Key facts
- Josh Miller, CEO of Epique Realty, identified poor technology adoption by real estate agents as a significant industry problem.
- He suggested that brokerages should focus on providing tools that agents already want, pay for, or have a strong incentive to use.
- Miller highlighted Epique Realty's high CRM adoption rate, linked to the distribution of free leads through the platform.
- He presented three conditions for successful technology adoption: agent desire, existing agent payment, or a clear incentive.
- Miller cautioned that while AI adoption is high among brokerages, agent adoption of AI tools remains a challenge.
Josh Miller, CEO and co-founder of Epique Realty, addressed the challenge of low technology adoption among real estate agents at the HousingWire AI Summit. He argued that brokerages often spend significant amounts on tools that agents do not use, suggesting the solution lies in aligning technology offerings with what agents genuinely want, already pay for, or have a strong incentive to utilize.
Miller, who co-founded Epique Realty in 2021, expressed frustration with traditional brokerage models where agents felt they did most of the work for insufficient compensation and lacked business-building support. Epique Realty has experienced rapid organic growth, ranking high on RealTrends Verified and Inc. 5000 lists, with approximately 5,000 agents across multiple countries.
Citing data from the National Association of Realtors, Miller noted that agents tend to favor tools like e-signatures, social media, and AI content generation over expensive CRMs. He pointed out that while 70% of brokerages offer CRMs, only 15% of agents log in weekly, and many pay for their own solutions. In contrast, Epique Realty boasts an 89% CRM adoption rate, largely due to its strategy of providing free leads through its CRM platform, Lofty, which generated $4.3 million in gross commission income for agents last year.
Miller outlined his three core conditions for successful technology adoption: agents must want the tool, already be paying for it, or have a clear incentive to use it. He also addressed the current buzz around AI, acknowledging that while most brokerages plan to adopt AI, the critical hurdle remains agent adoption. He encouraged brokers to leverage modern development tools to build internal and external applications that meet these adoption criteria.