DPI Showcase Websites — Incredible, professional websites for Realtors building their own brands

The success of businesses in the modern digital era depends on having a website, and the real estate industry is no exception. Real estate agents can reach a wider audience, build their brand, and showcase their offerings on a website.

In fact, digitizing your company is a necessity rather than a luxury. One cannot and should not undervalue the power of a robust online presence. Owning a real estate agency or company without a website that exudes professionalism does not quite fit.

How can a company survive without putting its best foot forward in an era where visuals can make or break impressions? Your negotiation skills, sales techniques, and people skills may be top-notch as a broker, realtor, or even a real estate agent; however, how are you going to demonstrate that without having to meet in person with all of your potential clients and customers? That’s where a professional website comes in.

However, without the right tools, creating a website that looks professional can be a daunting task for anyone. And in particular for real estate agents who work full time at their business. DPI Showcase Websites has them covered in that situation. In select regions of the USA, DPI has been developing websites for brokers and Realtors for the past 19 years. The Multiple Listing Service, or MLS, is connected to these websites. It makes use of the Internet Data Exchange, or IDX, system. So that a client of a Realtor can use their website to search for properties that are for sale or rent, this imports all of the listings from the MLS.

From humble beginnings to an industry goliath

DPI began as a printing company. DPI was an abbreviation for Digital Printers International. Working with Realtors for postcard mailings was one of its specialties. Mark Weithorn, President of DPI Showcase Websites, was approached by a programmer working on a system for creating realtor websites at a Realtor conference in Atlanta. They collaborated to develop the DPI Showcase system. As technology advanced, websites became more common, and the need for printing decreased, so the printing side of the business was sold. The website division has grown steadily for the past 19 years.

"Most Realtors are not tech people. They like to sell. I’ve attended many classes, many of them taught by tech people, where they were shown how to use a new program. This usually involves a multitude of steps. I always look at the faces of the students and notice how they are lost and glazed over. They walk away from the class frustrated," says Mark when asked why he chose the real estate market as DPI's niche.

Many programmers become obsessed with adding new features, but they overlook the end user's experience. DPI addresses this issue by automating as much as possible. When their team brainstorms new features, the main criterion is, "How do we automate this?" Each website is customized for the specific Realtor (or broker). It also has a CRM (client Management system), automated follow-up emails to clients, a database of new developments with floor plans, auto-blogging, auto-posting on LinkedIn, auto-weekly eNewsletter emails, and other features.

Making professional websites for non-tech professionals

Most Realtors are salespeople rather than technologists. They enjoy conversing with customers. They do not want to spend time manually performing marketing tasks or learning how to use a new program. As a result, DPI prioritizes automating as many tasks as possible.

For example, if a client sees a property they like, they click Contact Agent and enter their name, phone number, and email address. The Realtor receives an email and a text message immediately informing them that they have a lead. The client is then automatically added to the CRM by the system. They will then receive daily Saved Search emails containing new listings that match their search criteria. They also receive emails with weekly e-newsletters, holiday greetings, and various follow-ups. When a client visits the Realtor's website to look at properties, the Realtor is also automatically notified.

DPI has a team of web designers and customer service representatives in Miami. They take pride in creating unique websites for each Realtor. Many of DPI's competitors simply have a template that they can use or leave. DPI understands that each Realtor has their own personality and that they want their website to reflect that. DPI never charges for set-up or design as part of its commitment to giving back to hardworking Realtors. Additionally, the company never charges for edits, changes, or additions. The Realtors are relieved to know that they can seek assistance from their own personal designer who has always got their back.

In India, DPI has a team of highly skilled programmers. They outsource this to a company with more than 80 programmers on staff. There is no task they cannot complete. DPI had to recreate their software from scratch about 7 years ago due to technological changes. These programmers completed the task on time and on budget. Today, they are constantly collaborating with our Miami team to incorporate new features.

Helping Realtors in more way than one — Mark Weithorn and DPI’s marketing services           

For most non-tech professionals, marketing and generating leads are intimidating and difficult tasks. Mark is good at breaking things down into manageable tasks. He inspires the Realtors with confidence.

Mark has been teaching marketing classes to Realtors for the past 20 years. These are how-to classes that provide advice on how to complete simple tasks to generate leads. Although he has taught these classes to Realtors all over the country, the majority of them are at the Miami Association of Realtors. Mark has also spoken at a number of national conferences.

To obtain their license, Realtors must complete a class and a test administered by the state. They sign up with a broker and are then left to generate business on their own. Many times, their broker is unaware of who they are; the other Realtors in their office regard them as a threat and refuse to speak with them; and they have no idea how to run this new business venture. Therefore, the majority of new realtors fail.

“Surviving the First Six Months as a Realtor” is one of the classes that Mark teaches at the Miami Association of Realtors, also available as a book on Amazon. This course teaches Realtors how to write a business plan, how to be a good salesperson, how to generate leads, and how to start making money. Typically, by the end of this class, these new agents are energized, inspired and on their way to make their mark on the real estate market.

DPI also has dozens of training videos on its YouTube channel. These are call “Two-Minute Tech Tips.” These are quick tips for performing simple tasks such as posting links to their website on Facebook or LinkedIn. Each month, thousands of people watch these videos.

Innovating for the future

DPI recently upgraded their CRM to an all-encompassing, fully integrated system. By only having to subscribe to one system, the Realtor saves a significant amount of money each year. Additionally, DPI blogs for Realtors automatically, resulting in content being placed on their websites, which is beneficial for SEO.

The most difficult aspect of running a tech company is keeping up with technology and remaining relevant. Because marketing methods and market conditions are constantly changing, DPI's team is constantly adapting their system to the environment. Email, for example, was the primary mode of communication when the company first began. Today, Realtors are having difficulty with email. They rarely go through their junk folders. Hence, the company had to include text messaging as a backup. "We see many of our competitors who have systems that haven’t been updated for at least 5 years. We always wonder how they stay relevant," says Mark Weithorn.

“Every Realtor IDX Website we build is as unique as the agent or brokerage that we build it for.”