“Use AI!” 

This seems to be the general call right now whenever you have a business growth question. Like everything, however, using AI can be easier said than done. 

If you haven’t heard of AI (artificial intelligence), the buzz is around tools including ChatGPT and Bard, which are capable of creating content using language closely resembling what we are all used to reading and writing ourselves. 

Firstly, this article wasn’t written with the help of ChatGPT, however the feature image above was created using DALL-E. AI tools definitely have a place in your business, the challenge is making sure you are using the right tools in the right way.. 

Take a look at some of the tools people are talking about. 

Popular AI tools

ChatGPT and Bard will ‘write’ copy for you, which can be helpful if you are stuck creating a property description for a rental ad. Be aware, copy and pasting directly from AI is not recommended - always proofread and edit to make sure it is unique to your agency.

Taking things a step further, Lately claims to learn your company’s ‘voice’ rather than drawing from the general internet. It will take your existing long-form content and turn it into social media posts to share online. 

Midjourney and DALL_E are the image generation equivalents of ChatGPT, creating original images with the help of a few prompts from you. Shutterstock and other providers such as Canva and Adobe are now offering this type of service as well, which can be helpful for your content marketing. 

Don’t forget about chatbots. These leverage AI to speak to new clients and respond to enquiries when there is nobody available. Chatbots are a great way to triage new customers; you can use them to qualify the best leads and send them to the right people. 

Then there are fascinating new tools such as BHuman, which allows you to “clone yourself” and make personalised videos at scale. This tech takes your image and voice and will create a video using any script you like. For example, you can have videos of you tailored to say “Thanks [FIRSTNAME], for enquiring about [ADDRESS]. The open home will be at [TIME] on the [DATE].” The clip will look and sound as though you have gone to the effort to record it yourself. 

Finally, Google Translate can allow you to switch copy into different languages, which will help if you work with international buyers or clients who have English as their second language.  

Benefits and drawbacks of AI

Using AI will save your business time; there’s no doubt about it. However, you will need to spend time getting up to speed with the technology. 

The catch-22 of using these platforms is while everyone likes telling each other to boost productivity by leveraging them, consumers are quick to call out obvious AI-generated content. They don’t like it when somebody has clearly tried to use a shortcut to gain their business. 

You may ask ChatGPT to create a property description but a basic instruction will either give you something horrible to read, full of unnecessary adjectives or an inaccurate description. It may also be exactly the same as it has provided to someone else. By the time you have entered the many prompts required to achieve quality copy or edited what it has come back with, you may as well have either written everything yourself or paid someone to do a quick, efficient job. 

It’s worth experimenting and comparing the time it takes to do certain tasks well, with and without AI. This can help you decide if you will implement it or not. 

Instead of using stand-alone AI tools to improve your property management business, seek out purpose-designed products. Many property management platforms now incorporate AI to provide predictive maintenance schedules, automated overdue payment notices and tenant screening capabilities. 

Another option is to leverage AI to create unique products. For example, can AI be used to give your clients an instant property appraisal? You may be able to work with a developer to create an enticing and attention-grabbing lead magnet. 

People matter

No matter how clever technology becomes, there’s no denying the importance of human connection. Being able to pick up a phone, speak to a human and not be directed to a machine still makes a difference to customer loyalty.

Despite the hype around AI, it’s yet to replace real people. When you’re approaching the subject, look for ways it can enhance what your property managers, admin team and contractors do, rather than taking over their jobs for good. 

*feature image created using DALL-E.