Skip the fluff
A few weeks ago I wrote a post called “Whats a lead?” that was meant to grab agents by scruff to wake them up to the idea that they are buying crap rolled up in a tortilla. The idea that we as a profession can continue to purchase pie in the sky products that promise everything and deliver nothing must cease- at once. Why? because we as agents are the standard in the industry, we establish what is and isn’t good for our consumer, the products we deliver to our consumer is a direct reflection on us, our business, and our standards.
Agent Genius Seal of Approval
It is in this vein that Agent Genius will begin approving products with our Seal of Approval. So far Real Estate Shows has made that list and now we want to introduce you to dsSearchAgent. Diverse Solutions presents to agents a web2.0 search product that not only thrills home seekers, it delivers home buyers from the comfort of their home to your office.
The Consumer Side
- Simple to use slider’s allow users to target their search easily
- Ajax means your home seekers never wait for page reloads
- Advanced search means your consumer can narrow down to specifics
- Details page provides
- Printing, PDF, Direct Linking, RSS feed of their search & chat live feature
- Offers an area and neighborhood profile information
- Schools, neighborhood info, nearest shopping feature
- Valuate the home on Zillow.com (optional)
- Calculate their payments
- View map or results with a single click
- Contact you directly from the same screen
- A search box for “find nearest pizza, library, school, directions & more
- Did I mention with Ajax, the page never changes? Superb
- And yes, Google Street View is integrated already!
The simple navigation limits the complexed nature of map searching and makes home shopping fun, leaving your buyer excited to click the contact or speak to an agent button to talk to you about listings in your market.
Building Opportunities
Everyone is hawking leads these days, but I say, build opportunities with buyers and sellers by offering fantastic products to your consumers. We spend wild amounts of cash on our websites but search and presentation of current listings has always fallen short- but not anymore.
The Agent Side
(opportunity’s clicking)
- Well laid out control panel
- Downloadable chat client allows you or 4 other agents to chat in round robin with seekers
- When seekers contact you, the listing in question is embedded for quick information delivery
- Create forms that you can use with form builder- CMAs, Contact forms and more
- Completely change the color of search site to match your current site
- Build your own brand by using modules (widgets) to broadcast
- Create individual modules to highlight various neighborhoods
- Create RSS feeds to your blog sidebar of just listing properties
- Create modules to embed in your neighborhood blogs
- Create modules of your office listings
- this option is just limitless and fantastic- a custom clickable module embedded anywhere
- Stats – know where your shoppers searched
- Create reasons for them to return by encouraging registration
- Help is built in (Ajax) for your consumers so you don’t have to be tech savvy
- Email Campaign from the backend – completely customizable and simple to use
- and there’s a lot more…
The Cons I found
Before I get into the cons, let me just say that I’ve been working with Robert Luna Director of Business Development for Diverse Solutions and I warned him a list of cons would be coming. Believe it or not Robert welcomed the input with open arms and delivered my questions to CEO, Justin LaJoie where I had answers in a matter of just a few hours. What that tells me is that Diverse Solutions is growing, and they’re eager to make their product even better. Often in this business most of what we see is a great product created and then forgotten. Rarely updated, these products become antiquated and left behind by technology. This makes dsSearchAgent a fantastic investment for any broker or agent.
What’s up with the cons?
Q: iphone and Palm is not yet compatible with dsSearchAgent
A: I know our developers are chomping at the bit to be able to work on a version that would work with the iPhone. So keep an eye out. JavaScript and AJAX are at the core of dsSearchAgent and is how we deliver such a nice seamless quick experience.
Q: The Diverse Solutions logo seems intrusive and competes with Agent branding
A: I can definitely agree with that. No one has really said anything. I think it was initially done for page balance. But there is no reason why we can’t back it much smaller.
Q: More control of where module (widget) clickers are delivered
A: We can’t agree with you more. It is actually already on our development list and will be in our next round of improvements. The development schedule has not been set for this yet though.
Q: I’ve seen MLS updates get as far behind as 3.5 days. I think all services have this problem, but what can be done to minimize the delay?
A: Thank you for the heads up on this. 3.5 days behind is way too long between updates. I checked with one of our developers and it seems it is a problem with ABOR and how and what they are delivering as far as data. We are in contact with them now to resolve this problem. Once the data becomes available it is downloaded and processed between 1 to 6 hours usually.
