This is the year I’ve thrown down the gauntlet to myself. By the end of the year I’m gonna have my feet firmly planted, technologically speaking, in the 21st century. This may require leapfrogging most of the decade of the 1990’s, but I’m approaching this venture fearlessly. (Or at least without noticeably trembling.)
Numero Uno on the A-List is my database. It sucks so much Dyson wants to know my secret. Seriously, we’re organized, but we’re only slightly ahead of Willie Loman.
I’d love someone to tell me how I can get things done seamlessly, without either writing a check with a comma not appearing ’till after the second digit, or buying something at Databases R Us that promises me the moon but delivering something akin to Willie’s Roladex with a prompter.
Here’s what I need. I’m hoping against hope these needs will resonate with others out there, ‘cuz being the Lone Ranger would mean my checkbook is the only plausible remedy. So please, pretty please with a real estate recovery on top, chime in with anything you can add, or recommend. I’m officially lobbying for a database expert to get some face time at Unchained. (I hope that’s subtle enough for Greg and Brian.)
If it helps, here’s what we’re up against. We not only work with folks in San Diego, but in many states. We must deal with staffs or teams in each state, along with our clients and their property portfolios — all of which must be at our grubby little fingertips. (In my case of the Flintstone variety.) We’ll also have moderately large sub-databases in each region we really like. These are composed of investment property owners to which we’d like to market some day, or already have. Each one of these sports around 20-80,000 names/properties. These need to offer the capability to be kept separate or meshed together — at our whim, over and over again.
My new database would be perfect IF
I could break it up into various segments without giving up the ability to blend everything together if it suits my purpose. I could email from it without having to petition Zeus. It could accommodate photos, spreadsheets, and whatever other app I needed. I could sort, combine, separate, and purée whatever info/data it held any way I chose. It would handle my scheduling flawlessly I could keep all my contracts and related docs both blank and executed for all the states we’re in. I could maintain all client files including sales, listings, open/closed escrows, etc. It would predict the next market for my clients. I could construct a marketing/analysis/photo package for clients/prospects — in a few minutes. I could store as much MLS info from multiple regions as I pleased — and be able to contrast and compare them via the database.
I fully expect I’ve left out at least half a dozen things I’ll need, but the day’s been long, and my ignorance on this subject may not be finite.
About a year ago Josh and I had a database consultant in our office to talk about this. After listening for 20 minutes he said he could deliver a seamless product to us. He’d set it up, put it on both our laptops, and set up a special in house server to boot. All for the low low price of $8-10,000. I realize how ignorant I am on this stuff, but ignorance ≠ stupidity.
Oh, I forgot one other thing. Please don’t make it hard to use. I’m a Mac user and am kinda sorta spoiled by the whole ‘user friendly’ environment in which I’ve lived for the last 12 years or so. This isn’t rocket science so I don’t want to have to train with NASA engineers so I can use the damn thing.
Any chance this can be included at Unchained? Is there anyone out there with suggestions?
Am I living in Fantasy Land?
Brian Brady says:
“I’m officially lobbying for a database expert to get some face time at Unchained.”
Stay tuned. Lots of good announcements in the next 3-5 days. Your wish will be granted.
February 21, 2008 — 7:22 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Geez, it’s that easy?
#2 on the list coming up soon. Thanks
February 21, 2008 — 7:27 pm
Mike Farmer says:
Also, You might want to talk with my brother, Scott Farmer. I will email his number to you tomorrow. Just tell him what you need — he designs and deals with products like that.
February 21, 2008 — 7:51 pm
Sean Purcell says:
Jeff,
Are you slipping one in on us? Did I read your wish list correctly? It looks like you asked for a system that would, among other things, “…predict the next market for my clients”
A system that predicts markets? If Brian and Greg can deliver that I think they are VASTLY undercharging for Unchained. 🙂
February 21, 2008 — 8:14 pm
Jeff Brown says:
As Grandma often said, “Don’t ask, don’t get.” 🙂
February 21, 2008 — 8:34 pm
Doug Quance says:
The sad part about this technology jazz is that just when you finally have a system working – a better mousetrap lands in your lap.
It’s everything.
It’s the new phone. The new computer. The new camera. The new killer app.
