Lesa Simonson and Erin Waterhouse from Virtual View 360 were not rookies in business by any means. After being in the real estate photography and virtual tour business for seventeen years for the first time ever, they found that their photography business was slowly starting to drift in the wrong direction. The last several years had certainly not been like they were in the earlier days. They were used to being untouchable.
Now, the competition was everywhere, new property website services were nibbling away at their business, drone pilots were turning into virtual tour providers, and there was another Matterport service provider popping up on every other block. The once-dominant “Duo” photo force in Kansas City was starting to blend in with all the other services out there and lose their once sharp edge on the marketplace. They needed a reboot.
After a one-hour call with Lesa and Erin, we knew exactly what they needed. They had a HUGE following that they had developed over
the years. Most Realtors in the area knew of them and were on their mailing list. They had all the necessary gear needed for creating panoramas, and their still photos were best in class. What they needed was an updated and modern-looking virtual tour hosting/property website platform mixed with the right marketing plan to jump start things again for them.
All the ingredients for success were right in front of us. With the right training plan, and some help getting the word out with RTV’s unique marketing methods, these girls were about to kick business, in Kansas City, into overdrive again. The plan began and we worked together on their complete photography and tour company makeover. The rest is
a success story history!
Good things can really come from spam. Ok, well, this was not truly spam, but it was an email from RTV that we were not ready for. Erin and I had signed up for RTV’s virtual staging system many years ago. For some reason, we never looked at their photo delivery and hosting platform for virtual tours and property websites. One day we received an update email from RTV talking about virtual staging and something about the email caught Erin’s eye (she’s our in-house investigator). Erin sent the email over to me, and any email from Erin always gets my immediate attention. A few clicks into the email and onto RTV’s website, and it didn’t take us long to get RTV on the phone. It was immediate.
For the last thirteen or so years, Virtual View 360 has created a wish list of our own. It’s a list of services that we have wanted, over the years, to provide to our clients. After a 3-wayconversation with Jason, which I later learn I had crossed paths with in 2002 when initially starting the business, it took us less than a minute to know this was our future path. The multimedia platform is EVERYTHING that we wanted and have wanted from the start! Imagine walking into a store with every article of clothing available to you that you have dreamt of for years, all in your size! Yeah, amazing.
It was the absolute worst timing, as I was leaving for a vacation that was planned for the first time in over nine years in the following days. This call and email took place in early December,the slowest month of the year, and we didn’t care! We bought as many tours as we possibly could and then when I returned, we bought more! On my arrival home, we worked day and night on all our new content and marketing materials that we would soon roll out on January 1, 2020.All I can tell you is that this decision to update
our system and provide a service to our fellow clients and friends, has been by far, the best business decisions we have made.
We are providing spatial professional photography, 3D virtual tours, drone photography and video services,virtual staging, and the best part: the platform holds multiple types of media! Our clients access their media from one source. Wow!
Our mentors are thrilled; we are cutting edge; our clients are amazed. Find out what they have said at Virtualview360, or on Google. We are constantly ranking top of the list in Kansas City on Google thanks to the SEO. Our team adapted to the system within days, and this has quickly become our staple product! Every photo package we sell now comes with our Virtual Tour platform. Oh, BTW, it’s only March 9 th , 2020, and we have TRIPLED our year-to-date gross income over last year in two months and last week we got a phone call from a very large office with just over 550 active realtors. They saw our new virtual tours and social media videos and as of today have officially decided to move all of their photography, property website and virtual tour business over to us! They had their IT guy sit down with us and he had no questions and was thrilled with all the technology. This windfall of business is just amazing!
Lastly, we would like to add, that the staff that at RTV works as we do. They are fast, efficient,understanding, and know the importance of AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE. Nothing gets missed. You always feel like you are part of a bigger team. I just can’t say enough about this part.It’s key to work with someone you can trust and communicate with easily. They are our KEY!Need we say more? Thanks RTV! We are going to be super-stars!
Experience the power of our all-in-one real estate photography platform with a free trial.
“Success with RTV from a Real Estate Agent’s Point of View
In early 2005 as the real estate market here in the Florida Keys started to slow, I could see I would have to brush up on my marketing skills and find better ways to expose my listings to potential buyers. With so many Florida Keys homes and condos sold as vacation homes, an online presence with great photos and virtual tours becomes essential. A few years earlier I was the first agent in our area to do virtual tours. I had tried the two-shot version but the results were not very good. Then the market got so hot, and properties were selling so fast, there was no real need to have tours. I could see the tide turning and I wanted to add virtual tours back to my listings so I started doing some research to find the best solution. After looking at a lot of low quality tours, I found RTV. Having taken some photography courses in college, and with over 30 years in the real estate business taking photos of houses, I decided to do the tours myself. My first RTV tour was of one of the highest priced homes in Key Largo. Shortly after submitting it, I received a call from a buyer who said his wife had seen a virtual tour on the Internet and she wanted him to take a look at the property while he was in the Keys. During the showing he called his wife at home and told her to look at the virtual tour again. They decided then and there to make an offer. They ended up buying the property. The wife never came to see it until closing. The selling price was $3.7 million.
