The approach that’s made MoxiWorks a star
What was born and bred within a forward-thinking brokerage now stands as one of the most well-entrenched technology players in the residential real estate industry. Since its launch as an independent entity in 2012, MoxiWorks has gone from serving its parent, Windermere Real Estate, and its 6,000 agents, to providing its open-platform, Cloud-based system, which allows data to be shared among tools from any vendor, to more than 60 brokerages and 110,000 agents across the country. And along the way, MoxiWorks has been joined by more than 40 platform partners.
While such growth could not have been accomplished without state-of-the-art technology, CEO York Baur believes the real key to MoxiWorks’ success has been its laser focus on broker needs, from its inception at Windermere and every day thereafter.
“We are of brokers, by brokers and for brokers,” says Baur. “Our belief is that brokerage is the sun of the solar system, so we listen very carefully to what our brokers ask of us.”
MoxiWorks Vice President of Business Development and Product Evangelism Georgia Perez echoes that sentiment. “What makes us different is that even though we are deeply technological people, we also have real estate DNA. We know the problems we are trying to solve.” And she means this literally. While Perez has 25 years’ experience in technology, she also has 10 years’ experience as a REALTOR®.
According to Baur, broker input and feedback steers the ship at MoxiWorks. “I would argue that we have some of the best technology anywhere in the tech world. But what’s different about us is our focus outside the building. Customers give us feedback on prototypes before we ever write a line of code. That’s different from what most software companies do.”
The Product Plan
According to Perez, a product isn’t developed unless it can do one of three things: help a broker with recruiting, retention or agent production.
“We’ve seen the pain points of the broker, and we’re focused on consistently solving their pain and helping them be more profitable,” she says.
With that goal in mind, MoxiWorks has put forth an impressive lineup of solutions-oriented products for brokers and their agents. From the classic fan-favorite CMA and marketing presentation software Moxi Present, to the recently introduced all-in-one recruiting and retention system Moxi Talent, the drive to make life easier for brokers and agents—and thereby more profitable—is ongoing.
“We are an agile development shop,” explains Perez. “We listen closely to our customer base and connect them to each other; then we talk about what we want to develop. We are a very quick-moving and evolving company.”
While MoxiWorks’ homegrown products have been instrumental to its success, so has its model of inclusion. As Perez explains, “We are a completely open platform. If a broker has a relationship with other vendors, we’ll make it work. We don’t demand you work only with our product.”
Baur also points to the level of service customers receive after signing on with MoxiWorks as a key differentiator among technology firms. “When you wrap up the development of our product with the great user experience and post-sale service, you get a delighted customer.”
Next-Level Partnerships
So delighted have customers been with MoxiWorks, in fact, that many have become partners on a higher level, playing an instrumental role in fast-tracking the company to success.
Earlier this year, for example, Baur worked with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® President and CEO Paul Boomsma to develop Boomsma’s technology vision for the global network of more than 560 independent real estate firms: the LeadingRE Cloud.
According to Baur, “This is an important strategy Paul is unfolding because for a long time, the independent real estate firm has struggled with technology. They lament about the amount of energy it takes trying to decide what type of product to use and the pain involved in changing. Paul saw the opportunity to solve this problem, and it shows his investment in constantly making the network better.”
Powered by the Moxi Cloud, the LeadingRE Cloud will provide members with plug-and-play tools, as well as control over property and consumer data. “You as a brokerage can mix your own unique technology cocktail that fits your value proposition,” explains Baur.
While LeadingRE made the investment in MoxiWorks’ cloud platform, other brokerage firms saw the opportunity to invest in the company as a whole. While this began with Windermere, followed by Long and Foster Real Estate in 2015, in January of this year, Hanna Holdings, parent of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, also came on board as an investor, further strengthening MoxiWorks’ current and future positioning in the residential real estate space.
While brokerage investors such as Hanna “like having a seat at the table” when it comes to the inside track on product development, the benefit works both ways, says Baur. “We have a built-in focus group of some of the most powerful brokerages in the country, and that’s a huge asset we use to every advantage,” he says.
What’s more, MoxiWorks’ brokerage investors provide a critical layer of accountability for all of the firm’s broker clients, big and small. “You’re not dealing with some cigar-chomping venture capitalist,” says Baur. “You’re dealing with like-minded companies. Our brokerage board affords us the ability to think longer term than many financially driven companies would be allowed to. We have a much longer sight horizon than next month or next year.”
And staying focused on broker needs is what will bring MoxiWorks continued success, Baur believes.
“Keep your eye on the ball, and the scoreboard will take care of itself.”
Easing Pain, Boosting Profits
At MoxiWorks, all products must pass a litmus test before proceeding into development: they must help make brokers more profitable. Here are just a few from the starting lineup:
Moxi Talent – Solving the ongoing recruiting and retention challenge, Moxi Talent was launched in June 2018. “Most brokers wake up every day worrying about disruptors and wolves at the door,” says Baur. “We recognized that brokers need to be great at the recruiting process.” Moxi Talent shows the geographic holes that need to be filled and then identifies recruits. The program also gives managers a dashboard to track existing agents, identify weak spots and have meaningful conversations.
Moxi Marketing – This suite of tools includes components like Moxi Insights, Moxi Publish and Facebook Ads.
Moxi Publish lets brokers market as they see fit. “The majority of brokers have very specific demands around their branding,” says Perez. “They want materials to represent the brokerage’s brand and the agent’s brand better, so we gave them an area where they can craft and curate any kind of content and craft any campaign.”
Moxi Insights provides predictive analytics by augmenting an agent’s database with public record information. This gives agents a better idea of who is more likely to list, and also provides demographic and lifestyle information to help them forge deeper relationships. “Predictive analytics provides science and raw material to help agents practice the art of relationships,” says Baur.
Concierge – Concierge services help agents with tasks like database management. “An agent’s most valuable asset is their database,” says Baur, “yet they aren’t curating it. We will consolidate, organize, clean and upload their databases for them into Google, Microsoft, Moxi or partner tools.” Concierge services will also help agents tune-up their websites and differentiate them with content. “We want to help agents run a business like a business, and these are the types of things they should outsource.”
For more information, please visit www.moxiworks.com.
Maria Patterson is RISMedia’s executive editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at maria@rismedia.com. For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.
