Brian Friemel

Technology will influence significant change to the industry in the next 10 years. But I'm doubtful that the agent will disappear. Let's look at the influence of similar technology on other industries over the last 10 years. In the year 2000, everyone in the world was betting that petfood (Pets.com), toys (etoys.com), and groceries (Webvan) would be bought online. And indeed, to some extent they are today. But compare the frequency of online transactions for these physical goods to the purchase of services (banking, travel, social networking) and there is no comparison. To predict that the purchase of the most expensive physical good one owns will move primarily online ignores the history of the use of technology. For physical goods, technology has been used to reduce marketing expense (already happening in real estate) and to improve efficiencies (just starting in real estate). It is unlikely that the internet will replace the physical marketplace for physical goods. Visit my company's website to learn how our product improves the efficiencies within real estate agencies. www.PulseRealtySoftware.com

Everyone, I am Brian Friemel, President & CEO of Pulse Realty Software. I was in Start-up Alley at Connect in NYC and, interestingly enough, met two of you who've commented on this article at my booth. The topic of this article led to the creation of my company three years ago. One of my founding partners owned an agency and realized that his brand was only as good as the customer service provided by his weakest agent. Recognizing that customer experience defined his brand, he was determined to create an end-to-end system to set service standards, to establish processing procedures, and to capture agent performance data. That system was highlighted at Connect and is called Pulse. Pulse redefines the "Transaction Management" space as "Brokerage Management". Pulse organizes all processes by replacing paper checklists, internal forms, spreadsheets and certain systems with one shared process management system. Along the way it captures data regarding the transaction (showings, marketing, on-line presence, key dates, key metrics) and centralizes that data for reporting to all appropriate parties including Ownership, Management, Staff, Agents and even End-Clients. Pulse allows THE CUSTOMER to hold the agent accountable for the service promised by creating transparency never before available. I invite you to visit our site and view the 2 1/2 minute video overview of Pulse. Pulse is not for the faint-hearted. It requires conviction at the leadership level to change the traditonal methods used to run a brokerage. However, you've all alluded to the notion that someone has "to protect the public" to use Val August's words. If not NAR, then who? If you are ready to take action and to hold agents accountable, please contact me at your earliest convenience. Please forgive my use of this forum to introduce our product. If it weren't so relevant, I would have never mentioned it. Brian Friemel President & CEO Pulse Realty Software 314.779.3737