Peoplework Profile: Steve Doty and ERA Doty Real Estate

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May 01, 2013 | comments

We first spoke with Steve Doty, Principal Broker of ERA® Doty Real Estate in Jonesboro, Arkansas, at the annual ERA conference in March 2013. After only three months post-launch with dotloop, he shared his story with our team at the booth and by the end of the conference, was standing to receive praise by Chris Smith (the keynote) for committing to a better way of doing business. We simply had to get the full story.

Steve Doty chose to lead with peoplework, implementing dotloop across his brokerage in January 2013. Below he discusses his reasoning behind the switch, the changes he’s observed across his business and a few unexpected perks of running on leading technology.

What company-specific challenges did you face that you needed to address?
Although ERA Doty Real Estate is a small firm in agent population, we are number-one in our market – with an average per agent production of more than $3 million dollars. We have a small administrative staff and, with the high volume of closings per week, each closing presented many challenges in terms of preparation and systems needed to provide the level of customer service we expected.

Our admin staff was spending too many hours building and maintaining the mountain of paperwork required in today’s litigious real estate world. With dotloop, we’ve been able to put one system in place that can be managed from anywhere in the world; as the broker, I am only an arm’s length away from my affiliated agents.

What were your top priorities in investing in dotloop??
I thought it was simple, that there were only three things to consider:

1. Convenience
2. Labor
3. Cost

And dotloop came out on top for all three. In 2012, ERA Doty Real Estate spent $6,738 on paper, toner and copier expenses. That’s not even considering equipment downtime, labor wasted killing trees, gas burned delivering contracts, hours spent standing over a fax machine or many other intangibles.

All of that seems so antiquated now. dotloop truly changed the way we run our day-to-day business, positively impacting our productivity and allowing us to work better together, all while improving our bottom line. As we say daily here, “WE don’t do paper anymore.”

That said, I never had a clue it would impact the customer’s experience as much as it did.

At least once a week since implementing dotloop just four months ago, agents and competing brokers ask me why, how, how much, and so on about dotloop. It has actually become a recruiting tool for me – something I never imagined it would be. I did it purely for the time and cost savings and it has become a way of life for us all now.

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 discovered dotloop at an ERA® Broker meeting during a presentation with Chris Smith. It was immediately obvious to me that we needed to investigate the program in greater detail. When I got home, I looked up dotloop, had a conversation with Kyle Cheslock and signed up within 24 hours. We could all see the benefit to our business and we were running our entire business on it just four weeks later.

When we made the switch on 1/1/13, we went cold turkey. We had no other means to write a contract, it was dotloop or nothing. That was a leap of faith that was not without challenges but the dotloop support staff did an exemplary job. I have implemented many software systems in my professional career and I have to say this group is the friendliest, most knowledgeable, and most patient group I have ever worked with.

How has dotloop changed the way you work together with others? What is the impact of dotloop on your business?
The agents we work with outside of ERA Doty Real Estate at first had some reservations of the program; some still do. I’ve found that if they will take a few moments and let me explain how it works, they use it and it makes their lives easier. I’ve also seen an increase in my competition asking me about dotloop – and that’s simply because their agents are asking them about it.

We are faster, more efficient and the brokers in this office are not chained to the office. Peoplework (to me) is the ability to be out of town and still do my job … while being able to look at the lake at the same time.

Are there any increases in productivity, deals made, new clients, etc. that you would attribute to your adoption of dotloop?
Without a doubt our clients are happier with the service we can provide, and productivity has seen aHUGE increase.

I’m not sure how you can even begin to measure the increase, but a great example is that we no longer look for addenda, contracts, or disclosures in piles laying around on everyone’s desks as we prepare for a closing. Now, we do in 10 minutes what used to take hours or days.

The market is great here and on an upswing, so increased closings are hard to measure, but certainly our labor cost is down and we are capable of handling additional business easier than before. My affiliated agents’ are seeing a difference as they can spend more time with people (clients) and letting the technology (dotloop) do the rest.

What do your affiliated agents think about using dotloop? How many agents in your agency are using dotloop?
They love dotloop, and 100% of this office uses it. No dotloop, no contract – and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

What is the one thing you love most about dotloop?
We always considered ourselves the technology leader in the marketplace, but now everyone does. It has created a stir among agents that are not affiliated with us, becoming a great recruiting conversation.