Re/Max leverages QR codes to mobilize business cards - Mobile Commerce Daily

Re/Max leverages QR codes to mobilize business cards 

April 23, 2013

Re/Max real estate agents are putting QR codes on their business cards to link homebuyers to relevant information and, ultimately, help close sales.

The QR code on an agent’s business card links to a mobile optimized landing page for that agent includes information such as the agent’s contact information, Web site address, location and date where the scan happened as wells as links to the agents LinkedIn page, mortgage calculators and all of the agent’s listings. Users who scan the QR code will also find a notes section and links to common referrals such as contractors and real estate lawyers.

“There is a real challenge going on in businesses across the country and that’s that there are industries like real estate specifically that have aging workforces but younger consumers,” said James Alexander, CEO of Vizibility Inc., New York.

“The average age of a real estate broker is 57 while the average age of a first time home buyer is 30, so you have a three decade gap here,” he said. “We want to buy things form people we connect with so it is not lost on brokers and agents that they need to bridge this gap if they are going to tap into this new generational market.

“It makes a ton of sense to have a link to a communication method that’s preferred by a different generation. It is all about building credibility and enabling that trust to happen more quickly.”

Technology experts
With millennials making up an important segment of homebuyers – they have the highest lifetime value of anyone buying homes today – real estate agents need to be mobile-savvy if they want to interact with these consumers.

Re/Max agents will be able to order the printed business cards through a centralized portal run by Vizibility and have the QR code and mobile content automatically included.

The goal is to make it easy for agents of any technical ability to take advantage of the mobile offering.

“How do you get folks who maybe are more entrenched in the technologies and processes that they understand, how do you get them to use new technologies?,” Mr. Alexander said.

“Re/Max is basically saying we are not going to make all of these agents become new technology experts,” he said. “We are going to integrate the ability to get this new mobile business card as part of the business card ordering process.”

The mobile connection
Agents can choose to share a variety of content with their customers, including a vcard, virtual tours, video bios and client testimonials. They will also be able to choose from 12 different business card designs.

While agents have to pay for the business cards – which is typical in the real estate industry – the hosted Mobile Business Cards with alerts and metrics is free as long as business cards are ordered at least once a year.

The mobile business card can also be used to streamline appointment scheduling with prospects and clients.

There are over 300 Re/Max real estate officers and over 4,000 agents across regions of the country, including Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Southern Ohio and Southeastern Michigan.

QR-code enabled mobile business cards are being adopted across a variety of industries, including accounting firms, law firms and manufacturing companies, per Mr. Alexander.

“Five percent of the top law firms in the world are using Vizibility and they have QR codes on their business cards,” Mr. Alexander said.

“This is another example where you have a situation where legal professionals want to share their online identities in an easy package but they also want to be tech savvy and mobile savvy to the people who are vetting them and looking to hire their services,” he said.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York