REI software requires ROI. Otherwise, you didn’t just waste your money on the solution—you’re hurting your business by sticking with it. There’s a question you must ask yourself when assessing the REI software you might not be happy with: Are you getting what you paid for? To answer that, you need to answer these questions:
The dilemma that REI professionals, saddled with crappy software, face is cutting bait on something you’ve already invested money and time in. Furthermore, admitting you f—ed up when choosing software is difficult. But owning up to your mistake and putting the bad software in the past are the first steps toward finding the top-notch solution you need and deserve. Things you should look for in your next software include:
Maybe a friend or flashy internet influencer said that REI software can greatly help your business, but likely, there were also specific things you hoped the platform you purchased would solve to make your life easier or to make you more money. Perhaps you were bogged down with researching property owners and thought skip tracing would help? Maybe you didn’t have the means to send out a voicemail drop? Or was the administrative side of your business in complete and utter chaos? Whatever your reasons, you looked to a particular piece of software to improve your operation. Now ask yourself …
If you bought REI software for its skip tracing capabilities and it’s not giving the info you need or the info isn’t accurate, that’s a huge problem. If you can’t easily send a voicemail drop, even though it’s a “feature” of your software, that’s a problem. If you are still scrambling for info on calls with potential sellers and the REI software isn’t helping bring the most important info to the forefront, it’s time to strongly reconsider your purchase! There are tons of software options out there, but having to purchase ten different pieces of technology to solve ten different problems creates an efficiency nightmare and administrative mayhem. Software that only “partially” helps should be steered away from.
Your software provider may have touted all its features and how its platform would make your life easier. Maybe it had a super fancy website and flashy videos that caught your eye. You purchased, hoping for the best. Ask yourself: Did you really get the best from your decision? If efficiency has not improved, you didn’t. And if all those features aren’t delivering as promised, you spent a lot of money for a fancy looking software that isn’t helping to make your business more efficient or help you achieve your financial goals. That sucks, we know, but you must be honest with yourself—after all, your business and maybe your livelihood is at stake.
On an imaginary scale from 1-10, if you aren’t rating your current platform as a 10, you probably are not recommending it to others. Referrals are the strongest form of marketing, and REI software should be doing everything in its power to make sure you are completely satisfied. If you knew coming in that you would never rate your purchase as a 9 or 10, would you still have bought the software? Or would you have continued to search to find a solution that met all your needs? The answer is probably pretty clear. If you’re not willing to put your name behind a personal recommendation of an REI tool, it’s probably not good enough for you to use either.
This is the bottom line: The money you put into an REI solution must close more deals in less time. Otherwise, you aren’t getting what you paid for … and you might be losing money, not only in the expense of the software, but also in the deals the software is preventing you from finding and closing. Time is money, and your time is way too valuable to be spending with outdated and inefficient software.
Finding software that checks all of these boxes may seem like a tall order, but such solutions do exist, and this is your business and your money on the line—you shouldn’t settle for anything less.