When you receive a business card, what is one of the first things you look for? A website and an email, right? If a real estate agent hands me a card and it has a personal email address such as joerealtor73@yahoo.ca, I cringe.
You’re using your internet service provider’s free email address:
You set this up years ago and probably don’t even realize what harm it is doing to your business. If you are using an email address like @shaw, @telus or some other internet provider, I can almost guarantee that you are having issues with your contacts, calendar and email not syncing across all the different computers and platforms you use to view your email. And what happens when you want to switch to another service provider? Your “free” email account goes with it.
You’re using free generic/personal email providers:
Using Yahoo, Microsoft, iCloud or Gmail email? We all like free but you are running a business. You know suetherealtor1973@yahoo.ca looks horrible, right? That’s okay, you didn’t know any different until today.
You’re using your brokerage provided email address:
If you are using YourName@YourBrokerage.com, which is then forwarded to your actual email address, what happens if you leave? You no longer get any emails from clients and friends who only know that email address. Forwarders can take up to 30 minutes to route to your real email address.
The other, but less common offer is to give you a real email address such as YourName@YourBrokerage.com but this is even worse because if you ever leave, they may keep your contacts, calendar and all your email. Oh boy!
Issues you are having when using any of the email types above:
You are having issues with your contacts, email and calendar. That means you update on your phone and it doesn’t update your webmail, Outlook or Mac Mail and vice versa. You move an email to a folder and then can’t find it on your phone or tablet.
Always use your own website:
Ninety-nine per cent of agents own their own domain already, so you should be using YourName@YourWebsite.com that is set up on Google’s G-Suite business platform. There is no downside to moving your email over. You no longer have to look unprofessional. You can migrate all your other personal emails, contacts and calendar items to your business one, saving you a ton of time. If set up properly, your contacts, calendar and email will all sync across any platform you use to view it – your iPhone, iPad, Android, Outlook, Mac Mail will all talk to each other. Yes, that means updating only once! Imagine the time it will save you.
Not only do you get a great email address, you get to brand yourself and your business every time you send an email to your personal and business contacts. It’s a win/win.
So how do you fix the mess you are in?:
Don’t be too hard on yourself. The ability to have our own business email at an inexpensive cost has only been around for about five or six years. Before that you would have had to hire IT people, invest in an expensive server and it would have cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Now it only costs you $10 a month to use Google’s business email platform called G-Suite.
Why Google G-Suite and not Microsoft Business email?
- Google allows you to sync with third-party apps like a real estate CRM (Top Producer, iXact, Realty Juggler) which means when you update your CRM contact, it will update your phone, Outlook or Mac Mail. No more managing multiple databases.
- It comes with cloud storage, so you can also keep your files, folder, photos, videos and contracts in the cloud and accessible from any device anywhere.
A professional email address is a way of separating yourself from the crowd. It speaks volumes about you for little cost. It makes no sense to keep personal email addresses now that you know you can have a business one for a nominal fee. And yes, you can you still use Outlook or Mac Mail with a Google Business email.
Darci LaRocque, president of Darci Talks Business Consulting Inc., helps agents move all personal email addresses, contacts and calendar entries over to Google Email and Cloud Storage so it syncs properly in all locations and with their CRMs. She is an award-winning technology consultant and speaker. She also has an online school for agents. Email if you need help moving over to a business email or would like 20 per cent off your Google email plan for the first year.
