I just became aware of a brand new product that will help real estate professionals manage leads and track phone calls.

This new product is the first voice-marketing automation platform specifically tailored to members of the National Association of REALTORS® – it is called Ifbyphone®.

Ifbyphone®, a voice-based marketing automation platform, announced on Monday, the launch of its newest product, Ifbyphone® for REALTORS®.

Why is Ibyphone?

Ifbyphone frees agents and brokers from deskwork by automating voice-based marketing. According to their press release:

“Agents can then use Ifbyphone® for REALTORS® to connect with hot leads faster, optimize marketing spend, and most importantly, close more deals. The product was created in collaboration with NAR and offered through NAR’s REALTOR Benefits® Program.”

Ifbyphone® for REALTORS® is delivered as a suite of software-as-a-service voice applications that includes:

• Call tracking
• Dynamic inbound call forwarding
• Outbound call automation
• Virtual call center solutions.

All are easily set up by the broker or agent, freeing up more time with clients and prospects.

“Using Ifbyphone® for REALTORS®, agents can focus on clients and prospects while Ifbyphone is handling the forwarding and tracking of leads,” said Irv Shapiro, CEO and founder of Ifbyphone®. “Real estate agents can spend the majority of their time in the field, responding to those leads, managing customer relations and working toward more sales, while maintaining a nimble virtual office with Ifbyphone®,” he added.

One of Ifbyphone’s powerful marketing tools, SourceTrak™ call tracking, provides agents and brokers access to comprehensive, real-time call reports. The automatically generated reports reveal exactly where marketing efforts are most effective. By tracking lists of unique phone numbers across online media, lawn signs, and print ads, Ifbyphone® records exactly where leads are originating. Agents and brokerages can then use the reports to more efficiently allocate marketing dollars.

Ifbyphone also turns “clickers into callers” by instantaneously calling the listing agent when a prospect submits a Web form. This “call form” then “whispers” to the agent the listing information and where the prospect saw the ad. If the agent is part of a listing team, Ifbyphone can dial each team member in sequence or all at once.

Other exclusive features of Ifbyphone® for REALTORS® include:

• Forward calls to an individual agent or to an agent team
• Leave client- or listing-specific memos, then review from anywhere
• Qualify callers through voice response so the appropriate agent connects with the with the right person
• Manage “floor time” remotely and free agents from the office by using an “on call” application with smart forwarding capabilities
• Leverage lead measurement and reporting through Ifbyphone’s industry-leading SourceTrak™

The announcement of the new product comes four months after the National Association of REALTORS® invested in Ifbyphone through its strategic investment fund, Second Century Ventures. As part of the arrangement, the National Association of REALTORS® sought to collaborate with Ifbyphone® to develop solutions that enhance voice interactions for its 1.1 million members.

To learn more about Ifbyphone® for REALTORS®, visit the Ifbyphone® website or contact Ifbyphone® directly at (877) 295-5100.

What do you think? Is this a technology that you will use? I’d love your feedback, leave me a comment below!

Written by:  Katie Lance, Social Media Director, Inman News, @katielance

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Exactly 3 years ago yesterday, Seth Godin posted a blog post entitled: Advice for real estate agents (quit now!)

First of all I love Seth’s blog. I love his wisdom and take on technology, business and the world around us. So when I saw he specifically wrote an article for real estate agents, my ears perked up.

He begins by saying:

“You should quit selling real estate.

I’m serious.

Quit being an agent. Get a job doing something else.

Some of you have been waiting to hear that. My pleasure.”

Anyone who has ever worked in a real estate brokerage, knows that there are some people that just don’t belong in real estate.

We all know these agents:

• The part-timers
• The ones who thought they could “get rich quick”
• The ones who act like the stereotypical smarmy salesperson
• They got their license to sell a house to their mom/grandparents/kids/friends
• The ones who got into real estate to “try it out”
• The one who comes to the office to “work” all day and spend most of the day chit-chatting with everyone, having lunch, and updating their Facebook status.

Those people probably don’t belong in real estate and it boggles my mind why any broker/owner would keep them as part of the “team” – but that in and of itself is a whole other topic!

If you look inside the walls of any brokerage across America, you are probably going to find some of these agents. For those people, they should take Seth’s advice above.

But I know, the readers that read FOREM, are not those type of agents.

I am so proud of the caliber of agents and brokers that read FOREM and Inman News. The people that read our blog and our news, work harder and smarter than just about anyone in the industry.

You are the one who are up early working, squeezing in phone calls and emails to clients throughout the day, you understand the need for technology and embrace it, you multi-task on your iPhone, Droid or iPad, you make time for educational training events and networking, you have a social media plan in place, you care about details, you are extremely skilled in valuation, you “go to bat” for your clients every day, you know when to ask for help, you have a strategic marketing and branding plan, you spend your money wisely, you are genuine and understand that this is a people business, and you understand that money can’t buy everything.