Sometimes I think I spend so much time learning new stuff… I never have time to get GOOD at it…
February 21, 2008 — 9:36 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Doug — once I get something that works completely I keep it. My car is pretty fast and incredibly reliable, and seven years old. If it works everyone else can have the new one. 🙂
February 21, 2008 — 10:01 pm
Allen Butler says:
I’d like to hear about this new thing Brian’s talking about. I use agent office. It’ll do a lot of what you’ve asked, but is pretty complex. Check it out online. You might like it. As far as I can tell, it’s the only viable alternative to Top Troducer, and is way cheaper. Did I totally miss the mark?
Allen
February 21, 2008 — 10:37 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Allen — You’re asking the 1st grader about long division. 🙂
I”m don’t have a clue what Brian’s talking about yet. Agent Office, or Top Producer leave me more than a tad skeptical. To your knowledge do they do everything I asked for in the post? I can’t believe they’re that powerful. But then again I’ve only been told that second hand.
I’m using Filemaker Pro now, but worry about the time it’s gonna take customizing it to do everything I need done. It’ll do it, no problem, but I refuse to reinvent the wheel when I know in my bones there’s something or someone out there with an easier solution.
Oh well, May’s around the corner.
February 21, 2008 — 10:52 pm
Jeff Brown says:
Mike — Sounds very promising, thanks.
February 21, 2008 — 11:15 pm
Brian Brady says:
Not a thing, a person (describing how to use things to communicate with clients).
Permit me some drama; this person is that good.
February 22, 2008 — 12:25 am
Sean Purcell says:
“Permit me some drama”
Brian you’re killin’ me. You? Drama? I blush at the very idea:)
February 22, 2008 — 12:32 am
Ann Cummings says:
Jeff – if you find this gem that you’re looking for, make sure to let the rest of us know about it. I suspect there are many out here who would love exactly what you’re asking for, and if there is a product out there, they could sell up a storm if we all knew about it.
Ann
February 22, 2008 — 4:21 am
Jeff Brown says:
Ann — I’ve already been emailed offers from people I know who know database experts. This could be very cool indeed. If something comes out of this I’ll share it with the world.
February 22, 2008 — 10:56 am
Matthew Hardy says:
Perhaps I can provide some guidance. But first, disclosure and credibility statement: I am the owner of Real Estate Success Tools and the chief designer of our software product “Real Estate Success Tracker” (aka “REST”). We do one thing: provide real estate software for agents, teams and offices. With appreciation and an appropriate nod to the value of humility, I understand real estate database software better than anyone I’ve met. (I know – maybe I should get out more.) As the previous owner of a consultancy, I have over 25 years experience in developing custom relational database software for the likes of Johns Hopkins Hospital and University, The National Aquarium, The City of Baltimore and large corporate clients. I’ve worked for and travelled with Tom Hopkins (then strictly a real estate sales trainer) and owned a real estate marketing company. I’ve been a sales manager, trainer and accomplished sales person. I’ve developed software for sales and marketing companies putting out over a million variable-data direct mail pieces a month.
I’m odd. I have a deep appreciation and understanding for the actual functions of sales while also being an expert in relational database theory and programming. Many times have I been brought in as a consultant to explain to business principals what their technical people were actually saying because, too often, specialists don’t know what they don’t know and generalists (whose first concerns are the interests of the business) don’t know what what they need to know. Call me a geek who’s more comfortable in a $100 tie than a propeller beenie and pocket protector.
I move (back to) Phoenix because I was headhunted to be senior designer for in-house developed software used by the one of the largest hospitalist corporations in the country. This was my first job (cough… hack…) in many years and I didn’t like the slow-motion feel of the workplace. So what next? Real estate! I grew up in Phoenix and always remembered the advertising for the real estate company “Russ Lyon”. They have an office not too far from where I live so I got licensed and started there.
I began researching software to run my business. I knew I could write my own, but I also KNEW that there had to be something good for purchase because, after all, this industry boasts the largest trade association in the world, doesn’t it? Operating with the same due diligence I offered my consulting clients when counseling on six figure software purchases, I came to the conclusion that ALL the software then offered to the real estate industry sucked. Big time. To me, none of it was worth spending any money on. My best option? Write my own. After the basics were completed, I scheduled a meeting with my manager to ask if my work showed an understanding of the actual functions of a successful real estate practice. My manager was a bit floored and quickly suggested that I arrange to show the software to others. Long story shorter: we hired a financial consultant having experience with software companies generating hundreds of millions in revenue. His analysis showed that the market was ripe for our offering and that we should be able to achieve $40 mil per year in not-so-many years. We decided to do things right and hired some o’ them $500-600/hour lawyers to write our offering circular for investors and raised a substantial sum of cash to get started.
