Jane Doogan is the first to admit she doesnโt look like a tech-fan.
In fact, at 73 youโd be forgiven for expecting the LJ Hooker Nerang sales associate to be a technophobe.
Instead, the industry veteran of 30 years is among the first agents in the country to trial RITA, a real estate digital employee that uses Artificial Intelligence to automate a host of tasks.
โThereโs no doubt technology has been a quantum leap for me,โ Jane said.
โIโve been in the industry for 30 years and at that stage we didnโt have computers, we didnโt have mobiles, we didnโt even have โbrickโ mobiles.
โWe had two-way radios back in the ’80s.
โMy motto is โbring it onโ and if I canโt work it out I will pass it on to or employ someone who can.โ
โTechnology has exponentially changed the face of real estate and if you donโt embrace it you wonโt get ahead, youโll be stuck in a time warp.โ
Jane said technology was all about making the real estate process smoother for agents, administrative staff and clients.
She said one of the ways RITA had helped streamline her business was mining her database of more than 5,000 contacts to extract former vendors and buyers she had not recently spoken to in order to follow up and, hopefully, generate new leads.
โMy motto is โbring it onโ and if I canโt work it out I will pass it on to or employ someone who can.โ
โWhen youโve got a really big database it can be difficult to manage. RITA is helping me put my name and voice back in front of people I may not have spoken to in the past 12 months, instead of calling someone I may have spoken to last week or just a month or two ago,โ Jane said.
โIโm in favour of anything that can make my business grow.
โMy motto is โbring it onโ and if I canโt work it out I will pass it on to or employ someone who can.โ
Before becoming a real estate agent Jane, a mother of two, was a hairdresser.
She said innovation had always been in her blood.
โI only had two weeks off when I had each of my babies,โ Jane said.
โIโve always been one to push the boundaries and when I had my hairdressing salons if there was a new style of cutting or colouring I was learning it and doing it.โ
Now Jane has embraced not only computers and mobile phones but video listings and social media.
She has her own website, Facebook page and Instagram.
โIโve really tried to embrace social media with Facebook advertising and video, using Facebook Pixel and retargeting,โ Jane said.
โTechnology can be polarising, especially for people of my age as we tend to get stuck in a time warp and get nervous, so then we donโt try.
โFor me, technology has streamlined everything unbelievably and freed me up to do more of what real estate agents should be doing โ listing, negotiating and selling.โ
Jane initially employed someone to manage her social media full-time, but and has since streamlined that process by outsourcing the work so she pays only for the hours spent on her tasks.
Another way Jane stays on top of her game and the advances in the digital world is to work with a mentor and to regularly attend seminars and training, including those from the REA Groupโs Steve Carroll.
โThere are new approaches and new ideas all the time,โ she said.
โReal estate has an ever-changing face and youโre not going to be able to compete if you donโt embrace change.
โHaving a mentor keeps me at the coalface and it means Iโm not allowed to get complacent.โ
Technology has streamlined everything unbelievably and freed me up to do more of what real estate agents should be doing โ listing, negotiating and selling.โ
With many still fearing a technological takeover in many aspects of our lives, Jane said embracing change in real estate didnโt mean doing away with the human element of the business, but using it to allow her to do personal touch points better.
โIf you look at some of the reasons people sell houses, ill health, finance issues, divorce and death, all the technology in the world isnโt going to be able to handle that like a human can โ with sensitivity and empathy,โ she said.
โReal estate agents will always be needed to do the listing presentation, the negotiating, the auctions, the sale, the anniversary calls.
โPeople are selling their most prized possession and they get emotional about it.
โYou canโt get a robot to do that for you because people still want that human element.”
Jane said she also tried to keep a human touch in her social media videos and photos, opting for pictures of owners putting the sold stickers up rather than just the signboard or photograph of the property that had been stamped as sold.
โItโs important not to get lost in technology and forget someone has sold an important part of their lives or that someone has bought a new home,โ she said.
If youโre thinking Jane, who also volunteers for Lifeline, may be considering retirement youโd be wrong on that front too.
โWhy would I retire? Iโm very successful and I absolutely love what I do,โ she said.
โThereโs nothing going to come (in technology) that Iโll say no to.
โIf it helps me in business, I will embrace it all.โ
