Customer Satisfaction and Business Success Are a Mouse-Click Away with RELAY

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Commentary by Bob Goldberg

RISMEDIA, December 22, 2006-There aren't many outward signs that Oroville, California-based RE/MAX Altima Realty is different from any other midsized, small-town real estate office. "We don't have a transaction coordinator. In fact, we don't even have a secretary," Broker/Owner Julie Miller chuckles. "If you want to make a copy, you have to do it yourself."

Nevertheless, Miller and her team have proved you don't have to be in the Silicon Valley to pioneer new technologies and business processes. RE/MAX Altima Realty was the first real estate brokerage in the country to implement the RELAY^TM transaction management system, a Web-based suite of easy-to-use tools designed to help real estate professionals grow their business by streamlining the processes and paperwork required to successfully complete a real estate transaction. The RELAY program was developed in partnership with NAR and ZipForm®, the official forms software of NAR.

"With RELAY, I can complete an entire transaction without faxing a single document," says Miller. That's because the system allows her to send documents to a client for review, signature, or further action via e-mail or direct access to the RELAY site.
"Realtors who try this are just going to be blown away because it makes their jobs so much easier and helps them gain rapport with their clients," Miller exclaims. "It's an unbelievable tool."

Miller's experience has been so positive that the Oroville Association of Realtors recently voted to implement this Internet transaction tool across its entire membership, bringing its benefits to every broker/ owner, agent and the home-buying and selling public.

RELAY Makes Transaction Management a Breeze
For the agents at RE/MAX Altima Realty, RELAY means no more unnecessary and (with higher gas prices) expensive trips back to the office to drop off a file for Miller's review. Instead, agents can submit forms electronically, allowing them to spend more time in the field meeting the needs of clients. For Miller, it means greater control over transaction file review. Most importantly, its digital file storage system eliminates the need for bulky filing cabinets and warehouses full of Banker's Boxes. The days of lost or misplaced files are gone.

"It used to be that if a client walked in the door a year-and-a-half after the transaction closed and asked for a copy of an inspection report, my agents had to get the key to the storage unit and go through box after box of files until they found the right one," says Miller. "That could take a couple of days, assuming they could find it at all. Now, all they have to do is pull it up on the computer and print it out."

Even better, with RELAY, agents can present their clients with a CD-ROM containing a full set of documents at the end of the transaction.

What's more, RELAY allows real estate professionals to gauge client satisfaction throughout the transaction. "It's a great tool for agents, because they get immediate feedback and can act to fix things fast if there is a problem," says Miller. "It's a great client satisfaction and retention tool.

"I didn't think it would be that big of a deal for clients, but they were nuts over it," she adds, "They specifically commented that they felt more in control of the transaction because they knew what was going on at all times-which is exactly what consumers have been saying they want from their Realtor."

For more information on the RELAY^TM Transaction Management System, visit http://www.rebt.com.

Bob Goldberg is senior vice president, Marketing & Business Development, National Association of Realtors®.

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