For the past few years, there has been a lot of attention given to transaction management systems and how they will enable the real estate industry to become more streamlined and efficient.

The players were plentiful -- Homestore, iProperty, Synteleos, TransactIQ -- all promising platforms that would initiate the day a client walks into the office, and follow that client until the close of the transaction and beyond. But most have virtually disappeared from the landscape as quickly as they emerged, largely in part, because the systems have not been widely accepted and used by agents.

The question is, Why? My guess is that many of these systems are inherently flawed because they do not empower the agents in the ways that are meaningful to them.

First of all, I doubt that agents want to give up their hard-earned client names to a ubiquitous software program. When Prudential California Realty built its tracking program, we conducted numerous focus groups with agents to determine what they wanted and didn't want in a system. Agents were clear: they did not want their clients’ names in a company database. According to their feedback, they’ve worked hard to acquire these clients, and don't want anyone interfering or accessing that client without their permission.

Case in point, a top-producing agent in the Sacramento region recently joined the Prudential California team. The brokerage he had worked for previously began e-mailing his client list without his consent, informing them he no longer worked for the brokerage, and referring them to the office manager for assignment to a new agent. The result? An outraged agent who then diligently contacted each client and explained his new whereabouts, leaving his former brokerage with little credibility.

Also telling is that at a recent meeting of 24 major brokers in the United States, at which I was present, we were each questioned on the development of a transaction platform in our organization. Not one of us could point to a clear example of any platform that was working and being widely embraced by the agents.

PCR has itself invested over $3 million in technology over the past two years, making some really incredible tools available to agents. Yet my greatest challenge is still getting them to use them.

So, if these are the current realities of our business, why is there such a huge noise being made about a supposed demand for such platforms? We’ve seen many disappear from the landscape with the recent dot-com bombs, but in order for the survivors to succeed long-term, technologists must work closely with agents and brokers to better understand need and demand.

Agents are a smart bunch: they know a good thing when they see it, and if it will make them more efficient and profitable, they’ll use it. Which tells me there is still vast room for improvement in the platforms offered to date. The reality is that we are in a complex, relationship-based business, and technology must enable our ability to interact and retain clients, not threaten it.

Published: May 1, 2001

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