One of the advantages of being involved in the real estate technology sector for so many years is being able to look back on 30 years of how it has evolved with first-hand knowledge. A huge portion of this knowledge includes all the industry fear that has been exhibited, and how it was overcome.

Human nature is to fear that which we don't understand. It is also human nature to make up the worst scenarios when there is a lack of understanding of something.

I remember something from nearly 20 years ago that gave me a unique perspective on how a real estate firm was able to change its sales associates' fear of technology into enthusiastically embracing it.

On a semi-weekly basis, I would have lunch with a local real estate firm. The real estate firm was a decent-sized client with a few hundred sales associates spanning multiple counties in the state. 

We would get together for a nice business lunch and for the next 60-90 minutes we would talk through various technology ideas for the real estate industry and their firm. Some ideas were crazy and some were amazing. Some of the ideas, which I believe are still good ideas, have not been brought to market yet by anyone in the real estate industry. With all of that said, many core features of DeltaNET® today evolved during these lunches.

One struggle that we would always discuss during these lunches was the struggle of getting their sales associates to adopt the technology. We were continually highlighting how the functionality was built so that it could be super easy to use with as few clicks as possible. We were borderline obsessed with doing things in one, two, or three clicks at the most.

Another thing we would talk about during the lunches in their journey to get higher adoption rates — and ultimately more market share — was the success stories that could be told about the technology. They would ask me about the results other firms were seeing, and their sales associates were seeing that they were using a particular feature or piece of technology. I can still remember them saying "If our REALTORS® knew the results of this, they would all be using it."

The last general concept that we would continually talk about was training. We would talk through the training that Delta was doing as a technology firm, but the majority of the time was spent talking through how they could be training their sales associates on how to use the features and technology.

In hindsight, this approach of having amazing technology and features that work, combined with tracked and verified results that led to quantified business through transactions, and then further combined with a methodical, easy-to-understand training approach that was embraced by their sales associates, gives undeniable clarity on how to be successful with technology.

If I am 100% honest, when I first heard what they were going to call their training series and the approach they were taking, I was somewhat skeptical. Being an analytical engineer, I felt the training was way too basic. That is until I attended one of their training sessions — which they branded "Breakfast Bytes" — in person and witnessed first-hand the fear, skepticism, and extreme lack of technical acumen, at least at the time.

I forget how many weeks of training was involved with Breakfast Bytes but what I do remember is that they structured the training in a hands-on lab in the morning where they provided a light breakfast. We all know that sales associates like to be social! Each week's Breakfast Byte would cover one feature, with handouts that included success stories and step-by-step instructions on how to use that feature, and then the trainer would patiently, and let me emphasize patiently, present why this feature is important including the results that can be expected when used, and then walk everyone through setting up or customizing that feature in the hands-on session. I can not say for certain how long each Breakfast Byte took but I believe it was at least 60 minutes from the time they sat down.

The biggest lesson I had from seeing this type of training in person is that those of us immersed in technology expect non-tech people to understand why they should use something and that they will just know how to use it. They didn't 20 years ago, and they still don't today. I know this first-hand, even today as a technology provider in the residential real estate vertical.

What did Breakfast Bytes do then that it can still do today?

1. Create awareness of what a specific feature or technology can do for the sales associate that is positive to their business.
2. Create awareness of how that specific feature or technology can be custom-tailored to the individual sales associates' liking for their business and differentiation within the marketplace.
3. Ensure that the sales associate enables the feature or technology in a manner that is acceptable to them.
4. Removes the fear that the sales associate has about the feature or technology and helps them increase their business, brand awareness, and market share.

If you do something similar to Breakfast Bytes, I would love to hear your approach to training and adoption of technology!