Keith Duncan is the broker at KADRE Commercial Real Estate in Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana. KADRE represents buyers, sellers, and tenants on commercial and industrial property across the state. Keith has more than two decades of licensed real estate experience. For a long time, every call to the business rang on his cell phone.
Challenge
Keith picked up when he could. Out showing a property or sitting in a negotiation, he could not.
“It got too much,” Keith says. “I wasn’t able to answer phone calls all the time.”
Commercial deals tend to start with a call about one specific listing. Someone wants the address, the price, or a walkthrough. That caller has other brokers to try.
The fix had to take work off the team rather than add to it. “So, we decided to go with AI in order to make it easier on ourselves,” Keith says.
Solution
Getting started was quick. “It took me a couple of minutes to get set up,” Keith says.
Calls now reach Upfirst first. The receptionist answers, finds out what the caller needs, and collects the details that matter before anyone is connected. On a property inquiry it asks for the address: “Could you please share the property address with me? Once I have that, I’ll transfer you to our commercial specialist, Keith Duncan, who can help you further.”
When a call does come through, Keith knows what he is picking up. “I like it. Everything’s simple. It calls, it reroutes the number,” he says. “My phone will say I’m getting a call from Upfirst, so I know to be prepared.”
Every call also arrives in writing. “It sends me an email and a text with a description of the call, the recording, and even if it’s rerouted to someone else, I get all that information too, so I can double-check on things,” Keith says.
Results
Keith is no longer the first stop for every call. “It’s a lot easier. I don’t have to answer the phone call, especially if it’s not for me, and it gets to the right person immediately,” he says. “So therefore, we are able to get business, we’re able to talk to potential clients and turn them into customers.”
Spam stopped reaching the team, and quiet callers stopped disappearing. “It blocks spam for me, and even if someone doesn’t leave a message or respond or anything, it records the phone number so we can go back and call them to ask them if there’s anything we could do to help them,” Keith says.
That matters in a business where one caller can mean a six-figure transaction. A number in the call log is still a lead the firm can work.
KADRE has room to grow into it. “It fits our needs, and it’s also scalable, so if I do need to do more later, I’m able to do so,” Keith says.
He put a timeline on it. “Everything works great for me,” Keith says. “Plan on staying practically forever.”