chance to be in touch with their customers 24/7 every day of the year, and more importantly, they will always be in the same place as their customers.

Advantages for businesses

It is never easy for companies to change the way they do business. Sometimes it’s very difficult for them to implement a new technology into their current processes, but to stay modern they know it needs to be done. I would recommend that every company becomes acquainted with chatbot technologies very soon; businesses that are first to adapt chatbots will be at a big advantage.

It’s risky to ignore a tool that can get a company more clients at such a low cost, and it would be a bad business decision to let your company fall behind the times.

Problems real estate professionals face

When talking with any real estate professional, it is easy to learn that getting leads is not a problem. The problem is the quality of those leads; real estate professionals lack details about prospects and can’t always tell who is serious about renting or buying. As you know, brokers and property managers are required to show apartments to anyone who calls/emails/inquires about their listings, before they even know if the person is qualified or serious about getting the apartment.

Real estate chatbots can help property management companies and brokerage firms quickly and efficiently start new relationships with clients. Although real estate companies are not usually early adopters of any technologies, they are interested in chatbots and want to use them. Showing apartments takes a lot of time, energy, and money and it is not cost effective for property managers or brokers to show apartments to unfit candidates.

Real estate chatbot – a necessary addition to companies

This is where chatbots can become very valuable. At this moment, chatbots don’t need to take care of the entire renting or buying process, but could help streamline the first few steps. Chatbots could establish contacts, take requests, and qualify potential renters. They would save money, time, and opportunity costs for real estate professionals by automating the beginning of the buying or renting process.

Apartment Ocean Bot is the first real estate chatbot to help real estate companies capture more potential renters on their sites. It serves as a live chat tool on the website; users can chat with the bot just like they would with any other real estate professional. This type of communication and information collection is more personal, user friendly, and efficient than having a form on the site or just letting your users make contact via email.

It will take requests from potential renters and pass along the information to your agents so they can be prepared before they contact the lead. The bot can be customized to ask different questions and gather all kinds of data. Real estate companies will be able to qualify renters before they recommend any apartments or do showings.

Conclusion

In real estate, and any other business, efficiency is very important. Currently, real estate professionals spend too much of their time and money showing the wrong properties to potential renters. Why? Because they don’t have all the necessary information about the renter. Apartment Ocean Bot solves this problem by automating apartment requests and ensuring that the potential renters are the right fit for the property.

This is only the beginning for Apartment Ocean Bot. Chatbots are very dynamic and flexible tools that are going to be able to do a much wider variety of tasks in the near future.

Written by Nick Kljaic, co-founder of Apartment Ocean, Twitter: @nick_kljaic

Apartment Ocean Bot for real-estate companies has been officially released, if you are interested in getting the chatbot on your own website, please fill out the form below or send me an email: [email protected]

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