In addition –  you are not whiners.

As Seth says,

“Whining is not an option.

In fact, I think this is an extraordinary opportunity for you.”

A few years ago when many agents started leaving the business, many of the successful agents cheered and said “FINALLY!” I know I did!

Three years have passed since Seth’s original blog post was published and a lot has changed in the industry, but many things have stayed the same.

How do you differentiate yourself?

Seth says two things:

Number 1:

“Become the expert in what you do. Which means micro-specialization. Who is the single-best agent for condos in your zip code? Or for single family homes for large families? Who is the one and the only best person to turn to if you’re looking for investment property in this part of town?

No, you can’t also do a little of this or a little of that. Best in your world means burning your other bridges and obsessing.”

I love that. Too many time we see agents try to be all things to all people. You see that everyday, right? The “Expert in Foreclosures, REO’s, Short-Sales, 1st Time Home Buyers, Investment Properties, Luxury Homes, and More!”

Many agents think by being an expert in everything they are widening their net of prospective clients. They couldn’t be further from the truth. Narrow your focus and be the expert in the one area that you really are passionate about. Become laser focused about that one area and stop trying to catch “all the fish in the sea.”

Think you have no time? Seth says,

“Of course you have that time available.  Invest that time in building up your expertise and becoming the person people who don’t even like you turn to for insight.”

Number 2:

“The second asset to build is permission. It turns out (according to the NAR) that 91% of all Realtors never contact the buyer or the seller of a home after the closing. Not once. Wow. Someone just spent a million dollars with you and you don’t bother to call or write?”

Read that again – now granted this was written 3 years ago, but still…. 91% – unbelievable!

“The opportunity …is to find, one by one, the people who would benefit from hearing from you and then earn the right to talk to them. Earn the right to send them a newsletter or a regular update or a subscription to your blog. NOT to talk about what matters to you, but to give them information (real information, not just data) that matters to them.

The opportunity, in other words, is to stop waiting around for the phone to ring and instead figure out how to do what you do best… connect buyers and sellers in a way that makes them both confident.”

I love that: “Stop waiting around for the phone to ring.”

The most successful agents are the ones that make something happen, that don’t just accept mediocraty because of “the market” or “the economy.” They push through – they make more calls, they door knock, they reconnect with their past clients and new prospects on Twitter and Facebook, they do whatever they need to do to get business. They understand the fundamental key in success – it isn’t luck – it’s hard work.

I always have said that – you may be smarter than me, but I will out work you any day of the week.

This has never been more true for real estate agents and brokers than it is now.

“Some of you will stick with the standard business card with the standard photo, the standard office and the standard ad strategy and the standard approach to making the phone ring. It’s going to be a long haul if that’s your route.

I’m betting, though, that the best of you will end up with a business model that will survive, thrive and prosper. Best time to start is right now.”

There is no better time than right now to shake it up, to do things you’ve never done before, to work harder and smarter, to narrow your focus and to achieve the success you deserve to achieve. Don’t let one more day, or one more negative market report get you down. Make this the year – YOUR best year ever!

I’d love your thoughts on this post. Agree or disagree? Please leave me your comments and feedback below. Thank you again to Seth Godin for his timeless advice!

Written by: Katie Lance, Senior Marketing Manager, Inman News @katielance

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In January 2010, the Center for REALTOR® Technology (CRT) extended an email survey invitation to 45,000 random REALTORS® who have provided NAR with an email address. Close to 1,500 responded to the survey. 93% of those indicated that they were 40 years old or younger use a smartphone to conduct real estate business. 86% of respondents older than 40 use a smartphone.

Here are the highlights of the survey:

Top 3 smartphone brands used by respondents:

• Blackberry (41.2%)
• iPhone family: iPhone 3G (14.1%) ; iPhone 3GS (11.9%)
• Palm (14.0%)

Top 3 reasons why respondents were motivated to choose current smartphone:

• Best device for email (45.9%)
• Ease of use (26.2%)
• Ability to use a keyboard (23.7%)

Top 5 features used most by respondents on their smartphones:

• Telephone (91.2%)
• Email (88.4%)
• SMS/texting (73.8%)
• Calendar (52.6%)
• Web browser (42.3%)

For general purposes, social media related apps were the most popular type of application downloaded by survey respondents (54.5%). This was followed by maps (43.3%) and weather applications (41.8%).

When it comes to MLS listing information:

• 57.3% indicate they have access to MLS listing information through their smartphone’s web browser.
• On a scale of 1-5, where 5 is extremely satisfied – respondents rated their overall satisfaction with the MLS listings available through their smartphone a 3.12.
• 10.7% do not have access to listings via a smartphone because their MLS does not allow it.
• Of this group, 94.4% are very interested in obtaining access via their smartphone.
• 11.4% are not interested in accessing MLS listings via their smartphone.

