With a new partnership and national launch, mobile real estate CRM and client matcher Agentdesks has the opportunity to multiply its current 11,000 users fourfold, giving top-producing Realtors exposure to a tech-driven deal facilitator.
The additional signups could come from to the 32,000 members who make up the Council of Residential Specialists, the National Association of Realtors‘ largest nonprofit affiliate, which is now providing the professional version of the tool free to its network across the country, available to CRS Designees by the end of February.
The partnership also includes a technology revamp of the Find-A-CRS agent-to-agent online referral directory, now powered by Agentdesks with new features and functionality.
What can Agentdesks do?
Launched in 2015, Agentdesks began as an app for Android and iOS and now also hosts a mobile-optimized website. Prior to the nationwide launch, the platform served growing markets in Los Angeles, New York City, Orange County and Miami.
The basic version of Agentdesks is free to all users and includes the ability to join or create agent networking groups; post new listings and buyer needs; get matched with other agents’ clients; direct message other agents/clients within the app; manage clients and contacts; source leads from Zillow, Trulia IDX Broker and Realtor.com; and sync with Gmail.
The professional level, which costs $15 per month to the average (non-CRS) user, includes the basic features plus “analytics and advanced CRM tools” including a Performance dashboard (which shows conversions from prospect to lead to client, insight on which lead sources to focus on, and a snapshot of sales and commissions); deal analytics; notifications for top prospects left unattended; and daily agenda emails.
Agentdesk users can harbor their data on contacts, clients and properties; connect with other agents and their clients; and facilitate deals. Currently, the platform integrates with data feeds from CRMLS (California Regional Multiple Listing Service) and ListHub, and all listings from these two sources are automatically pulled in.
According to Agentdesks founder and COO Sanya Gurnani, listings that are not captured through these sources can be inputted by agents themselves, and these tend to be off market, coming soon listings (in markets where that is allowed).
“We are working on getting other MLS partnerships to increase coverage,” Gurnani told Inman.
Matches made in heaven
The platform also plays matchmaker among agents and their clients on both a local and national basis based on location, price, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms and type of home desired.
For example, the system might notify an agent with a buyer client looking for a $2 million single family with four beds in SoCal of a match in the O.C. — a listing agent whose client’s home might be of interest. The notification would also include a rating of how well the clients match presented as a percentage.
In addition to the professional plan, which was launched out of beta two weeks ago with approximately 200 agent user upgrades so far, Agentdesks offers a team plan and will launch a premium plan in the future. CRS members receive a 25 percent discount on the team and premium plans.
Why CRS?
When asked why CRS, which recognizes Realtors who complete advanced training and demonstrate exceptional professional achievement with a CRS designation, was the right fit for Agentdesks, Gurnani told Inman that there were a few reasons.
The first is the opportunity to increase Agentdesks’ user base nationally with top agents in each market (CRS agents have stringent sales volume and education requirements).
Moreover, working with CRS’s existing regional chapters allows Agentdesks to conveniently access that user base rather than building these groups from the ground up.
Finally, CRS’s existing referral network is considered one of the best in the business, Gurnani said. “They like working with each other because of similar qualifications and motivations,” she added.
CRS is not compensating Agentdesks financially.
Referral system
With Agentdesks powering Find-A-CRS, enhancements to the directory include public profiles with active listings, referral initiation and management capabilities to track referrals among CRS Designees.
“The referral network [Find-A-CRS] needed a technology boost,” Gurnani said. The update means that all CRS members will automatically use Agentdesks for referrals and as their sole way of accessing the directory on mobile.
“For some more context, earlier Designees would search through a website, make a lot of phone calls, send emails to find the right fit and then offline send a referral agreement,” Gurnani added. “Our system streamlines that process and allows them to do all of that on one system. It also provides CRS leadership an opportunity to track the number of referrals and deals being closed within the association.”
Agentdesks will pre-populate a referral agreement (via a DocuSign integration) and CRS members will receive a notification when the deal closes. (Users decide their own referral fee, and Agentdesks provides a section where they can enter that information.)
Who else can join?
Any agent can become an Agentdesks user, but at this time they’ll get more out of it (especially the connections and networking) in the areas where the platform has a stronger user base, with more listings and buyer requirements being exchanged.
Agentdesks is also open to partnering with other regional and national associations.
For CRS, the partnership offered both a technology and communication edge.
“Our collaboration with Agentdesks brings a sophisticated system to help our CRS members strategically engage with other designees and clients and share relevant information,” said Lana Vukovljak, CRS chief executive officer. “This new benefit will help enhance customer and referral relationships across any device or channel.”