Customer Service
dsSearchAgent comes complete with a fantastic customer service team designed to assist you in setting up your IDX all the way to creating custom sites. All services offer support and a great team to answer all of your questions, and take suggestions all designed to deliver a fantastic search product to your potential clients. So check out what the cool kids are offering your customers- dsSearchAgent!
Not all areas are covered yet
As of today not all MLS IDX systems are covered, but your demand creates that coverage. So check today to see if your city is available and if not, ask to be informed of when the service will be offered.
Get an Agent Genius Discount!
For a limited time Diverse Solutions is offering to waive setup fees on dsSearchAgent for our readers through May! This saves you $200.00! All you have to do is give this promo code when signing up [AG6108].
Jay Thompson
April 30, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I recently began using dsSearchAgent in Phoenix. I love it, and more importantly, so do the clients I’ve heard from. The “modules” they provide allow a lot of flexibility — embedding interactive search in blog posts/web pages, “featured listing modules”, etc.
Very responsive to customer requests. Easy to work with.
I’m working on a “blog site” right now to utilize some of the tools DS offers. It’s here (much work still to be done.)
Two thumbs up!
Daniel Rothamel, The Real Estate Zebra
April 30, 2008 at 1:27 pm
This is great stuff, Benn. I am most certainly going to check out ds Search Agent. It looks very promising. . .
Aria Schoenfelt, Austin Real Estate
April 30, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Thanks for the post, Benn!
I have also been eying RealBird’s map-based IDX because at $19/mo it sounds like a great deal, but there is still no coverage for Austin. I was disappointed when I asked for an ETA and received a quick, canned answer telling me what I already knew… that there was currently no Austin coverage and that I should request it on their site.
Set-up fees are what deter me from IDX offerings so I just may have to take Diverse Solutions up on their offer. Thanks a ton for working that out!
Kris Berg
April 30, 2008 at 4:11 pm
I’ve been using the platform for a couple of months now, and it utterly rocks. My only issue is with the chat feature, which still doesn’t quite work. Through sms, the delay is too long, rendering it virtually useless. If they can implement a desktop chat which works with your IM of choice ala plugoo.com, then I am a happy, happy girl.
Jonathan Dalton
April 30, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I received my first client feedback yesterday from someone who was using the old list of homes that I had through Killer IDX. He and his wife loved the interactive platform.
It’s a tremendous step up in technology from what was available here. I’ve made a couple of small suggestions to Robert, and I’m still hoping for more control of the modules akin to what’s available for the search pages but I’m confident that will come in time.
Benn Rosales
April 30, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Thanks everyone, and Aria, go dsSearchAgent, you’ll really love the functionality and so will our Austin home finders!
@Kris, from the CEO Diverse Solutions on the issue of chat:
So let’s cross our fingers!
Mariana
May 4, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Can I get txt when a new visitor signs up?
How would this compare to 1ParkPlace?
Jay Thompson
May 4, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Mariana – I get emails when new visitors sign in, but no text… comes to the Crackberry though, same difference..
Benn Rosales
May 5, 2008 at 7:17 am
Mariana, I tried to review 1parkplace but their site was down, I’ll have a peek later and let you know. I get mail notifications, setup correctly phone notifications are a snap.
Mariana
May 5, 2008 at 11:31 am
Thanks Guys!
Benn – Visit my site and select “Search For Homes” and play around that end a bit … If you register I promise we wont call you. 😉
Another question: Am I able to set people up on “listing drips” or do they have to do it on their own?
Doug Francis
May 3, 2009 at 11:16 am
When I started researching IDX sites a few months ago, it made me realize that my MLS (known as MRIS in Virginia) was selling me a 1999 product. Needless to say that I was a p.o.’ed!
Then they reintroduced homesdatabase.com free to consumers which made the site they sold me look even worse.
Agents need to know their options but most, especially top-producers with myself included, are asleep at the wheel paying for old technology that home buyers aren’t even using. My wake up call came when my clients kept meeting me talking about their web search using another agent’s IDX site.
As I have said before, use the technology is a compliment to your sales skills.
Atlanta Real Estate
September 3, 2009 at 11:43 pm
This is a very cool post. Sorry about being so late to the party.
Can anyone still using it comment on how it’s been since April/May.
I’m going to cehck it out. Here in Atlana, pne of the defacto IDX providers is ListingWare.
I’m not gonna trash em but the UI leaves a lot to be desired.
Thanks, RM