CR Magazine – Winter 2017

Understand Your Clients’ Needs
You already know that every client is unique. Relocations are
no different. The needs of a baby boomer couple looking for
a pied-à-terre are going to be different than the Gen X family,
which will be different than the single Millennial businesswoman
or the partnered Gen Y businessman.
The National Association of REALTORS ® ’ Research and
Statistics division will be helpful as you come to better
understand the needs of your clients. Two reports, in particular,
can help guide you.
Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends Report — This report
helps to break down what different generations are looking for in
a home. From Millennials, to Baby Boomers, and beyond, each
generation differs in what they are looking for in their neighborhood
and in their home purchase. This will help you market properties
most effectively to your clients, and better identify the types of
housing and special considerations of your buyers.
Moving with Kids Report — As any parent knows, moving with
a family adds a whole new layer of questions and needs. This
report will help you get a stronger sense of what a family looks
for in a community and in a home, such as convenience versus
quality of schools.
Take Control of Client Satisfaction
One of the trickiest parts of advising relocation clients can be in
recommending movers. Nationally-recognized brands may vary
on their service at the local level, so unless you know the people
who will personally be helping your client pack and move, there’s
no way to completely guarantee customer satisfaction.
TOOLS FOR AN
EASIER MOVE
There are a handful of moving apps and cloud
services that can make relocation tasks easier
for your clients to manage, and take your
service above and beyond.
Updater
Clients can use the Updater app to streamline
and organize moving-related chores, such as
changing the address, setting up utilities and
forwarding mail. You can also purchase and
customize the app for your clients.
Move Advisor
A suite of tools for planning and organizing
a move, including calculating moving costs,
keeping track of the moving timeline, securing
bids and ordering services from reputable
moving companies.
moveAtlas
A product of Atlas Van Lines, this app includes
a planner, packing tips, moving day checklist,
bid requests from moving companies and
integration with Atlas’ tracking systems to
monitor shipping status.
Move Captain
With this app, users can capture photos
and video of household items to get bids on
services from local movers.
e
OVERS
ERS
Instead, consider recommending
moving companies you have personal
experience with.
For an extra dose of security, refer
clients to these two websites:
• MovingScam.com is an indepen-
dent site with message boards,
reviews and tools for consumers
to find reputable moving
companies. They also have
resources for national and international
moves and relocations.
• ProtectYourMove.gov is a resource
from the Department of Transportation
designed to provide information
about consumer rights and
responsibilities and alert them
to the risks of fraud.
Move Planner
Realtor.com ® ’s own moving website has tools
and advice for moving day. Move Planner also
has a calculator for estimating moving costs
and packing needs and all the articles and
tips a client may need for a stress-free move.
Sortly
If your clients love organization, they will love
this tool! Sortly allows you to take inventory and
capture images of belongings in each room,
then organize the photos in folders to make
unpacking simpler and more streamlined.
Unpakt
A free cloud service that simplifies the
process of finding a moving company, Unpakt
generates guaranteed bids from local and
national moving companies via user-uploaded
data (like destination address and number/
types of belongings).
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