Why did I tell you all that?
Because most people who talk about technology in this business do not know what they are talking about. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that all agents aren’t clear on what THEY’D like to have. I am saying that most of the vendors, the “how to be tech-savvy” programs and “mister internet” types are clueless.
Now to address the Hairless One:
> Numero Uno on the A-List is my database.
This shows you’re a smart man. I contend that one does not HAVE a business if one does not collect, manage and leverage data on their prospects and clients in a system controlled by the business owner. To be perfectly clear, I’m saying that if you’re uploading your precious business data to some online (hosted) solution owned and controlled by someone else you either don’t understand the basics of business or you haven’t really decided in favor of the long-term success of your real estate business. A simple fact: data sits on hard drive platters; these platters should be under your control.
> I’d love someone to tell me how I can get things done seamlessly, without either writing a check with a comma not appearing ’till after the second digit, or buying something at Databases R Us that promises me the moon but delivering something akin to Willie’s Roladex with a prompter.
This may surprise you, but getting things done seamlessly has much less to do with software than with your own personal, rigorously adhered to human protocols. When I started our company, I interviewed many successful agents about their actual workflow as it relates to, first and foremost, getting and keeping customers. I read Gary Keller’s “Millionaire Real Estate Agent” four times. I studied David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” and Michael Gerber’s “The E-Myth”. From these and other research, I developed a set of principals to drive the development of the software. I believe what you’re really trying to do is develop a standard of service that you can repeat countless times at consistently the same level.
> We not only work with folks in San Diego, but in many states… deal with staffs or teams in each state, along with our clients and their property portfolios… have moderately large sub-databases in each region… composed of investment property owners to which we’d like to market… around 20-80,000 names/properties… need to offer the capability to be kept separate or meshed together — at our whim, over and over again.
Sounds like real life to me. I know many agents with 100,000-plus databases. Contrast this to the agent who, with a couple hundred names in a list, are sure that they’re the king of the beach. A real estate trainer I know routinely tells his students that they’re kidding themselves to think they’ll be successful with only hundreds of prospects and that thousands are required. Keller (if I’m quoting correctly), says that you need 1,690 people in your “have met” database or 16,000 people in your “have not met” database to make a million dollars. This requires a properly designed relational database system. And the relational part is key: it allows data to be physically recorded only once, yet used (display, CRM functions, reporting, marketing, etc) over and over again. How this data is structured is the critical piece; one must be able to predict virtually all of the future uses for the data in order to structure it properly.
Now to your “perfect database” if statements. (I’ll know I started selling if Greg edits me!)
> IF: I could break it up into various segments without giving up the ability to blend everything together if it suits my purpose.
This is easy in our software. Particularly with a feature called “People Groups” (and it’s similar “Property Groups), data can be organized any way you like. Also, the ability to import and export is completely open (at the appropriate access level). Our primary mantra: the data is yours and we will not restrict your use of it in any way. Because your data is under your control, we cannot and will not hold your data hostage to some purpose of our own. We will not make getting your data out of our software hard in order to dissuade you from using a competitor’s product. We will not require that pay us more to get help on using your data how you wish.
> IF: I could email from it without having to petition Zeus.
This is a biggie for me and in part arises from the frustration of having to cajole some “tech guy” to get off his/her keister to perform a function important to MY business. We know that most real estate practitioners are independent business people with small (or no) staff. Not only can you email to anyone/everyone in your database without having to “petition Zeus”, we’ve included features in the mailing area of the software that allow your printed mail to include hi-res PDF-based headers and footers to forgo having to print letterhead every time things change.
> IF: It could accommodate photos, spreadsheets, and whatever other app I needed.
Can you say “digital document management”? All your other files can be stored directly within your database. You also have the option of being able to store only references (file paths) to larger files such as high resolution photographs and graphics.
> IF: I could sort, combine, separate, and purée whatever info/data it held any way I chose.
Ah… duh. (Of course you can.)
> IF: It would handle my scheduling flawlessly
This is an interesting topic. Being devotees of Allen’s GTD, we buh-leeeeeeeeve in lists. Certainly there’s a calendar with month, week, day views, but the items on your calendar all come from your central to-do list with the appropriate Next Action and Waiting For designations.
