A brokerage’s success can hinge on reputation. So it can be important to cultivate a brand and correct any behavior from agents that could jeopardize it.
One brokerage apparently cares so much about grooming its image that it’s snapped up a startup that specializes in uncovering companies’ strengths and weaknesses.
DSA Property Group, a New York City-based firm that owns DSA Realty Services and DSA Management Co. Inc., has purchased Zufog.com, a startup that administers and analyzes customer reviews to assess companies’ brands and employees. Zufog.com has worked with Re/Max, Prudential and Keller Williams, according to its website.
Promotional video demonstrating Zufog dashboard.
“We deeply care about what our customers think of our service and we constantly strive to be the best at what we do,” said Jesse Rhinier, president of DSA Realty, in a statement. “This acquisition is very important because it provides us an unprecedented tool in which to best serve our customers and improve our agent experience.”
Financial terms of the technology-only deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2007, DSA Realty Services is a full-service residential and commercial real estate brokerage with about 50 agents working out of a 4,500-square-foot storefront office at 113 East 12th St.
Zufog, a former enrollee of Inman News’ Inman Incubator program, taps into customer relationship management and transaction management systems to vacuum up a large number of customer reviews.
Then, it runs those reviews through an algorithm to break the data down into “easy-to-understand categories for management, such as employee strength/weaknesses, customer satisfaction ratings, brand image and a host of other traditionally difficult-to-obtain data.”
Zufog was founded by CEO Vasudev Bailey, Albert Heath, Steve Peart and Thomas Hill.
“This is a pure technology acquisition for DSA Property Group,” Heath said. “They are purchasing our technology platform and we are helping them transition it into their current systems, but the founders will not be joining the DSA group.”
“We could not be happier to reach this agreement and to have our technology go to work within such a forward-thinking and passionate firm like DSA,” Bailey said in a statement.
