Whether you are a landlord or prefer some other real estate wealth-generation strategy, you know real estate investors never stop moving. Between lead generation, acquisition, rehab, and project management, you probably are on the go most of the day – especially if you also are still working another job full- or part-time!
That’s why every investor should be eager to see how the evolution of the digital assistant will integrate into their daily real estate strategies. We’re far beyond the “chatbot” now; natural language processing, voice recognition, and other machine learning technology combined with popular acceptance of “smart home tech” like Google Home and Amazon Alexa are making more and more people interested in a personal assistant they can summon, on demand, just by holding down the “home” key on their phone.
Note: In this article, examples deal specifically with Google Assistant. However, most digital assistants will offer similar features.
Here are a few ways you should start experimenting with digital administrative assistance if you find you need a few more hours in the day to get everything done:
Reminders
Set quick reminders on the fly. This is not your old Google calendar! These assistants operate in real time to keep you on time and on your toes.
Use the voice-to-text command option to add events to primary calendars, check conflicts, establish recurring, regular reminders (“Check in with team every other Wednesday” or “Don’t leave the hardware store without the backup roll of duct tape”), and make notes for later.
Fan Favorite: Never Lose a “Mental Note” Again!
Tell your digital assistant things you want to remember for later. For example, “I am putting the new paperwork on our updated router in my left drawer for team access.” Forget where you put that paperwork for easy access? Ask your assistant. Three days, three months, or three years from now, the answer will be the same (unless you update it, of course).
Scheduling & Daily Rundown
Digital assistants keep you on schedule and can even factor in driving distances in some formats.
Pull up relevant information using voice commands for “that meeting next Monday” or set a firm reminder for yourself if you use time blocking to organize your day.
Fan Favorite: Convert Your Commutes to Productive Planning Time
Have five minutes in the car driving from a potential acquisition meeting to a client consultation? Ask your digital assistant to run down your notes on that meeting while you drive. Work productively and “hands-free” as you adjust your mental mindset from property acquisition to client consultation to solving that recurring maintenance issue in unit 4B with your digital assistant’s audio calendar and note functions.
Running Lists
Keep a running list of ideas about projects or notes about investments, then have your assistant send it to you at the end of the day in email form. You also have the option of sending it to other team members or integrating with Slack, Evernote, or Trello.
Just tell your virtual assistant what to list and where to keep that file as the day progresses.
Name Verification
You know how important it is to keep things professional, even via text. Have your digital assistant verify names and spell-check you before you hit (or say) “Okay, send.”
Make sure your contacts are all spelled correctly, and include their business name and title in their contact card.
How to make this happen:
When you enter a contact into your phone, save, then tap the “edit” button on the contact and select “more.” You will see the option to add “phonetic” names. Say the person’s name so that Google will always spell it correctly and link it to that contact.
Audio, Email, Text & Social Media Assistance
Still have time at the wheel after meeting prep? Your digital assistant knows what matters most to you thanks to the basic, existing priority settings in your email inbox.
Sync your inbox to your assistant and “she” will read your most pressing emails aloud and respond, if you set up a custom “quick reply” for certain senders in your account, to that person using a standard format.
Fan Favorite: Instant Social Media Master
Sync your digital assistant to your social media and post on-the-go. For example, LinkedIn and Google Assistant may be synced so you can post via dictation.
A Word of Warning
Setting up a digital assistant can be time consuming (just like training one). You may feel the cumbersome process is not worth the time expended at the outset. If these assistants were nothing more than static software, I might not blame you for your reluctance. When you feel like throwing in the towel, however, remember that these assistants are, at their core, artificial intelligence. Every interaction with your assistant enriches its data reserves and deepens its knowledge of your preferences.
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