> IF: I could keep all my contracts and related docs both blank and executed for all the states we’re in.
See “digital document management” above.
> IF: I could maintain all client files including sales, listings, open/closed escrows, etc.
Maintaining a perfectly accurate history of all your interactions with a client facilitates customer love, repeat business and referral business. Every aspect of this history is recorded. We work with teams having large staffs that do many hundreds of transactions per year. Their ability to answer virtually every question during a phone call with a client is paramount to them. They know that they are taking business away from the agent whose usual answer is “let me get back to you.”
> IF: It would predict the next market for my clients.
It’s possible that this one might come under the heading of “and people in hell want ice water” but perhaps someone will develop a credible webservice that we can build in. (Sneak Peek: watch for a plethora of neat webservices built in that will allow your locally stored data to query and interact with hosted data sources that publish a public API.)
> IF: I could construct a marketing/analysis/photo package for clients/prospects — in a few minutes.
Because of the subjective nature relative style and content for these kinds of sales reports as well as the data required for proper CMA reporting we elected to tackle this a little differently. Our preference (at this point) for the CMA portion is to utilize webservices. While the software has many great reports now, our plans are to either create a new company along the lines of Hobbs-Herder for variable-data sales collateral output or, (an option I like better) we will publish an API to allow third-parties to supply the art and layout components for the same type of variable-data sales collateral output.
> IF: I could store as much MLS info from multiple regions as I pleased — and be able to contrast and compare them via the database.
Currently, any data that can exported/downloaded from any MLS can be imported into our software. There exists now a feature allowing one-click, live access to an agent property report generated by an MLS. (This features works for almost all MLSs, the exception being the anti-interoperability types who hide everything behind javascript.) The next cool thing being added soon is the ability to access remote (MLS) databases via ODBC connections. My favored approach is simple and open, allowing, for instance, a complex query built into a URL. I’ve been studying the FlexMLS stuff and, with their adherence to RETS standards and what seem to me to be an generally open mindset, we expect everything to work just fine.
> IF: About a year ago Josh and I had a database consultant in our office to talk about this. After listening for 20 minutes he said he could deliver a seamless product to us. He’d set it up, put it on both our laptops, and set up a special in house server to boot. All for the low low price of $8-10,000. I realize how ignorant I am on this stuff, but ignorance ≠ stupidity.
He was probably low-balling you. A good, custom relational database system should run you in the six figures. I’ve consulted on many projects running well in excess of a half million. But hey, those were systems designed for large hospitals, the NIH and the like; this is only real estate. 😉
> IF: Oh, I forgot one other thing. Please don’t make it hard to use. I’m a Mac user and am kinda sorta spoiled by the whole ‘user friendly’ environment in which I’ve lived for the last 12 years or so. This isn’t rocket science so I don’t want to have to train with NASA engineers so I can use the damn thing.
“Easy” is not something we pay lip service to. To understand the real context of selling, it’s clear that technology and systems should not stand as an impediment to serving the customer. I learned this decades ago when writing systems for clinical trial units. Basically the scenario was this: a physician would interview patients regarding their interaction with the pharmaceutical being tested and if was very important that the software interface did not detract from the interview as these sessions became a part of the data set for analysis. The application here might be that of agent on the phone with a client. I believe that software should be easy enough to use while on the phone. Our software runs identically on both Windows and Mac – pixel perfect on each. You can even have any combination of both Macs and PCs simultaneously accessing your database system from anywhere in the world.
> IF: Am I living in Fantasy Land?
Not sure. But it sounds like you might want to move there. 😉
February 22, 2008 — 3:34 pm
Greg Swann says:
I haven’t read Matthew’s symphonic comment yet, but I thought I would add that BloodhoundRealty.com, LLC, is a REST site. We’ve had it since last Spring, but our implementation has been slowed by Cathy’s father’s death and her own bout with pneumonia. She may want to comment, since she’s our REST expert. She’s been getting it set up so that we can move all of our antique CRM solutions into REST and then have that REST DB available on all of our devices — Macs, Windows PCs and our phones. As I’ve said before, I want, if I choose, to be able to run our entire business from my mobile phone. I don’t think we’re within striking distance yet, but we’re headed that way.
PS: If you had signed up for the Unchained interest list before last Friday, the email you had from me originated in REST.
February 22, 2008 — 3:41 pm