Comments on: What ever happened to Transaction Management? http://1000wattconsulting.com/blog/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html Turn On Tue, 22 May 2012 18:38:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Joe Kazzoun http://1000wattconsulting.com/blog/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html/comment-page-1#comment-6784 Joe Kazzoun Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:43:02 +0000 http://wp.1000wattconsulting.com/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html#comment-6784 <p>People are using are using TM, it's just that they are not using all all parts of it. Look at the items 1,2,3,4 on Mark Eibner's list. We supply all of those in one application. We have over 380,000 people licenced on one or all of those pieces. Forms, document managment, internet faxing are all being very heavily used. Way, way more than the 10% mentioned. What they are not using as much is the task management. And, guess what? Most people are not rigorous about using offline checklists either.</p><br><p>BTW, you forgot to mention our TransactionDesk. We now have over 230,000 licenced users - more than any other TM platform I know of. And, I'd say well over 50% use at least a couple of modules. Why? Because forms and other key components are built-in. Ease of access equals fewer barriers and better workflow resulting in better adoption.</p><br><p>Thanks,</p><br><p>Joe</p> People are using are using TM, it's just that they are not using all all parts of it. Look at the items 1,2,3,4 on Mark Eibner's list. We supply all of those in one application. We have over 380,000 people licenced on one or all of those pieces. Forms, document managment, internet faxing are all being very heavily used. Way, way more than the 10% mentioned. What they are not using as much is the task management. And, guess what? Most people are not rigorous about using offline checklists either.

BTW, you forgot to mention our TransactionDesk. We now have over 230,000 licenced users – more than any other TM platform I know of. And, I'd say well over 50% use at least a couple of modules. Why? Because forms and other key components are built-in. Ease of access equals fewer barriers and better workflow resulting in better adoption.

Thanks,

Joe

]]> By: Brian Boero http://1000wattconsulting.com/blog/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html/comment-page-1#comment-2856 Brian Boero Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:08:43 +0000 http://wp.1000wattconsulting.com/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html#comment-2856 <p>Congrats, Joe. I like the walk, then run approach. Much better than the kitchen sink approach to application development we've seen often in this space.</p> <p>Brian</p> Congrats, Joe. I like the walk, then run approach. Much better than the kitchen sink approach to application development we've seen often in this space.

Brian

]]> By: Joe Kazzoun http://1000wattconsulting.com/blog/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html/comment-page-1#comment-2855 Joe Kazzoun Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:21:28 +0000 http://wp.1000wattconsulting.com/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html#comment-2855 <p>Brian,</p> <p>Most of our licensed users are through enterprise agreements, but that does not mean they don't use it. We have clients with some very high usage numbers. In Florida, where we have an enterprise agreement that covers all the REALTORS® in the state, we've had over 75% of the members use the service and many use it on an on-going basis. And, we're seeing usage continue to increase around the country, despite market slow-downs in many places. Like I said, not all are using all features of TransactionDesk; however certain areas are getting heavily used. We have one brokerage with about 850 sales associates that started with us in January. They will have loaded over 300,000 pages into the system, just via the fax to PDF function, by the end of this month. That's a great example of going paperless!</p> <p>Again, the majority may not be tracking every task on the system, but they are definitely using certain features heavily – document management is probably the top ‘module' we see being adopted amongst our clientele.</p> <p>What most (but, not all) of our new clients are doing today is buying InstanetForms and DocBox (online forms and contracts coupled with our document management and internet fax service) as a member/sales association benefit and then letting individuals and brokerages upgrade to full TransactionDesk on their own. We see that as people adopt the forms and doc management, they then are more ready to take the next step to full TM. We call it the crawl, walk, run approach. It seems to work better than trying to get people to adopt all modules of a TM system on day one.</p> <p>Thanks,</p> <p>Joe</p> Brian,

Most of our licensed users are through enterprise agreements, but that does not mean they don't use it. We have clients with some very high usage numbers. In Florida, where we have an enterprise agreement that covers all the REALTORS® in the state, we've had over 75% of the members use the service and many use it on an on-going basis. And, we're seeing usage continue to increase around the country, despite market slow-downs in many places. Like I said, not all are using all features of TransactionDesk; however certain areas are getting heavily used. We have one brokerage with about 850 sales associates that started with us in January. They will have loaded over 300,000 pages into the system, just via the fax to PDF function, by the end of this month. That's a great example of going paperless!

