Get it? ????
In case anybody asks…
Homebeat™️, a new way to keep in touch with past clients using Cloud CMA
Just two weeks ago, I was sitting in the audience at a real estate conference and the moderator asked the panelists, “What’s next in real estate?” Brian Boreo, co-founder of 1000watt, is one of the smartest people I know in real estate and said, “I’ve always thought that whoever figures out loyalty in real estate will win.” This brought a smile to my face, because there’s something Brian and the rest of the audience didn’t know that I’m excited to share that with you now.
About 5 years ago we made a fundamental shift with Cloud CMA. We knew that not all agents have listing presentations scheduled every week so we added features designed to help them get business – not just serve current clients. Pivotal to this was adding a “What’s my home worth?” landing page to every Cloud CMA account. This landing page could be easily shared on social media – which agents did – and the results were astounding. The number of Cloud CMA reports skyrocketed. To give you an idea, we launched Cloud CMA in 2010. In 2018 we hit a milestone of 10 million Cloud CMA reports generated. One year later in 2019, we are sitting at 14 million Cloud CMA reports generated. We can also account for 548,517 leads generated from automatic Cloud CMA reports. That’s moving the needle. Today we want to move that needle even further.
The National Association of REALTORS® has stats that show agent satisfaction over 80%, making it a well known industry fact that a majority of consumers were happy with their agent. Yet only 11% of those consumers use that same agent again. Why? Because agents are not doing a good job of keeping in touch with their past clients. That’s why we are introducing Homebeat, a new way to pump up your business from past clients. With Homebeat, agents can schedule automated CMAs to be delivered monthly, quarterly or yearly. And while traditional Cloud CMA reports are generated as PDFs, Homebeat will be completely digital, allowing your clients to view homes comparable to their home from any device.
Just like Cloud CMA reports, Hombeat is branded to the agent and also includes a call to action to request a “Full CMA” when they are closer to selling their home.
With Cloud CMA you can generate seller leads, convert those leads to clients and now with Homebeat, keep those clients coming back for more.
We will be rolling out Homebeat to select markets starting later today and will be free for 30 days to any Cloud CMA subscriber. To find out more about Homebeat, visit https://cloudagent.wpengine.com/automate-your-cloud-cmas-with-homebeat.
“Cloud CMA’s iBuyer Connect has legs.”
I couldn’t come up with a better headline than Inman News in their post today about Cloud CMA’s new feature “iBuyer Connect” so I just stole it. : )
“In August, W&R Studios began testing iBuyer Connect, originally called Cloud Investor Connect, in Southern California. It gives an agent the option to request cash offers from iBuyers after creating a CMA for a property, provided that the property meets the requirements of an iBuyer.
Should any iBuyers that are part of the iBuyer Connect network choose to submit an offer, the agent can then go to a listing presentation armed with one or more cash offers to present to a prospective seller, along with a CMA.
If the seller accepts the investor offer, the agent will represent the investor as a buyer’s agent. The agent might also win the listing, in which case the agent could also serve as a dual agent. The feature doesn’t comes with any additional cost, and the compensation agents receive from an iBuyer varies by company and market.
Our current test is with a Southern California company who is focused on flipping homes. Venture backed iBuyers like “Opendoor” are typically making offers closer to market value. Cloud CMA can work with both models.
We recently celebrated the results of agents who used iBuyer Connect for the first time to make transactions. The response from these agents has been great.
We are also surveying all agents using iBuyer Connect and are very encouraged by the results (we sent the survey out to a pool of 250 participants and got 35 results back).
When asked, “How likely would you use this feature on future listing presentations?” Over 85% said they were “Very Likely”, “Likely” or neutral.
Here are some other quotes from the survey.
“The services works as advertised, the communication from the investor was great. “
“It could work for certain properties. We would use it again in the future.”
“I think this is a great new tool and look forward to using it again. “
“The offer was extraordinarily low… but still useful for selling an investor network to clients.”
“I really appreciate the service. I believe that it is great to have that service available when listing homes, especially when the home needs work and you dont need to wait for an offer.”
