How Doug Edrington Tripled His Business With Technology

July 21, 2016

Esther Lee

Business evolution is fundamental to stay ahead of the curve. No one knows this better than Doug Edrington, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices J Douglas Properties (formerly Managing Partner of The Edrington Team in Chatanooga). In his 12 years of experience, he has learned that embracing change and committing to excellent service are what it takes for your business to evolve continuously and grow exponentially.

“We’ve evolved quite a bit from when we first started our business in 2004,” says Doug. “The market has changed a lot as Chattanooga exploded from a small town into a bustling city hub. As the city continues to grow, customer needs will also change. It’s important to adapt and evolve with the market in order to efficiently meet your client’s shifting needs.”

Buyers nowadays are more educated than ever before. They do a lot more research before they even approach an agent, which has guided the way Doug’s team interacts with customers.

If you continue to evolve with the technology that is handed to you, seeing it as an opportunity instead of a headache, you’re going to stay ahead of the curve.

Evolving means keeping an eye on what works and what doesn’t. A few years ago, The Edrington Team brought on a new Sales Manager, whose different perspective challenged Doug to start thinking outside the box and keep an open mind.

At a time when most realtors in the area were skeptical of new online portals and lead generation systems entering the playing field, Doug focused on how to embrace change and make the most of cutting-edge technologies. This fresh perspective allowed him to get a head start against his more hesitant competition, and become the leading real estate team in the area.

Once Doug decided to join BoomTown, he quickly saw the benefits and moved his whole team from the CRM system they were previously using.

“Implementing BoomTown opened our eyes to really see all the possibilities,” says Doug. “We invited our whole team to use the system, as it is a really great tool. From the top of our team to our junior agents, everyone is using BoomTown. BoomTown has all the tools you need to nurture your leads to get them where they need to be: ready to talk to you.”

Even if a lead is not ready or capable of buying right at that time, once they have entered the system, agents can continue to follow up with them forever (in theory: we don’t really recommend this!).

Not only does it provide a platform for simple communication within the team, BoomTown makes it easy for agents to continue their conversations with leads at any point of the process.

Every single team member embraced the BoomTown system very quickly. We soon realized how much we wished we had it a long time ago. It just made a lot of sense. I think we would go crazy if we ever lost it.

The intelligent algorithms keep track of all the lead’s history and actions, and at the right moment, the predictive CRM will float the most auspicious opportunities to the top of your pipeline.

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So when The Edrington Team helps these clients buy a house six months, a year, or even two years down the line, they gain a raving fan and a potential lifetime client. This is strengthened by their unique and specialized approach to taking care of their clients.

What problems do you solve for the people you are serving?

jay with leads

More than anything, people just want to be taken care of quickly, and they want to work with someone they like and trust. While your levels of experience and skill are critical factors affecting their decision, your clients simply want to know whether they like you, and if you are going to be available for them when they need you.

We can’t forget the basics, we still continue to do all the foundational things. But we also understand that one person cannot do this business by themselves anymore. It has to be a team. BoomTown gives us the tools to gain the advantage of all the people surrounding us that make us successful.

The Edrington Team does not assign leads through the typical distribution models such as a round robin rotation. “We have a lot of different characters within our team, and we truly try to pair each individual customer with the team member we think will be the best fit. Some people may say that’s not the most fair to the agents, but that’s what has built up our reputation. We’ve focused on taking care of people.”

By providing high-level service and the value of education, Doug and his team take great care of his clients and earn their trust. In return, the clients take care of them by spreading the word (through online reviews or word of mouth) to send them more business. Sticking to their values has worked out well for The Edrington Team, as their online presence boasts the highest of praise.

While keeping an open mind to change and focusing on quality customer service are key components of The Edrington Team’s growth, it really boiled down to the individuals on the team working their system, and the values and disciplines instilled within the team.

Accountability is key to ensure that your team is effectively utilizing the tools they have and are hitting their numbers. Completing their set to-do’s from the system keep Doug and his team on track to meet company goals, keep consistent follow-ups, and clearly communicate with each other.

BoomTown has been a really great platform for us all around. From a team leader perspective, the Dashboards have given us a whole new level of accountability.

Doug can check in with his team to make sure they are handling and responding to clients the best they can. If the system shows him that there’s room for improvement, Doug has the opportunity to train team members on how to complete their tasks, contact leads in a reasonable time, and build better rapport with customers.

Doug has found BoomTown to be an excellent system that works smoothly with other tools he uses in his business. Incorporating BoomTown as his central technology hub has enabled him to work with more technology, and has tripled his business just in the past two years.

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With his entire team on board with BoomTown, Doug is able to manage the chaos of lead generation and manage inter-team communication. Time is money, and BoomTown has proven to be a tremendous time (money) saver.

Gone are the days of having to pick up the phone and call your lender for a quick update, or walking over to another agent’s desk to figure out what’s going on with a client. Everything is noted in the system, and can be checked via phone or desktop in an instant. You don’t have to think twice.