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November 20 2016
That is the question for many brokers today who are part of the Realogy® Franchise Group. This group includes brokers who may be a member of any number of franchises spanning Century 21, Better Homes and Gardens, Sotheby's, Coldwell Banker, ERA, and some others. As WAV Group detailed in this case study of BH&G Metro Brokers in Atlanta – the ZapLabs platform is excellent – combining an effective mix of agent website, CRM, lead management and other vital agent business tools.
But the question to Zap or not to Zap is really not a question about technology at all. It is a question about strategy.
Consider the Cost of Change
Franchise technology solutions come in three business models – free, freemium, or premium. Sometimes the vendor is external, like Zillow, Smarter Agent, Market Leader, or DotLoop. Sometimes the vendor is internal, like Zap or LeadRouter. If the vendor is contracting directly with your brokerage and not through the franchise, there would be no cost of change. The cost of change comes when the franchise makes a choice to continue or discontinue a product. It is also the cost that you may have of migrating from your current solution to Zap. Are the customers and agents portable?
Example: Smarter Agent
Realogy just notified some or all of their franchises that they are sunsetting the relationship with Smarter Agent for their mobile app. It will be replaced by the Zap App. Both apps are excellent. There are a number of unanswered questions about what happens with the agent apps. More details to follow on this. Do not panic if you are using Smarter Agent today, but understand that changes are happening.
Consider the cost of change that is related to the legacy customers who are using the app. Agents have been giving out that app for years to their customers. Brokers have made it the cornerstone of their mobile strategy. How will they port the customers from Smarter Agent and get them to download the new app? Will the saved searches and favorites be transferred? Who will retrain everyone? Who will rewrite all of the recruiting and marketing materials?
Consider that there may be a day when you reverse your decision to Zap. What contractual assurances do you have that your firm won't switch away in the future and keep the data exclusively? Realogy has made Zap the hub of the technology strategy for all of their brands, and they will continue to develop around it.