Do Your Tools Have an Expiration Date?
Most business tools don't come with an expiration date stamped on the side. That doesn't mean they don't have one. Microsoft's retirement of Publisher is a reminder that the tools you depend on today may not be there tomorrow, especially the ones you haven't thought about in years.
A seller calls and wants to meet tomorrow. You already know what you'll bring. Your listing presentation is ready. Your marketing pieces are polished. You have a flyer template you've used for years and a collection of branded materials that help communicate your value and experience.
Then you sit down to make a few updates and discover the software behind those materials is no longer available.
This is the situation some agents will find themselves facing as Microsoft Publisher reaches the end of its life. Although its retirement was announced over two years ago, many agents have understandably put off dealing with it. There were listings to take, clients to serve, and transactions to close. Meanwhile, Publisher continued working just fine, so moving to a new platform never seemed particularly urgent - but that deadline is now here.
The Problem with Waiting
I've seen some clients move their materials into modern publishing platforms, but I get it, I don't wake up in the morning excited about converting marketing templates either. It feels like a reasonable approach to wait, "until it becomes necessary."
The problem is that "necessary" tends to arrive the morning of a listing appointment, the afternoon your newsletter needs to be at the printer, the evening you are headed out and need a buyer package. Day-to-day, we tend to only think about our tools when we use them. From marketing tools to phone service to bottled water in the trunk for clients - we don't think about them until the moment they become essential.
It's easy to underestimate how much of your business may be tied to one piece of software. Think about the marketing tools you might use in a week:
Years of marketing tools, content, and assets may live inside that tool you rely on. If you are one of many agents still relying on Publisher, the pressure to make a change is about to become very real. What kind of pressure? Well, if you access Publisher through an Office 365 subscription, you simply won't be able to open the files at all.
Still Using Publisher? Let's Fix That.
Call Us Now360-527-8904It's time to make a change. Get your flyers, presentations, and marketing tools converted to Canva now and ensure your templates are ready before you need them.
More Benefits Than Just Keeping Updated
Often, when we replace an older tool, we discover we've been working around limitations for years without realizing it. A website update suddenly makes editing content easier. A new CRM automates tasks you used to perform manually. Moving away from Publisher can have the same effect, making it easier to update marketing tools, share materials with assistants, and adapt your branding for new uses.
Tara's listing flyers look just as amazing in Canva, but she can now update them anywhere online.
My staff sees it too. Returning to my main example, when we help clients move away from Publisher to a tool like Canva, we hear how it's easier to work with their materials. Don't be surprised - a decade of innovation has happened while Microsoft ignored upgrading Publisher. Along the way, many of our clients have used this as an opportunity to make small improvements, to update an old headshot, add a tool they've always wanted, or modernize their brand a bit.
While these changes happen naturally during the process, looking back is like night-and-day. The real benefit is that your business tools become easier to use, easier to manage, and easier to keep consistent.
The Takeaway
Microsoft Publisher isn't the first business tool to reach the end of its life, and it won't be the last. Whether you are affected by this change or not, this is a good reminder to take a closer look at the tools your business depends on and make a plan before they become a problem. Don't let an old standby like Publisher become an Achilles' heel to your business. Keeping your tools current can make your business easier to manage, more flexible, and better prepared for whatever comes next. And if your tools have an expiration date, it's better to discover it today than the morning of your next listing appointment.
By Denise Lones CSP, CMP, M.I.R.M.
The founding partner of The Lones Group, Denise Lones has over three decades of experience in the real estate industry. With agent/broker coaching, expertise in branding, lead generation, strategic marketing, business analysis, new home project planning, product development and more, Denise is nationally recognized as the source for all things real estate. With a passion for improvement, Denise has helped thousands of real estate agents, brokers, and managers build their business to unprecedented levels of success, while helping them maintain balance and quality of life.