I reached out to one of the agents, Briar Warren of Murrieta, who successfully sold a home using iBuyer Connect, you can read her comments on our press release here.
As we continue to test this feature we are learning how to provide even more value to Cloud CMA subscribers. We think agents can provide a great experience to their clients by enabling them to participate in this growing iBuyer marketplace.
Alain Pinel chooses Cloud CMA
Alain Pinel Realtors Unveils Dynamic, “Best Of Breed” Technology Strategy
“As sole proprietors of their own business, agents deserve the confidence of knowing that their data and tools belong to them exclusively. We have chosen a model that gives agents flexibility and options without extra cost on their part,” said Zane Burnett, Vice President of Digital Innovation & Technology at Alain Pinel.
APR has inked partnerships with the following companies:ActivePipe: Automated email marketing with exclusive property feed integration
Adwerx: Automated, geo-targeted social and display advertising of property listings
Cloud CMA: Deep property, comparable sale and buyer reports presented in a branded format
RealScout: Collaborative home search between agents and buyers and email alerts powered by “computer vision”
Contactually: An intelligent CRM that automates common tasks required of agents
Several of these applications are integrated; all will be available to APR agents through a single sign-on (SSO) dashboard within the company intranet.
Smart guys.
Underdog?
High praise from Mr. Brad Inman on our new Cloud Investor Connect feature in Cloud CMA.
But I got my eye on a third potential and fledgling platform coming out of nowhere by two likeable entrepreneurs who have been building real estate software for 25 years. Greg Robertson and Dan Woolley dub their company W+R Studios. Its signature product is Cloud CMA, which does comparative market analysis for agents to deliver to home sellers.
It’s software does 260,000 CMAs a month.
Here is the hook that could propel their company. The southern California firm added a new instant offer feature to their product last month, so when presenting the CMA the agent can also point the home seller to an instant offer alternative from investors and iBuyers.
It is being tested in Los Angeles with signs that it might be a breakaway product — maybe even a platform.
You can imagine most agents in the country using the software someday with all of the big Wall Street iBuyers and local investors participating on the Cloud CMA platform. It sports an easy to deploy API for investors and a friendlier-than-Mr. Rogers user experience.
Nice way to start a week. Dan and I want to thank Brad for his kind words (no pressure!). And also Art Carter and CRMLS for serving as our first “sandbox” of sorts. Plus our other MLS partners that have helped Cloud CMA to grow in to one of real estate’s most popular products.
So far our tests in Southern California for the past two weeks have gone better than expected. Agents love the experience, and are giving us great feedback. I’m happy to share some of our results, just contact me directly.
See you tomorrow at Inman Connect SF
Dan and I will be attending Inman Connect SF starting tomorrow, until Friday. I will be on stage at 4:40PM Tuesday on the “New Kids On The Block” panel (don’t ask) making a special announcement about Cloud CMA. We are super pumped about this announcement and think its one of the most innovative things we’ve done….ever. So stay tuned, and see you is SF!
The New Cloud CMA
We launched Cloud CMA back in early 2010. And its grown to be one of the most popular 3rd party software applications in real estate. But it was due for a refresh.
Someone once said design isn’t just how a product looks, but how the product works. I think in both cases the new Cloud CMA nails it. We made a short video with a few W+R Studios members responsible for making it happen.
The look and feel of the new Cloud CMA is designed to be new, yet familiar. We know that customers have developed a sort of muscle memory to create reports so we didn’t want to mess with that. Alternatively, customers will be able to switch between the new and “classic” version.
We integrated public record data so that users get a head start creating their CMAs. Using this data to populate key fields for the subject property improves the algorithm to choose the correct comps. We also added the ability to select and de-select comps from the larger expanded map interface.
Most enhancements to Cloud CMA were added to the Customize step, which was getting a bit unwieldy. So we cleaned up the page layout to give users a clean slate to customize their reports.
Of course the UI/UX are important but the output, the printed reports, are what really matters. The key to good reports is a mutual respect between the agent and client. Our design team came up with a brand new default theme called “Modern”. These reports are “sano” as the old surfers say in Huntington Beach, meaning “super clean”. I think the design team has knocked it out of the park. Of course, previous report themes in Cloud CMA will also be available.