Again, the majority may not be tracking every task on the system, but they are definitely using certain features heavily – document management is probably the top ‘module’ we see being adopted amongst our clientele.

What most (but, not all) of our new clients are doing today is buying InstanetForms and DocBox (online forms and contracts coupled with our document management and internet fax service) as a member/sales association benefit and then letting individuals and brokerages upgrade to full TransactionDesk on their own. We see that as people adopt the forms and doc management, they then are more ready to take the next step to full TM. We call it the crawl, walk, run approach. It seems to work better than trying to get people to adopt all modules of a TM system on day one.

Thanks,

Joe

]]> By: AndrewK http://1000wattconsulting.com/blog/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html/comment-page-1#comment-2854 AndrewK Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:20:00 +0000 http://wp.1000wattconsulting.com/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html#comment-2854 <p>Great post. I am all about the paperless transaction. At this moment I have a pile of meaningless paper on my desk that I wish would magically vanish instead of littering a landfill. One of the title companies here uses SureClose. They have gotten 80% of my business because of that. The only reason I use any other company is if another Realtor INSISTS on it. Thanks for posting and keep it comin'!</p> Great post. I am all about the paperless transaction. At this moment I have a pile of meaningless paper on my desk that I wish would magically vanish instead of littering a landfill. One of the title companies here uses SureClose. They have gotten 80% of my business because of that. The only reason I use any other company is if another Realtor INSISTS on it. Thanks for posting and keep it comin'!

]]> By: Brian Boero http://1000wattconsulting.com/blog/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html/comment-page-1#comment-2853 Brian Boero Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:39:52 +0000 http://wp.1000wattconsulting.com/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html#comment-2853 <p>Joe, thanks for the remarks. I should have mentioned Instanet. How many of the licensed users are actually paying you directly versus falling under blanket deals through associations? That's where I've seen numbers get a little out of wack. </p> <p>Brian</p> Joe, thanks for the remarks. I should have mentioned Instanet. How many of the licensed users are actually paying you directly versus falling under blanket deals through associations? That's where I've seen numbers get a little out of wack.

Brian

]]> By: Joe Kazzoun http://1000wattconsulting.com/blog/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html/comment-page-1#comment-2852 Joe Kazzoun Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:27:42 +0000 http://wp.1000wattconsulting.com/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html#comment-2852 <p>People are using are using TM, it's just that they are not using all all parts of it. Look at the items 1,2,3,4 on Mark Eibner's list. We supply all of those in one application. We have over 380,000 people licenced on one or all of those pieces. Forms, document managment, internet faxing are all being very heavily used. Way, way more than the 10% mentioned. What they are not using as much is the task management. And, guess what? Most people are not rigorous about using offline checklists either.</p> <p>BTW, you forgot to mention our TransactionDesk. We now have over 230,000 licenced users - more than any other TM platform I know of. And, I'd say well over 50% use at least a couple of modules. Why? Because forms and other key components are built-in. Ease of access equals fewer barriers and better workflow resulting in better adoption.</p> <p>Thanks,</p> <p>Joe</p> People are using are using TM, it's just that they are not using all all parts of it. Look at the items 1,2,3,4 on Mark Eibner's list. We supply all of those in one application. We have over 380,000 people licenced on one or all of those pieces. Forms, document managment, internet faxing are all being very heavily used. Way, way more than the 10% mentioned. What they are not using as much is the task management. And, guess what? Most people are not rigorous about using offline checklists either.

BTW, you forgot to mention our TransactionDesk. We now have over 230,000 licenced users – more than any other TM platform I know of. And, I'd say well over 50% use at least a couple of modules. Why? Because forms and other key components are built-in. Ease of access equals fewer barriers and better workflow resulting in better adoption.