Out of all this data – the one that is the most disturbing to me, is the MLS info.

Only about HALF of smartphone users have access to MLS data on their phone? And 10% don’t have access because their MLS won’t allow it? REALLY?

It really boggles my mind that agents would not have full and complete access to this data from any internet connection – laptop, desktop or smartphone. I know many times the problem lies in that many MLS’s only work on Internet Explorer – which yes, is still the top web browser but unfortunately it also usually contains the most bugs. Many tech-savvy and smart agents are working from Firefox, Chrome or Opera – just to name a few. In addition many MLS’s are not compatible with Safari – the main browser on a Mac or iPhone. I hope NAR and the Center for REALTOR® technology will help move many MLS’s into the future!

This topic is sure to be a hot debate at Real Estate Connect during our MLS Track held in the afternoon on July 14th.

FOREM fans – what do you think of this survey? Would love your thoughts and opinions – please leave me your feedback below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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The Young Professionals Network is hosting their So Cal conference in Garden Grove tomorrow, Thursday, May 20th. Registration opens at 8 am and the conference begins at 9 am.

Location

Crowne Plaza Anaheim Resort
 | www.Anaheim.CrownePlaza.com

12021 Harbor Boulevard, 
Garden Grove,  CA | Phone: (714) 867-5555

According to their website, “The YPN Leadership Conference is to educate and develop future REALTOR® leaders and real estate industry professionals. This one-day conference will feature nationally acclaimed speakers focusing on different aspects of REALTOR® leadership, the current economic climate, cutting edge technology and social media.”

YPN, a division of NAR, is a growing group of young, career-minded real estate professionals who want to stay abreast of the latest tools, resources, and networking opportunities.

Inman News CEO Tim Smith, will moderating the technology panel at the event:

GET TECHY “Real Estate Technology: Past, Present & Future”

Panelists inlcude:

• Curt Beardsley, VP of Product Marketing, Move/REALTOR.com
• Art Carter, CEO, MRMLS/Director, California Real Estate Technologies Services
• Marty Frame, President, REALTORS® Property Resource, LLC
• Charis Moreno, Manager of Strategic Partnerships, Trulia.com Corporation

Follow the event on Facebook and Twitter!

So Cal agents – are you planning on attending? Please leave us a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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The Realtors Property Resouce (RPR) is likely the most important technology story of the last few years. And it will probably be the most closely watched story for the next couple of years too.

What is the the RPR? Brian Boero from 1000Watt Blog sums it up nicely.

The NAR has taken over certain technology assets of Cyberhomes from LPS (formerly known as FNRES) in order to bring its RPR (Realtors Property Resource) project, as well as its consumer-facing play, HouseLogic, to market. To do this, they have created Realtors Property Resource, LLC – a wholly owned subsidiary of the NAR.

This is huge. A national database of over 140 million property records – eventually enhanced by property status (on or off market) data from MLSes around the country. A suite of tools built to allow Realtors to access and share this data with their clients. Even a stab at knocking off those pesky computer-generated Zestimates with a new RVM or “Realtor Valuation Model”.

This is huge. Rob Hahn,  calls it a “Coming Civil War” and a shot across the bow at the local MLSes — and it’s certainly is a bold move.

But ultimately RPR is an attempt (last-ditch?) for NAR to stay relevant to its membership – since the savviest of them have long been questioning the need for a national association.

Consumers can find reams of property data on any number of real estate search sites these days. Brokers and agents have a number of low-cost tools at their disposal to build a rich and compelling online experience. And most importantly these two groups can now connect in much more meaningful ways through social media.

As Jim Duncan, writing on Agent Genius, succinctly put it; “NAR recognized the need to be competitive“.

But frankly, I will be happily surprised, if the NAR/RPR can out innovate the innovators. While they have assembled quite a team behind the project, I worry that a monolithic enterprise like this will ultimately be doomed by legislative paralysis.

For NAR/RPR to truly take a run displacing the current status quo – they need to adopt the mindset of their free-market competitors. Do something really disruptive. Here’s a few ideas:

1. “Powered by NAR” – Build an API that will let engineers across the country to piggyback off of this data mine and build a thousand variations of the HouseLogic interface. Ask only for reciprocal link and acknowledgment of the source.
2. Offer a challenge like the Netflix Prize – A $1 million prize for the team that can take the base RVM algorithm and improve it.
3. Go open source – take a subset of the Cyberhomes code and release it to the world under a GNU General Public License – let the developers go wild and help improve the experience for all.

RPR is an important first step for NAR to take – but I’d like to see them go even further.

