Weighing the Benefits of a Paperless Office

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1 Weighing the Benefits of a Paperless Office The complete decision-making guide for real-estate business owners ramu@paperlesspipeline.com page 1 of 11

2 Weighing the Benefits of a Paperless Office The complete decision-making guide for real-estate business owners If you are dissatisfied with your existing paperless transaction management system And are looking to switch over to a better product: Ask this product s provider to arrange for you to directly speak with a couple of their customers who have switched from your existing product to their product. You will cut through all the marketing and tech jargon that way. Read on for detailed, powerful, no-nonsense tips. Does this keep happening to you? You are inundated with phone calls from companies pushing their paperless transaction management product. With more than a dozen such products out there -- each with its own claim to fame, the most common outcome for a business owner is sheer confusion... It s enough to put you off the whole idea. But in the back of your mind you keep wondering... Do I stay with business-as-usual? Go paperless? And which product is right for me? page 2 of 11

3 With so many choices, where do you even start? Right here. And don't look at another product before you've read this. There s no pushy salesmanship, marketing or technical jargon here; just a bunch of powerful tips to help you make an informed decision. Let s dive in What is a paperless transaction management system anyway? As with anything to do with technology, there are fancy ways to answer this and make it sound impressive. Here s the buzzword-filled definition: it s an online cloud-based digital storage system for your transactions. The straight answer: a paperless transaction management system is computer software that replaces your filing cabinets with electronic files stored on computer servers that live on the internet. But if that's all a paperless system does, what's the big deal? Once all your files are on the internet, the right transaction management service can provide you measurable new benefits beyond an online filing cabinet. Let s consider the most important benefits for your agents, admins, and your entire business: For Your Agents Your agents can access their files round the clock from any place where they have a computer or mobile device with internet access. They can turn in required paperwork and look up the status of their active and past deals right from their home without having to drive in to the office or calling up an office admin. page 3 of 11

4 For Your Admins Your admins can review paperwork more efficiently and accurately using their computer instead of sifting through reams of paper. They can instantly notify agents when docs are missing signatures or deals are missing required docs. They can pull up the status of any active listing and see exactly where it stands -- what paperwork is still needed before close, when the deal is closing, what the commission breakdown is, etc. If you run a multi-office company, your admin staff from one branch can instantly share their knowledge and data with staff from other branches. They can share each other's checklists, contact information for escrow agencies, title companies, and other third-parties, etc. For Your Business You will reduce your cost of storage, printing, and file administration. You will attract modern, tech-savvy agents to come and work for your company. By giving your current agents the option to work from anywhere, you will give them another reason to stay with your company. A good transaction management system will increase the efficiency, accuracy, and daily throughput of your admins -- in some cases, you might be able to eliminate an entire admin position. Your audits will go much more smoothly when your admins don't have to hunt down old paperwork from storage units while they are in panic mode. By keeping your transaction data on secure, reliable, and always-available servers on the internet, you don t have to worry about ever losing access to it in case of a disaster at the office or storage room. If you already keep your transaction data on computers in your own office, an internet-based system will eliminate the need for local technical admins, and all the maintenance headaches and costs of keeping a complex computer network running smoothly. page 4 of 11

5 You are ready to go paperless. How should you evaluate the variety of products available? A paperless transaction management system is a long-term investment you will make for your business. So you need to be sure that: 1. It makes financial sense 2. Your risks are minimized 3. The technology provider is worthy of your trust 4. The technology delivers what you need 5. A clear plan is available to implement the system across your company And most importantly, you will want to be absolutely sure that your agents and admins will actually use the system! We will cover each of these factors in more detail next. Economics: Does it make financial sense? When trying to figure out if a transaction management product makes financial sense, ask these questions: 1. What is the maximum monthly (or annual cost) you will incur? 2. Are there hidden fees (setup costs, cancellation penalties, overage charges, etc.)? 3. Are there additional fees to get your staff trained? 4. Are the product s pricing plans clear and publicly advertised on its website? 5. Is there an additional charge to transfer your current and past deals into the new system? page 5 of 11

6 Risks: Are there risks to buying this product? Can you mitigate those risks? Going paperless is a big step for your business -- you will be investing significant dollars and precious time -- your own time as well as that of your admins and agents. To assess and minimize the risk of a sub-optimal decision, ask these questions: 1. Will you need to commit to a long-term contract with the provider or will you be able to pay for their product month-to-month and cancel anytime without incurring penalties? 2. Is there a product demo available for free? 3. Can you try out the product for free to help you determine if it s the right fit? And if so, is the free-trial duration long enough and does the free-trial let you try out all features without restriction? 4. Is the product s pricing based on number of users, number of transactions per month, amount of data stored, or something else? 5. How will your costs of using the product increase when your business grows? 6. Will your costs go down when your business is going through a less productive period? In other words, can you downgrade your pricing plan at any time and upgrade back when needed? Let s look at the most common pricing models: User-based pricing plans: You are charged based on the number of users (agents and admins) in the system. The biggest risk is, of course, that you will end up having to pay for unproductive agents. Data-based pricing plans: You are charged based on the amount of data storage space you need. The biggest problem with this is that it s very difficult to anticipate how much space your transaction s data might consume each month. Of all the pricing plans, this one is the least aligned with a real-estate business because it charges based on a technological factor rather than based on a business factor. page 6 of 11