Thanks,

Joe

]]> By: Mark Eibner http://1000wattconsulting.com/blog/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html/comment-page-1#comment-2851 Mark Eibner Sun, 13 Apr 2008 06:28:53 +0000 http://wp.1000wattconsulting.com/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html#comment-2851 <p>Hey Brian- here's what happened...another first in, missed the boat. There is a product, maybe 2 years in operation that is the BEST THERE IS in this world. Why, because it is not another piece of the puzzle...it is the whole puzzle with all the pieces. the other solutions you are listing are cheap and fine and all...but unless they are based around digital signatures-contrasts-CRM and don't cost millions...they are just more peices to a complex..."how many pieces of software do we need" problem. If you want peole to use transaction management of ANY KIND. Then the brokers have to have the coolest, easiest and BEST contract software in the world. The best in the world, period! </p> <p>1. Contracts and Forms<br /> 2. 100% digital signatures<br /> 3. Transaction Management<br /> 3. CRM<br /> 4. Document Storage<br /> 5. Back office management<br /> etc,etc,etc...</p> <p>It works because it is based on digital signatures and is tied into the hole "life Cycle" of the transaction....which maybe months before and months after. CTM eContracts. I should have had some money in their pool.</p> Hey Brian- here's what happened…another first in, missed the boat. There is a product, maybe 2 years in operation that is the BEST THERE IS in this world. Why, because it is not another piece of the puzzle…it is the whole puzzle with all the pieces. the other solutions you are listing are cheap and fine and all…but unless they are based around digital signatures-contrasts-CRM and don't cost millions…they are just more peices to a complex…"how many pieces of software do we need" problem. If you want peole to use transaction management of ANY KIND. Then the brokers have to have the coolest, easiest and BEST contract software in the world. The best in the world, period!

1. Contracts and Forms
2. 100% digital signatures
3. Transaction Management
3. CRM
4. Document Storage
5. Back office management
etc,etc,etc…

It works because it is based on digital signatures and is tied into the hole "life Cycle" of the transaction….which maybe months before and months after. CTM eContracts. I should have had some money in their pool.

]]> By: Marc Diaz http://1000wattconsulting.com/blog/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html/comment-page-1#comment-2850 Marc Diaz Wed, 09 Apr 2008 09:00:20 +0000 http://wp.1000wattconsulting.com/2008/04/what-ever-happe.html#comment-2850 <p>I'm very nostalgic for those early days of transaction management - when we were pioneering the new paperless world. Back in early 2000, I relinquished my closing agency to my partner, returned to college to learn about the information superhighway (that's we called it back then) and hired some developers that were literally working in an attic to build a kick butt TMS - CloseTrak. We got an alpha version out in 2000 but the NASDAQ meltdown killed any funding chance, so we dumped the tachnology and transformed into a "tech savvy" closing agency (had to do something to make some money!). Since then, I've sampled every TMS platform and every web 2.0 platform that I thought could be turned into a TMS. These experiments are ongoing and conducted in the lab of the marketplace - I just created <a href="http://rebuildingrealty.ning.com" rel="nofollow">http://rebuildingrealty.ning.com</a> where I'll post what we learn and I'd like to hear from others toiling in the space as well. My view is that TMS will serve as the backbone for the entire transaction and as such needs deep integration with lending partners and the brokerage. The TMSs which survived and purchased by the title companies still don't have the proper perspective and as such are just too complex and clumsy. </p> <p>Sidenote: This would be easier if we didn't have to worry so much about potential RESPA issues - what a sticky mess to contend with!</p> I'm very nostalgic for those early days of transaction management – when we were pioneering the new paperless world. Back in early 2000, I relinquished my closing agency to my partner, returned to college to learn about the information superhighway (that's we called it back then) and hired some developers that were literally working in an attic to build a kick butt TMS – CloseTrak. We got an alpha version out in 2000 but the NASDAQ meltdown killed any funding chance, so we dumped the tachnology and transformed into a "tech savvy" closing agency (had to do something to make some money!). Since then, I've sampled every TMS platform and every web 2.0 platform that I thought could be turned into a TMS. These experiments are ongoing and conducted in the lab of the marketplace – I just created http://rebuildingrealty.ning.com where I'll post what we learn and I'd like to hear from others toiling in the space as well. My view is that TMS will serve as the backbone for the entire transaction and as such needs deep integration with lending partners and the brokerage. The TMSs which survived and purchased by the title companies still don't have the proper perspective and as such are just too complex and clumsy.

Sidenote: This would be easier if we didn't have to worry so much about potential RESPA issues – what a sticky mess to contend with!

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