TOPIC: Agents and the upload service

This is the second problem (actually she had another agent complain to her as well), so three... about the "Realtor Report Upload".

David,

I absolutely hate this thing. I still cannot register and refuse to waste time with this. Besides, I feel that I am drowning in passwords and usernames. Can't you plese go back to the old method...it was not broken


Rita Morgan-Patel
Coldwell Banker Barnes

I see no reason why there is a problem.

I did have one other Realtor use the wrong email and couldn't get in.
Is there a reason we need them to enter and sign in?
They are so Type A when it comes to change, better or worse.

If they have 5 emails and 200 passwords to remember, I see this as a bunch of "I can get the report" calls when I'm out on the road.

What's up with them having to log in?

Does anyone else have this issue with Realtors?

I would say about 5% of agents end up complaining on their first use of the system(which means 95% get in just fine) and less than 1% on subsequent uses. 90% of the time the complaint is because they are registering with a different email address than the one they gave you. They have to match, there's no way around that. Since we have a few thousand reports being uploaded a week right now, I definitely hear from a few. Whenever an inspector calls me I tell them to have the agent click Live Chat and we have them going in about 2 minutes. They continue on happily. I also get a lot of emails from inspectors who've ended up securing agents and even entire offices because of the service.

Most people use the same password everywhere so the issue isn't forgetting their password. As a side note this is something I bring up a lot when giving computer talks; make sure your password isn't a dictionary word and make sure to get a few numbers or symbols in there.

The email they receive has a DIRECT link to the agent registration page. Try registering as an agent and tell me where the problem is. You fill out 4 or 5 lines and click continue twice. Then log in on the left. They are now taken DIRECTLY to the inspection reports page when they log in.

After their first report you do with them, they are emailed their username in the email they receive about the new report. There's no reason to remember it.

There's three things I could see doing that would make it easier.

1) The agent gets a direct link to all their reports like the client, but it lists all the reports. Basically no login name and password required. The problem I see with this is that the agents have access to a lot of info and I believe it could violate several state laws to make it so easy to access. I could also see the agents easily forwarding the email they get with access to their report to the sellers agent, thereby giving the sellers agent access to all the buyers agents reports. Hence we've not done this.

2) We send the password to the agent with each subsequent email with the username. This would mean storing the password in an insecure way in our database (right now it's all encrypted) but I don't think this would be a big deal. The issue here though is that out of all the agents that do complain, 99% are complaining the first time they use the system. Subsequent times are fine, so this wouldn't be a solution.

3) Eliminating the 2nd continue (confirm) button which has been something I have been trying to get to. I think some of the agents fill out the info on the first page and don't read and see the confirm button on the second page.

4) Have the system automatically generate a username and password and send it to the agent. I don't like this method because like you said, they already have multiple usernames, we want them to reuse ones they already have.

If you guys have any input on the above, speak up! We're open to any options to get that 5% down to 0%.

I have passed on all the benefits to this program, but some agents have trouble with the "ON Switch"!

I have had no problems with most Agents, just this one.

I tried to make myself an agent but it looked like it recognized me as a HIP user.?

Years ago I wrote a program to Qualify Home Buyers at several banks and programs. It had Rent vs. Buy comparisons, etc. All the Agents had to do is turn on the computer and it was all automatic.  NO ONE WOULD TURN IT ON!

Those were the "Good Ole Days"!

If anyone else sees a snag or has overcome one, please post.
For the time being,  I'll send her the report by email.

This agent is still hung up on AOL from the Old Days when reports never arrived as sent...

Ugh, AOL makes it even worse. I have seen some OLD versions of AOL prevent people from registering. Tell her to open it up in Internet Explorer and register.

I'm glad to hear it's only this one agent you're having problem with. That sounds like it's following the pattern. And yes some just want it delivered to their email, don't even try to register as they think it's extra work for them (others see the advantage obviously).

Turn the computer on? That would definitely be too much for some!

And by the way, this is not a dig against HIP!
Just sociology vs. the computer age. . .

I love it, but some just keep pulling back instead of easily moving forward!

I totally understand. We're always trying to find ways to improve and it's obvious that a few agents have difficulties. The question is just on how to reduce the people who have problems even further. One change we made about 6 months ago that had a big effect was directly taking the agents to the inspection reports page rather than requiring them to click the link on the left. That cut out quite a few questions from agents.