It’s time for a really big leap to restore the faith.

Update: You can now watch the introductory webinar in its entirety.

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photo credit: bloomsberries

An old lawsuit over real estate search patents has resurfaced again.

Florida inventor Mark Tornetta and Real Estate Alliance LTD (REAL), who owns Tornetta’s patents (Nos. 4,480,576 and 5,032,989), have announced today they have moved in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to sue the industry’s largest trade association and several national brokerages, home builders and online real estate players.

Named in the suit were:

• The National Association of Realtors (NAR), with approximately 1.3 million real estate broker and agent members nationwide;
• Nationwide real estate brokerage firms, including RE/MAX and Keller Williams Realty;
• Home builders, such as Pulte Homes and Ryland Group;
• The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB);
• Enterprise computer software providers to the real estate industry, including Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions, First American Corporation, and others;
• MOVE, Inc., the company that operates flagship real estate websites such as Realtor.com, MOVE.com, HomeBuilder.com, RentNet.com, and SeniorHousingNet.com; and
• More than 25 other defendants representing nationwide classes of claimed infringers:  real estate brokers, agents, multiple listing services, new home builders, and rental property owners/managers.

The patents, which were applied for in 1986, were granted by the U.S. Government in 1989 and 1991 and cover online search methods. From their press release:

[The patents] cover user-friendly mapping methods “for locating available real estate properties for sale, lease or rental using a database of available properties at a central location and remote stations which use a graphic interface.”  The patents also cover certain online usage involving a “drilldown” feature, under which specific areas can be displayed in greater detail.

The suit is seeking compensatory as well as 3x damages.

This time around, REAL has retained the law firm Proskauer Rose LLP to lead the litigation. Proskauer has a well known track record of successfully litigating cases around intellectual property – most recently leading class action efforts against YouTube and Google (YouTubeClassAction.com).

Back story. In 1998, the same group sued Microsoft over their HomeAdvisor site and in 2005 they sued a Pennsylvania real estate agent over their listings search method.

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Kicking off a busy week at the National Association of Realtors conference in Las Vegas, here’s my interview with Dale Stinton, CEO of NAR.

I’ll be attending the BloggerCon get-together tomorrow night at the Venetian, so I look forward to seeing many of you there. Big thanks to Daniel Rothamel at the RealEstateZebra for organizing it.

I’ll also be hanging out at the Incredible Agent booth for the Meet the Bloggers event on Wednesday. I’ll be there at 2 to 3pm, so make sure you swing by and say hello.

Finally, I expect posting to be light on FOREM due to a pretty hectic schedule, but you will be able to follow my Twitters at the NAR Updates blog.

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I’m not a big fan of NAR’s recent advertising campaign (Buy a House, Or The Dog Gets It). Not because I have a problem with what they are trying to say – rather how they’re saying it.

I think it’s uninspired, creatively boring and woefully out of touch.

$41 million for a drab, dreary black and white campaign that only reinforced people’s perceptions that NAR is just a shill for the real estate industry.

In my opinion, they had a real opportunity here to reach out to consumers who are overwhelmed, worried and confused by changing market conditions. Instead, they missed the boat and coughed up the same old regurgitated party lines.

In any case, more from the Orange County Register, who has an interview with the advertising agency responsible for the campaign:

John Most proved time and again that he can cut the mustard when it comes to national advertising. After all, the former New York ad exec once worked on the famed “Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?” campaign…

So would the Realtor group call on Most again for its latest $41 million “Buy Now” blitz? The answer could have come straight from one of those Grey Poupon commercials: But of course.

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With NARdi Gras kicking off tomorrow, NAR has gone all out to support Bloggers this year in New Orleans. So far they seem to have responded.

Dustin Luther, Rain City Guide Godfather has unveiled a new blog over at Move.com where he’ll be liveblogging NARdi Gras.

Paul Chaney from Blogging Systems is liveblogging as well. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on both of these blogs over the coming days.

As we did for the earlier Inman Connect SF conference, I’d suggest any of the bloggers attending the event tag their posts on Technorati with the tag nardigras so we can begin to aggregate coverage of the event for all of us non-attendees. Similarly, I’d suggest any companies making announcements down in New Orleans also tag their announcements with this same tag as well.

Paul has also started uploading some photos from the conference to flickr and has tagged them with the tag nardigras (RSS). It would be great if others did likewise.

Finally, I’ve put together a FeedRaider Aggregator page that pulls all of these feeds together and presents them on a single page for you to digest. As with all FeedRaider sites, you can keep on top of the developments either as a single deck or as a chronological river of news.

NAR really should have done something this themselves – but I guess there’s always next year. While they’ve made great strides accommodating bloggers on site this year, they should be just as accommodating to those of us following developments from afar.

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