When Systems Integrate, Agents Win

When we talk about the benefits of our transaction management solution, EZ Coordinator, we often give integrations top billing. Why? Because we can't overemphasize the benefits to agents and brokers.

Benefits of Integration

When we talk about the benefits of integrating technology solutions, there are two factors that are strongest in my mind:

• Data Entry. Who actually enjoys data entry? Not me and probably not you. When an agent is working on several different technology platforms with the same information and those platforms don't "talk" to one another, it requires the agent to enter the same information separately into each platform. This leaves room for errors or inconsistencies and wastes a considerable amount of time.

• Jumping Around. When an agent is constantly jumping between a variety of technology tools, problems abound. First, it's just annoying. Am I right? I mean, you're on a Web-based tool but then you have to open a desktop application or maybe a mobile app – pretty soon, you feel like you're juggling with about seven balls in the air. But beyond the irritation factor, there's the time lost. It takes time to open a new desktop application or cloud-based tool. It takes time to enter your username and password. It takes time to look back-and-forth between all the platforms you have open at once.

Strategic Partnerships

When a tech developer chooses systems with which to integrate, their foremost consideration is choosing tools that will offer maximum benefit to the end user. In choosing integrations for EZ Coordinator, we put ourselves in the mindset of an agent or broker leveraging a transaction management system. What did they need? What pieces of the puzzle were missing?

Digital signatures are absolutely integral to modern real estate transactions. They take an incomplete form and turn it into a document, putting the finishing touches on a transaction. DocuSign is the cream of the crop when it comes to eSignatures and we couldn't be happier to have their solution integrated with EZ Coordinator.

But before a customer becomes a transaction, they begin as a lead that must be converted. Our EZ Coordinator offers tools for ensuring that transition – from lead to close. One of the primary ways we do this is with email marketing. Integration with MailChimp ensures that EZ Coordinator's users can track important information about email - such as open rates, bounce rates and more.

Google is a powerhouse when it comes to email, calendaring, and even social networking (although the final verdict on G+ isn't in yet). This addresses two important aspects of transaction management: planning tasks/appointments/events and tracking email communication. Integration with Gmail and Google Calendar ensures that we are supporting the huge percentage of our EZ Coordinator users who leverage these tools.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is that integrations benefit agents, but only when they're with the right systems. When developers focus on consumers, as we do, they are able to make smart choices about integrations. Then, and only then, can integrations put the final pieces of the transaction management puzzle into place.