Is It Time to Rethink Your Current Transaction Management Solution?

Multiple Listing Service firms, REALTOR® Associations, and real estate brokers understand the value of offering a transaction management solution.

As these organizations head into their annual budget and planning cycle, many will be taking a fresh look at their current transaction management solution. That’s because the transaction management landscape is rapidly changing.

More than one leading transaction management software provider has changed ownership in just the last year.

The transaction management landscape, as a result, is in flux. That makes now a good time to revisit your transaction management solution. You need to make sure that for the long term, your organization’s goals and objectives are aligned and not in potential conflict, because of new ownership.

Here are three reasons you may want to revisit your current transaction management solution:

Trust: At the foundation of any strong business relationship, especially one that delivers an essential service such as transaction management, you have to trust your partners. You want to make sure that you understand the company behind your transaction management solution.  What are their long-term goals? Are your business purposes aligned, or are there areas of potential conflict? What are the advantages and disadvantages of working with a firm that may be owned by a giant conglomerate? Has the company culture remained the same, or is it changing – and is that good or bad for you? Are you still dealing with the same people, or have they changed too? Consider all the things that may have changed when assessing your relationship today. These are essential questions to ask, as they can impact trust.

Support: We know from NAR research (“Real Estate in the Digital Age” report, 2018) that almost half of real estate agents and brokers (45%) don’t use a document management system. That creates both opportunities and challenges for the universal adoption of a transaction management solution. A transaction management system must provide more than a great interface. Just about all the major transaction management solutions today are pretty easy to use. But for many agents and brokers, using a transaction management system for the first time can be daunting. You only have one chance to make a good first impression. So, if there is not a bastion of support behind the rollout and ongoing use of your transaction management system, you could turn off many agents and brokers right upfront. Getting the back is even more difficult, superior support can mean all the difference in the world, from the rollout to being highly available – and accessible – to answer questions. If your transaction management solution does not come with a world-class customer support service and rollout team, your agents and brokers are missing out. Providing better customer support is what enables higher adoption of transaction management systems – and agent and broker satisfaction.

Transparency: We all know that in the software world, a free solution is rarely the best solution. Some transaction management solutions are built on this business model. Knowing upfront what the real costs will be is vital. Agents and brokers, like most of us, want to know the bottom line and not be fooled by thinking they will pay “X” when they end up paying “Y.” Or worse, adopt a free solution, only to find they need to pay to use the features they need. Transparency helps truly compare solutions when you look at a transaction management solution.

For example, we use a matrix at Form Simplicity to illustrate the benefit that our transaction management offerings provide, what’s included, and what is not. And transparency is more than just honest pricing and fully disclosing the features you get for what price. Transparency also includes how a firm provides customer service support, as well as sharing its goals and objectives to make sure you understand what you are buying.

Florida Realtors owns and operates the leading transaction management solution Form Simplicity, and the number one tech support service in real estate: Tech Helpline. Form Simplicity is the only transaction management solution created by Realtors, for Realtors, and is still owned by Realtors. We leverage our collective strengths in support and transaction management to serve Realtors throughout Florida and hundreds of thousands of agents across the U.S. better.

When you rethink your real estate transaction management software and consider the three factors of trust, support, and transparency, we think you’ll find Form Simplicity coming out on top.