Peoplework Profile: Rich Close and Cutler Real Estate
dotloop
May 10, 2013 | comments
Next in our Peoplework Profile series is Rich Close, IT Manager for the Columbus and Cincinnati offices of Cutler Real Estate. As a dotloop user since the middle of 2011, Rich oversees and implements the system throughout the office.
Cutler Real Estate has been in business for over 65 years, primarily out of the Akron/Canton region. Over the past 6-8 months, they’ve expanded to Cincinnati and Columbus. Cutler Real Estate is very adaptive to new technology, focused on peoplework and providing the tools necessary to allow their agents, and customers, to do business more conveniently and efficiently.
Walk me through a typical real estate transaction process before using dotloop. What necessitated a change?
Prior to dotloop, our company provided online form access through our area board. This allowed agents to fill out documents, save and make changes, and save as PDF that they would then attach to email or fax. It did not provide the ability to obtain electronic signatures. Agents then would submit a paper file to whichever office they worked out of, once their transaction was complete.
In the Akron/Canton region, they are still using a forms provider to fill out their documents, have been trained to use an e-signature platform if they want electronic signatures, and then upload their documents to an online transaction management system. From there, transaction coordinators process the file.
That long and convoluted process is why we changed to dotloop in our Columbus region. Being one of the new outposts, we had such a small staff that we needed the ability for anyone to be able to access transaction files from anywhere. We found that in addition to solving this one problem for the Brokerage, dotloop offers many additional features that allow our agents and customers to facilitate a smooth transaction.
What specific company strategies/goals/challenges does your company face that you needed to address?
Right now our main goal and challenge is to bring our Cincinnati region and our Akron/Canton region over to dotloop. Because of the simplified process dotloop creates, we’re looking at rolling it out to approximately 350-400 agents, company wide. This will then allow our management and staff easy access to any company transaction statewide from any computer, at any time.
What were your top priorities in investing in dotloop dashboard?
All we wanted was to provide a more efficient way to process agent files. dotloop allows for a limited staff to be able to review transactions quickly and easily, while saving costs on printing and storing files.
Why and when did you choose dotloop and how does it differ from other real estate technology tools that you’ve used in the past?
We have been using dotloop since mid-2011, initially only to provide access to forms online and electronic signatures. We implemented the broker dashboard piece to create a complete, online submission process in February of 2012.
We choose dotloop to replace the cost of accessing our board’s online forms and provide additional tools to our agents to complete their paperwork. By adding the broker dashboard, we were able to once again cut costs and make our company more efficient.
How did you come across dotloop? What was your role in the selection process?
When I joined the company the process had already been started with dotloop, so I was not involved in the selection. I will say, though, that I was very involved once I came on board – from learning the system myself to working with the account manager and rolling it out to our staff and agents.
Who are the primary users of the system? What feedback have you received from them?
Every agent in our Columbus region, as well as admin staff and managers, uses dotloop. We don’t accept any transaction files that are not submitted through dotloop.
I would say 90% of our agents enjoy the system without many complaints, and probably 25-30% of them utilize the full capabilities of dotloop. The 10% of the agents that don’t “enjoy” the system are simply some of our tech-averse agents, but we’ve worked with them to comply with basic uploading of PDFs to submit their transactions.
How has dotloop changed the way you work together with others? What is the impact of dotloop on your business?
The majority of our clients that have used dotloop love it, particularly how easy e-signing documents makes the entire transaction for them and our agents. We have started to see some additional brokerages in our area using dotloop, too, which allows our agents and theirs a better way to collaborate, saving so much time and making completing the transaction much more efficient.
dotloop has significantly reduced our printing and copier costs, made it easier for admins to review transactions and given our managers the ability to assist agents more easily with their transactions.
Are there any increases in productivity, deals made, new clients, etc. that you would attribute to your adoption of dotloop?
This one I think is a little hard to measure, other than the productivity piece. The majority of agents that fully utilize everything that dotloop offers have voiced that they feel much more productive and efficient in maintaining their paperwork. And for those agents who use iPads to be more mobile, dotloop has made managing their business on the go much easier.
Have the number of completed real estate deals increased since adopting dotloop? How much faster are your agents’ negotiation processes now that they’re using dotloop?
Again, it’s hard to say that dotloop has directly increased the number of transactions, but I will say that the speed of the negotiation process has increased tremendously for our agents. That’s particularly true when agents are working with clients located in separate areas of the country, say, a husband and wife where one has transferred for new job and the other partner is trying to wrap up selling the home. Our agents have found that dotloop makes their lives much easier when dealing with this type of situation because they don’t have to chase paperwork around and their clients don’t have to fax things back and forth to get both signatures on the documents.
Plus, when it comes to negotiating counter offers, we’ve had agents indicate they’ve used their smartphones to submit counters to their client and back to the co-op agent, which generally puts them ahead of any competing offers, etc.
What do your agents think about using dotloop? How many agents in your agency are using dotloop?
Again, all of our agents are required to use dotloop to submit their files. Only about 10% of them are either printing out documents and completing by hand or only getting wet signatures and then uploading their documents for submission. The majority of our agents love dotloop and have said they wouldn’t go to another brokerage who didn’t offer it.
How have clients responded to using dotloop? Any anecdotes to share?
The majority of our clients have loved using dotloop. They don’t have to print or fax paperwork back and forth. Their files are always legible, because there’s no writing and faxing and scribbling, etc. It also means our agents don’t disrupt their schedules by having to show up capture a signature.
Would you recommend dotloop to another brokerage?
Definitely. But I will say that the entire brokerage and management staff needs to be on board and support dotloop if they expect their agents to actually use it. I’m conviced that’s why our company has been so successful in using it. Our management team recognizes the benefits of using dotloop – for the client, the agent, and the brokerage.
Describe one way that dotloop has surprised you.
Probably by how quickly dotloop has adapted to changes in the industry and adjusted the system to accommodate those changes.
What is the one thing you love most about dotloop?
On top of its dotloop’s adaptability, I think the one thing that I love, as well as many of our agents love, is its mobility. Being able to complete all paperwork and signatures on an iPad, not having to go back to the office or print anything off, it’s amazing.
And now, being able to obtain a “wet signature” by having the client sign directly on the iPad with the new dotloop, that will be phenomenal.
How do you see the future of real estate evolving? How do you see technology, like dotloop, changing the current buying and selling transaction process for agents and buyers?
I believe real estate will continue to move toward becoming a more paperless process. I think lenders and title companies will continue to be more accepting of electronic signatures and we won’t require so much paper to be wasted, which has long been an issue in real estate.
Technology will continue to play a part in this if only because the customers require it. With such diversity in people’s businesses, lifestyles and schedules, people want to be able to processes like real estate more streamlined. Why waste time on paperwork when we could be spending that time with our families and friends?
What does peopleworkTM mean to you?
Peoplework to me means coming together to work together for a common reason. Collectively, we are all working together as a team to complete a common goal: to make the American Dream of home ownership as easy as possible for our clients.
From the entire team at dotloop, thank you, Rich Close, for leading with peoplework. We’re honored to have such great support, and we look forward to providing you, your team and hopefully the rest of your offices with even better solutions going forward.