Since then there have been other situations where a buyer’s partner or family member could not be present but the decision to go forward was based on the virtual tour. Many times in the course of showing one of my listings with an agent from another company, I hear the buyers talking about having seen the virtual tour on the Internet. It seems they find the listings and have their agent make the appointment which results in more showings and sales for my sellers. I have a contract pending on a property which is scheduled to close later this month. The buyers have never been inside the house. Asking price almost $3 million.
In spite of our market being down almost 50% in the number of sales, and the inventory being up almost 50% in the number of listings, this has been my best year ever in real estate with over $12 million in sales so far – and it is only April. Thank you RTV for helping take my career to a new level.”
Sharon Nyman
Virtual Tour Provider
“RTV, Best Service, Great Products!!!
We opened Photos Sell, real estate photography in January 2015. I found RTV during a search for a portal site so I could send high res images over the internet to my customers. When I called this company I was greeted by the owner himself. Jason LaVanture. Jason explained what RTV was about and what they can do for my new business. Great customer service, training, high res Virtual Tours and much, much more. After I signed up I got all of the above and much, much more. I received excellent training on the system. Instant help from customer support almost never got a voice mail and when I did they always got right back to me ASAP. The product is like nothing else, it set me apart from my competition. Look if your pictures are not good, they will no look good on any medium. I now work for 35 agents and exclusive with two large Brokers in our area. I am busy as hell. I read the complaints on this company and my response to those who complained is: you can’t make a living off the leads you get for RTV. You need to market you self, have a great product and provide great customer service. Look, I am no one special to RTV, just a customer and I have received outstanding service, their web portal works flawlessly and is easy to use and navigate. I can pickup the phone and speak to the Owner any time, he is a great resource and can be depended upon should you have a problem!! Thank you RTV. I prefer not be anonymizes: George Pulizzano, Photos Sell, Tampa, Florida.”
George Pulizzano
George Pulizzano Photography
“I became a RTV Full Service Provider after I researched many different virtual tour software solutions and purchased several different packages from virtual tour companies in the industry. RTV wins hands down! Their tours are truly INTERACTIVE and professional quality. Unlike other software that can distort images and give the ‘fishbowl’ effect, RTV offers a superior software solution that forgives even the most amateur of photographers and allows professional photographers to REALLY show off their work. In the last year my company has produced more than 170 tours for both commercial and real estate applications and that number is growing daily. On top of our own marketing efforts, RTV has sent us MANY qualified leads! 95% of all the leads that they send us result in an immediate order! To top the cake, their support staff is ON THE BALL!! A BIG thank you to Torie, Jon, Jacque (tour track), Ben and especially Jason for all of their training, support and attention to detail. I have been known to be a little ‘fiery’ and passionate about my business, but they have always answered my support requests promptly and professionally! I highly recommend their software to anyone who is even considering doing their own tours in-house OR starting a virtual tour company. You simply CANNOT beat the level of support or quality of software.”
Cheryl Waller
Virtual Tour Provider
“Success with RTV from a Real Estate Agent’s Point of View
In early 2005 as the real estate market here in the Florida Keys started to slow, I could see I would have to brush up on my marketing skills and find better ways to expose my listings to potential buyers. With so many Florida Keys homes and condos sold as vacation homes, an online presence with great photos and virtual tours becomes essential. A few years earlier I was the first agent in our area to do virtual tours. I had tried the two-shot version but the results were not very good. Then the market got so hot, and properties were selling so fast, there was no real need to have tours. I could see the tide turning and I wanted to add virtual tours back to my listings so I started doing some research to find the best solution. After looking at a lot of low quality tours, I found RTV. Having taken some photography courses in college, and with over 30 years in the real estate business taking photos of houses, I decided to do the tours myself. My first RTV tour was of one of the highest priced homes in Key Largo. Shortly after submitting it, I received a call from a buyer who said his wife had seen a virtual tour on the Internet and she wanted him to take a look at the property while he was in the Keys. During the showing he called his wife at home and told her to look at the virtual tour again. They decided then and there to make an offer. They ended up buying the property. The wife never came to see it until closing. The selling price was $3.7 million.
Since then there have been other situations where a buyer’s partner or family member could not be present but the decision to go forward was based on the virtual tour. Many times in the course of showing one of my listings with an agent from another company, I hear the buyers talking about having seen the virtual tour on the Internet. It seems they find the listings and have their agent make the appointment which results in more showings and sales for my sellers. I have a contract pending on a property which is scheduled to close later this month. The buyers have never been inside the house. Asking price almost $3 million.
In spite of our market being down almost 50% in the number of sales, and the inventory being up almost 50% in the number of listings, this has been my best year ever in real estate with over $12 million in sales so far – and it is only April. Thank you RTV for helping take my career to a new level.”
Sharon Nyman
Virtual Tour Provider
