REBNY Members Learn to Find the Right App For That

Using Digital Tools to Sell Real Estate in Brooklyn

Hundreds of REBNY members gathered at Brooklyn's St. Francis College on Friday, April 4th to learn about new ways that they can use technology in the business world.

The seminar led by Renee Fishman, renowned associate broker of Halstead Property, focused on how smartphones and tablets are not simply recreational tools. They are instruments that can make working in the real estate industry easier and more efficient, and ultimately improve relationships between agents and their clients.

"Technology is a tool to help with efficiency and relationship building," Fishman said. "But remember, it's not all about the 'shiny new app.' I've personally downloaded and tested more than 730 of them. It's all about finding one to start with and figuring out how it can best serve you."

Fishman ran the entire presentation from her iPad, which was connected to a projector, and shared her experiences by demonstrating some of her favorite apps including Dropbox, Numbers, PDF Expert, and more.

She explained that the best app on the phone is the Phone app itself, which she believes too many forget about while engaged with all of the other amazing features these devices include. Fishman also pointed out the irony that phones and tablets, despite being one of a businessperson's greatest assets, is also one of the greatest enemies.

"Everything that's connected is a distraction for us," she said. "I may be able to check my apps that I use for business, but to do that ~ have to be able to look past all of the other apps that I have notifications on, like Twitter."

A self-proclaimed Twitter-lover, Fishman also stressed the importance of the "Do Not Disturb" function, especially when dealing with clients. While using this function, all calls are automatically sent to voicemail, unless the caller is on the "al-lowed" list, or the same number calls more than twice in three minutes.

Fishman wrapped up the seminar with one last piece of advice about utilizing smartphones and tablets:

"Just find out what you're doing at your desk that you don't want to be doing at your desk. I guarantee you there's a way."