The Command App: Your Business, Now in the Palm of Your Hand
When surveying our agents on the general needs and habits of their businesses, one thing stands out: They spend more than half of their time on the go, away from their desks. In this perpetual state of motion, having immediate access to their database and daily task list and being able to interact with and manage contacts without having to sit at a desktop can fundamentally transform the day-to-day of a real estate agent. The newly released Command App, now available on iOS and Android, aims to do exactly that.
“The Command App is powerful, unique, and on-the-move, just like our agents,” says Ryan Turnbull, an agent technology concierge for multiple market centers and beta tester for the app. “The goal is to give agents time back in their day while simultaneously strengthening their relationships with clients and future clients.”
Creating Mobile Magic
Developing a feature-packed product like the Command App takes ample time and brainpower. “We had the road map defined and we had a clear vision of what the app will look like in terms of our features,” says the app’s product manager, Kharla Barrios. “It is about uncovering agents’ on-the-go needs. That is where you provide value.” Only once you’ve understood your audience and what would make their lives easier, Barrios shares, is it time to strategize and create a solutions-based product. With the help of senior UX designer Nick Hartman and lead mobile engineer Timothy Tripp, Barrios practices a ‘three-headed approach,’ ensuring the project has been thought through from every angle – from the user value to the technology backend.
“By the time we actually start implementing something, we’ve got a really good picture of how it should work from all three of our perspectives, and that’s made a huge difference because there is a lot of collaboration,” Tripp shares. “Another big part of this was, because we are not just replicating what is going on on the desktop, going to the users themselves, and finding what they need through beta testing,” says Hartman.
Four Business-Changing Features
Here are the four powerful features that make the Command App an instant on-the-go business staple.
Dashboard
The dashboard is your bird’s-eye view of the business, providing you with key information on the daily tasks you need to be doing to move the needle. With just a few taps, you can begin tackling your day and taking on-the-go action. “The dashboard itself could be an entire app,” says Turnbull. “It gives so much information in such a clean way that every agent will be able to know what’s going on in their business at that exact moment.”
The dashboard is split up within three sections: ‘Tasks,’ ‘Who to Contact,’ and ‘Things to Know.’ As a user, you will be able to identify your most pressing tasks, as well as anything that slipped through the cracks, at a glance. Leads to claim, recently active folks, and people never contacted are also readily available for your perusal, as is information on birthdays, anniversaries, and profit share. Having this context neatly condensed within one screen will give you the power to take action no matter where you are, increasing response time and ensuring happy clients. Moving forward, the team will continue enhancing the dashboard to display valuable information, like tour requests and property inquiries.
“The dashboard is a way to present key data at a glance, so you can take those actions that are most important to you and your business,” Barrios says.
Contacts
The Contacts feature puts all the client data available in your Command for Desktop in the palm of your hand, making it easy to interact and communicate with your database in real time and strengthen your client bonds in the most natural manner possible. The feature allows you to assign a lead to a SmartPlan, manage your leads, add tags, and even create notes that will help you remember what is important to your clients. “Having the contacts at your fingertips is going to give agents back half an hour per day,” Turnbull says. “That is two and a half hours per week. What are you going to do with an extra two and a half hours in your life?”
As you begin digging into the Command App, Turnbull suggests doing a bit of housekeeping on the desktop side as well. “You want to make sure your database is clean and organized in Command. Once you have the app, review your SmartPlans and SmartViews. Then, hit the road and do business.”
Tasks
The Tasks feature puts your daily action items in perspective. You can add to-do’s and manage them in-app, making it easy to get going on making calls, completing them, and logging the interactions.
In-App Notifications
You know what is most important to yourself and your business. The in-app notification center allows you to take action on the go by setting reminders for tasks, and easily managing read and unread notifications. “The notifications help you understand what is happening right now, and what actions you need to take. That is key,” Barrios says.
“Through our research, we found out what agents need to be informed of on the go,” says Hartman. “For example, we made the notifications helpful by adding a feature that allows agents to create a task for them to do later on.”
Ready to Get Started?
At the end of the day, the Command App is bound to be your new business staple. “It’s unbelievably fast and stable, and it just delivers in a time where everyone has expectations and many things fall short,” Turnbull says.
And, looking forward to the future, there are many things to get excited about already. “We feel like we’ve learned a second language, and now that we know how to speak the language of the Command App, we’ve already started working on future features, so this is just the tip of the iceberg of many cool things that are coming,” says Hartman. “We are working on the ability to send messages via Twilio, and bringing Opportunities to the app. Those are our next priorities,” shares Barrios.
Will you be downloading the new Command App? Which feature are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments section.
