You don’t get to be one of the most successful real estate photographers in one of the hottest markets in the world by ignoring your clients.
So, when a broker asked Pasha Amidi to start offering iGUIDEs, the owner of Solution Gate bought a camera and started using it in September 2020.
“When I introduced iGUIDE I started getting double bookings. Instead doing six or seven properties, on average per day, it went up to 10 properties per day,” said Pasha.
Since he founded Solution Gate in 2008, Pasha’s client list grew to more than 9,000 real estate agents and brokers in the Great Toronto Area. His New Market-based firm employs four other real estate photographers.
He learned a long time ago to have options for current and potential clients. Having the right options leads to repeat business.
Solution Gate offers HDR photography, cinematic video tours, drone videos, Matterport 3D virtual tours, agent video intros, listing webpage, printing and signage. When he added iGUIDE 360-degree-virtual tours in September 2020, the technology soon attracted 150 to 200 new clients.
“We gained a lot of clients,” said Pasha.
For speed and ease of use, floor plans with laser-accurate room dimensions and 360 degree virtual tours, nothing beats iGUIDE, he said.
In the property tech space, iGUIDE quickly provides the most accurate square-footage measurements and provides online shoppers with what he calls next level virtual immersion in a property. It is like hosting an open house online, 24/7.
“I like the speed of the work now, it is quicker, we get it done sooner,” said Pasha. “It brought a lot of new business to me.”
A successful real estate photography business today must provide options that meet the needs of clients with vastly different properties for sale or lease—from the biggest mosque in North America, to sprawling warehouses and luxury condos looking onto Lake Ontario.
For really large properties Pasha still prefers Matterport, but for medium-and-smaller sized ones he prefers iGUIDE. When your real estate photography business has both technologies, you get the big properties, the small and everything in between.
“When a company gives a client options to choose from it is more likely that I will be doing business with that client than company B that only has one option,” said Pasha.
Educating real estate agents about what’s available and what should be used on different properties is a key part of his plans for continued growth. He likes to schedule lunch-and-learn sessions for brokers and agents. The agents listen to presentations and get new head shots for participating.
Email blasts to current and potential clients are also important marketing tools for Solution Gate. He sent out mass emails to his 9,000 clients after buying an iGUIDE Camera.
“And then on the other side I have a marketing department in my company that targets people who are not among my clientele. We sent out about 20,000 emails to those people too, and we gained quite a lot of clients,” said Pasha.
Pasha and his employees focus on Downtown Toronto, Richmond Hill, Markham, Aurora and Newmarket. He and his real estate photographers travel as far west as Brampton and Mississauga and east to Pickering.
With more than five million people the Greater Toronto Area is the fifth largest urban region in North America and the red hot real estate market there did not slow down during the COVID19 pandemic.
Up until September 2020 Pasha offered his clients Matterport, but iGUIDEs soon accounted for 25 per cent of his shoots. He is booked up for up to two weeks in advance.
“On a weekly basis I get calls from random agents asking to hire my company,” said Pasha.
“IGUIDE was a good kick to the business to bring in more clients,” said Pasha. “When we bring in new clients, we offer them more services, such as cinematic video and drone videos and agent walk-throughs–we have different revenue streams. It brought in good customers.”