By: Jen Ross

 
Laura Knowlton loves her community.

In fact, the Divide, Colorado volunteer firefighter, Colorado Springs EMT and wilderness medical team member is so fond of her home, that she became a real estate professional to extend her passion for providing service in the community.

The Predicament of Connecting To Leads
When Laura first began as an agent with HomeSmart, she made it her goal to be the local expert for those moving into the area. Therefore, Laura knew she needed a way to easily and personally convey her local knowledge while reaching as many buyers as possible.

However, with today’s buyers beginning a home search online, agents struggle to connect to leads without face to face interaction and sometimes, lack the skills needed to navigate the depths of online marketing.

Using Relola To Showcase Local Expertise
Within weeks of joining HomeSmart, Laura met Todd Sumney, HomeSmart’s chief marketing officer, during one of her first free agent training classes. It was during Sumney’s class where he mentioned HomeSmart’s partnership with the online agent tool, Relola, that answered Laura’s search of connecting her knowledge with buyers’ online home search.

Relola is an application for agents where they can share their insights about homes they’ve viewed in the neighborhoods they are familiar with. These insights integrate with the agents’ websites and social media feeds, showing buyers and sellers the agent can be a reliable source when looking for a home in a particular area.

Knowing that she needed to put her name in front of the buyers that were turning to their phones or laptops before calling her, Laura took Sumney’s advice and immediately joined Relola.

“As soon as I started showing homes, the first thing I did was sign in to Relola and provide some feedback. The content I wrote was easy to post to my social media page– it was very user-friendly and seamless to start using.”

An Integrated Resource To Increase Leads
Once Laura realized how simple it was to share her local expertise with homebuyers, she began implementing Relola as part of her routine. No matter how busy she is, Laura makes sure to set a schedule, sit down and go through each home she viewed that day. Accessing Relola directly through her HomeSmart CRM seamlessly allows her to manage her insights quickly, instantly displaying in the Google Maps API on her website’s home page.

“Once I view a home, I post my insights. It’s helped me bring leads in. One couple called me and said, ‘You’re obviously an expert in this neighborhood.’ They are relocating to the area and were looking for someone who could tell them what they couldn’t see or know from a distance.”

As for her fellow real estate agents that are just getting started and want to get their name in front of homebuyers and sellers, Laura has one tip regarding Relola: “Use it!”

“If you’re not sure how to use it, get in touch with someone who does. It’s super user-friendly– even if you don’t have clients when getting started, just get out there and go to open houses and review them on Relola. Use that content to build your reputation and credibility as an agent.”

A Marketing Plan With The Future In Mind
Laura plans on becoming certified as a relocation specialist and knows that Relola will be there to help her provide her local-area expertise to those looking for a home in her beloved Teller County, Colorado.

“I’m making Relola a big part of my marketing plan because it’s so easy to use and such a great resource. It helps me track where I’ve been and encourages me to explore the areas I’m not familiar with, so as we move into next year, I can give showings in different areas.”

Laura Knowlton is a real estate agent with HomeSmart Realty Group in Woodland Park, Colorado and can be reached at (405) 826-9625 or through her website.