Latest Trends in Brokerage Tech: The End of the End-to-End Solution

The following is an excerpt from RE Technology's Success Guide to Broker Technology:

For the last decade, real estate brokerages and vendors have been focused on developing the "end-to-end solution." Like all trends, this one is on the way out. The reason why end-to-end solutions were so popular was that agents did not want to log into 27 different end point applications to do their business. Putting everything under one software roof made a lot of sense. It provided agents a single place to go to accomplish everything they need. Great idea, but it failed.

There are two reasons why the end-to-end solution failed. First, agents may love or hate the platform. So as not to condemn a current vendor, I would like to use Agent Achieve as an example. Agent Achieve was developed for Intero by a great group of software developers, but it was also sold to other brokerages. Under one platform, the agent had access to their website, lead management, CRM, CMA, transaction management, drip marketing, and so on. Agent Achieve was awesome, and it allowed Intero to recruit amazing agents in the heart of California's tech savvy Silicon Valley. The problem, however, was that Agent Achieve was too complicated for some agents. Another problem was that Intero agents would frequently compete for the same customers using the same templated website, the same listing presentation, the same drip marketing, etc.

This brings us to the second reason why Agent Achieve failed. It did everything, but was a master of nothing. It was not the best product as a website, CRM, CMA, transaction manager, or anything else. It did all of those things, but was not the best in any category.

The two biggest trends that have allowed brokerage technology to evolve beyond the end-to-end software products are Single Sign-On (SSO) and Application Programming interfaces (APIs). These two features combine to allow the brokerage to integrate a group of different applications from different vendors all under one roof. In effect, the brokerage can build their own end-to-end platform using integration tools. Think of it as a Lego set for building a firm's custom technology ecosphere where you can choose the best products and integrate them into your personal mix of the right tools for your agents.

The best news of all is that just about every technology company in the real estate industry today supports SSO and APIs. Moreover, they are rolling out app stores that feature their integration partners. As you rethink your technology roadmap this year, focus on partners who have robust integration tools and existing partnerships.

As we move forward in this new environment of technology product integration, brokers will have more flexibility than ever before. When you think about technology products, think about choice. You do not need to have one CMA product for all of your agents. Let your agents choose from a selection. Obviously, a selection of two or three is probably more than enough for most agents and teams. The SSO links and API integrations make this possible today. The tricky part is in negotiating the contract with the vendor. We suggest licensing technology on a per seat basis. Agents can only make a vendor switch once a month. At the end of each month, the vendor looks at the user logs and bills you for the number of agents who were active on the platform. If agents did not use a product, you don't pay for it. This will allow you to give agents the best products for the most reasonable price. If product usage for a particular product dwindles down, remove the option and replace it with something better.

Download Success Guide: Broker Technology to learn more about broker technology trends, how to evaluate broker technology, and more.