The agreement between real estate agent and client calls for a hefty dose of trust that the professional in the room has his or her responsibilities covered.
“If you were able to look at any of the National Association of Realtors surveys over the past 30 to 35 years, the No. 1 complaint of consumers with agents is that ‘I don’t know what my agent is doing, I haven’t heard from them, or I don’t know where they are — they seem to be lost in action,’ ” says Quigler founder David Michonski.
Michonski says this issue is what lead him to create Quigler 1.0, a new app released today, which creates a checklist of every task an agent must complete to usher through a successful deal, and notifies consumers as progress ensues.
The product takes a granular approach with the goal of eliminating client blind spots — meaning there are 14 steps (68 actions) for sellers, and 9 steps (57 actions) for buyers, based on industry best practices, regulations and The National Association of Realtors’ Code of Ethics.
Michonski’s right-hand woman, Barbara Fairfield, who compiled the list of steps and actions, says the list reminds agents and Realtors what they should be doing and provides consumers with a baseline for the quality of service they should be receiving.
“At the least, this should be a minimum standard of service,” says Fairfield. “If you’re not performing on this level, you should be concerned and the consumer should be concerned.”
Michonski says there are other things, such as experience, wisdom, judgment and prudence, that an agent can be judged on and that makes a difference in the overall experience.
“There’s still plenty of realm for agents who have those qualities to shine,” he says. “But we’re trying to make sure that everybody who deals with a consumer is meeting the minimum quality standards set forth by the industry.”
The status of the items can be changed in real time, and the system aims to replace time-consuming agent “update letters” — which traditionally are used for marketing, progress and price adjustments — that keep clients in-the-know about the biggest purchase of their life, but perhaps not at the speed they would like.
One of the app’s main purposes is to foster heightened levels of communication and increased transparency. In addition, Quigler 1.0 will act as a review service by assigning agents a letter grade based on how many actions within a step are completed.
Michonski realizes that agents may be uncomfortable — or even fearful — of receiving grades from buyers and sellers.
“We are a consumer app, period,” he says. “We will always be on the side of the consumer.”
But he hopes this real-time feedback will encourage agents to raise the bar on their service, and help clients better understand and appreciate the service that great agents give.
For now, the Quigler 1.0 is available free for consumers on iOS. Quigler will later launch an Android version as well as a website connected to the app.
The regular yearly price for agents to participate is $599; however, Quigler wants to get the ball rolling in 1,100 U.S. markets.
So, the company is offering a 50 percent discount with a special subscription called “Early Adopter Founding Agent.”
To partake, agents must complete an 80-item Ethical Checklist on industry best practices and receive their first grade before their name will show up in the app’s search functionality.