All of this was done to match the look and feel of our other products in the Cloud Agent Suite.
We began showing this to agents and MLS executives in Washington D.C. at the NAR Midyear meetings. The response has been phenomenal. MLS providers with site licenses are going to love to be able to show even more value to their members by introducing the new Cloud CMA. As part of the new launch, we re-shot 14 How-to videos for Cloud CMA. You can check them out here. Keep in mind agents will be able to switch back to the “Classic” Cloud CMA anytime they want. So, this along with the new videos will make launching the new Cloud CMA a no-brainer.
We will launching the new Cloud CMA in select markets over the next couple months. We also have the ability to turn on individual accounts, just reach out to Katie if you want, and she will get you up and running.
I was watching Elon Musk speaking to his shareholders yesterday. He began with “this is going to sound cheesy but at Tesla, we build our cars, with love, we really care”. Elon got a bit emotional and went on to say, “At a lot of other companies, they’re built by the marketing department and the finance department. There’s no soul, you know?” I know exactly what Elon is saying.
I know I’m gushing a bit but I’m super proud at everyone at W+R Studios for making this happen. Their dedication, and soul, shows in every pixel.
This is going to be a huge year for Cloud CMA and we are just getting started, we have a few more tricks up our sleeve which I will be happy to share with you next month. Stay tuned.
Miami AOR launches Platinum Plus membership level
MIAMI REALTORS® Launches MIAMI Platinum PLUS for its Members
“The MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) is now offering its members subscriptions to MIAMI Platinum PLUS, an exclusive and unparalleled suite of upgraded Realtor products and services, so Realtors can utilize an even higher level of industry tools to improve and expand their business while enhancing the home buying and home selling process for the public….
MIAMI Platinum PLUS includes Form Simplicity Ultimate Edition, Cloud CMA, access to a second MIAMI Multiple Listing Service platform and Proxio Premier Agent in addition to a number of benefits including one free NAR designation class.”
I’m seeing this tiered level of membership a lot more these days. The key is to have a compelling offering.
W+R Studios launches Cloud Agent Suite hub
W+R Studios Launches New Product Hub
“On cloudagentsuite.com, new and existing subscribers to W+R Studios’ products can easily see what’s available in their market, try all products free of charge, view training videos and launch applications from a single place. Subscribers will have one login for all subscriptions.
“This will also better serve agents in areas where multiple products are site licensed by their MLS provider. With this new hub agents we be able sign up for all site licensed products with one entry. The best side effect of this process is that it will greatly impact adoption numbers across all W+R Studios’ products,” said Greg Robertson, co-founder, W+R Studios.
Super proud of the design team at W+R Studios, they really designed a gorgeous and functional site. W+R Studios has 4 products, developed at multiple times. So that meant four different websites. The new site does 3 things.
Number one is give the agent one place to go to find out about the products offered by W+R Studios and try them all (depending on the market) for free. Unlike most third party software vendors W+R Studios has always had a way for agents to come to the site and begin using its products without having to talk to a sales person first.
Number two is a “Launchpad” that gives agents quick and easy access to all products via one page. W+R Studios believes this will be super helpful with adoption in site license areas.
Number three is a place to learn. W+R Studios recently hired a full-time video producer. Her job is to create instructional, “how to” and “why?” videos that can be accessed from the “Learn” section of the site.
UtahRealEstate.com adds Cloud CMA as member benefit
UtahRealEstate.com to Offer Cloud CMA as an Exclusive Member Benefit
“This week, UtahRealEstate.com expanded its partner software program with a statewide exclusive offering of W+R Studios’ Cloud CMA product. Cloud CMA is a modern, high powered, and visually captivating Comparative Market Analysis platform that allows real estate professionals to create beautiful CMAs with just a few clicks. URE will be seamlessly integrating Cloud CMA into its MLS system so that members will be able to select properties from the MLS and work with those properties in the Cloud CMA software.”
Everybody’s doing it…