7 Transaction-based pricing plans: You are charged based on the number of deals i.e.listings, sales or rentals your company creates each month. For most companies, this pricing model makes sense, especially if the product offers you the freedom to upgrade or downgrade your plan month-by-month. After all, your business s revenue stream is directly tied to deals closed and not to the number of agents nor the amount of data you generate. Can you trust the provider of this product? Remember that you aren t buying off-the-shelf software at a one-time cost. You need a product that can serve your business needs year after year. In other words, you are entering a long-lasting business partnership with this product s provider. So you need to be sure that You like everything about the way they run their business. Ask these questions: 1. How long has this company been in business? 2. What are their customers saying about them? 3. Does the company let you talk to their customers directly? It s one thing for a company to claim that it is highly reputable and its product is superior, but it s a whole lot more reassuring when their customers are happy to talk to you directly and answer your questions about what they think of the company and its product. 4. Does the company have reasons it may not be the right partner for your business? Are they honest enough to tell you if that s the case? Ask them this question and you will be amazed at how much their answer can help with your decision. Companies that choose their customers as carefully as their customers choose them are rare. Not being interested in making money from every prospective customer in page 7 of 11

8 the short-term makes such companies ideally suited for a mutually-beneficial, long-term partnership. Product: Is this product s technology right for my business? All paperless transaction management systems provide a basic set of features. You will be able to evaluate some of these using their free trial option and others with a product demo. A product demo is a great way to get a quick overview of the product. You should definitely schedule one. However, a free trial -- particularly one that is not time- or feature-limited -- will allow your admins to test the system more thoroughly, and help you determine with more confidence whether it has the features your business needs. Ask these questions to help you understand the product better and minimize any surprises later: 1. Is the system fast, reliable, and secure? 2. Is it compliant with your state s real-estate regulations? 3. How often are improvements made to the system? Can you see a list of the improvements along with when they were released? 4. How easy is it to get a copy of my data should I stop using the system? 5. Is self-help documentation easily available? 6. How good is their customer service? Do you get to communicate with a knowledgeable support person directly or do you have to go through several layers of people to get answers? Is their customer service in-house or outsourced? The best way to determine all of this is to ask a lot of questions during your free trial. There s a wide variety of paperless products available to you. Some are built around the one-stop-solution model, others on the do-one-thing model, and yet others on a mix of the two approaches. page 8 of 11

9 All-in-one (aka one-stop-solution) model vs. Do-one-thing-right model There are upsides and downsides to the all-in-one approach that you should be aware of. The biggest upside that attracts owners to this model is that agents and admins need only a single login to access multiple tools. When a product you are considering claims to do everything, ask these questions: 1. Is it too cluttered with features? With a lot of clutter your agents and admins will have a harder time getting their normal, day-to-day work done quickly and efficiently. 2. Will it force your admins and agents into doing things a certain way that s determined by the product s creators? New, unfamiliar, and often convoluted processes designed by engineers (instead of by customers) will create more work for your admins and agents, and will also decrease their willingness to adopt the system. 3. Is it fast and responsive? More features often turn a product into bloated software that gets slower and slower over time. 4. Does it perform core functions well enough? Often, do-it-all products don t do any one thing well enough. Just think about all those fancy mobile phones that have every feature under the sun but don t let you hold a decent quality phone conversation! Beware that the inspiration for packing a large quantity of features into a product often comes from the marketing department rather than from the customer. 5. Are there other companies like yours using this product with 100% agent adoption? Often when a product is complex and packed with too many features, agents find it hard to use it for their regular work. page 9 of 11

10 Products that are built around doing one thing perfectly work better for most businesses in the long run. This is because: 1. They don t require your agents and admins to change the way they like to work. In other words, your company is not forced into using new processes designed by someone else. 2. They are simpler and hence easier to learn and easier to use. 3. They will excel at performing core features; letting your admins and agents perform these frequent operations with ease and with speed. 4. They will play nicely with other systems that you, your agents, and admins may already be invested in. They allow you to choose the most appropriate system for each important area of your business rather than settling for an average or below-average system that tries to fulfill all your needs. 5. The creators of such dedicated products are likely to understand their customers on-going needs better because they accumulate specialized knowledge in a single area of business instead of incomplete knowledge in a lot of areas. If you are looking at a do-one-thing-right product, ask: 1. How well does it perform the core functions your admins and agents will need to use most regularly? 2. Will your agents and admins be able to continue using their current processes? 3. Does this product work well with your other preferred business products? Deployment: Implementing a paperless system across your company So you have selected a paperless transaction management system that you really like. Before you buy into it, ask: page 10 of 11

11 1. Is there documentation available to help you and your admins deploy the new system across your company? 2. Does the system allow for gradual implementation over several months? How will you help your less tech-savvy agents buy into the system and make them use it for their day-to-day work? Adoption Success: Will 100% of your agents and admins buy into the system? This is the critical question you face. The most perfect looking system for your business can t help you if your agents and admins simply won t (or can t) use it for their daily operations. There s only one reliable way to determine if the system you have chosen is highly likely to be used by all of your agents and admins: Ask the product provider to let you talk to their customers whose company size is similar to yours. Then ask those customers if all of their admins and agents have happily adopted the system and if they have any regrets. Questions about this guide? Contact Us: Paperless Pipeline ramu@paperlesspipeline.com (844) Please share this document with friends and colleagues who might benefit from it. page 11 of 11