Windermere Solutions LLC (WSLLC), a technology company spun out from Seattle-based Windermere Real Estate, has announced a new era of technology products and services with the launch of its first product, Agent Websites.
According to the company, Agent Websites, along with a suite of additional products and services on the company’s development roadmap, are designed to enrich the relationship between agents and brokerages while providing a modern, intuitive and easy-to-use toolset for agents, said John Jones, chief executive officer of Windermere Solutions.
“Our mission and focus is to help strengthen the relationship between the brokerage and agent, providing tools that add clear benefit in that value chain,” he said.
The company announced the launch of Agent Websites as part of its participation in the National Association of REALTORS® annual convention, which is being held this weekend in Anaheim, CA.
“Agents still drive 99 percent of all real estate transactions,” Jones said. “However, technology has empowered the buying public to become much more educated and involved in the process. As a result, the customer expects their agent to have greater levels of technology know-how and access to rich data.”
“Our new Agent Websites give agents a classy online presence and the tools they need to connect with buyers and sellers in a high-tech environment, helping to deliver a valuable experience to their clients,” said OB Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate Company.
The company stated that the new sites offer a wide variety of pre-defined template configurations that meet the business style of each individual agent. They are designed to leverage the overall appeal of a franchise brand while remaining flexible enough to enable an agent’s personal brand shine through.
Key features include:
• Integrated property search that automatically includes all MLS listings, eliminating the need for a separate IDX feed of listings.
• Peer recommendations capabilities that enable agents to capture and feature testimonials from past clients.
• Unlimited custom pages that can be utilized in any number of ways, such as community information, preferred vendors and so on. There is a host of free widgets that can capture and display high-value information such as school ratings.
• Seamless social media capabilities that enable quick links to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
• A tool for listing history that automatically feeds active and sold listings onto a site, yet is easily managed through the site’s admin tools.
• A variety of sleek professional designs that can display custom images or gallery photos against a broad palette of color choices.
• A diverse box of additional tools, including search and listing save capabilities, email contact forms and custom flyer generation.
• Search engine optimization capabilities built into the site’s template, although agents do have the capability to further boost their own SEO.
Perhaps most appealing, the company stated, is the fact that the sites are very intuitive, easy to set up and easy to use.
“You do not have to be a technology wizard to get these sites up and running,” Jones said. “They are designed so that agents can set up the site quickly and customize it to meet their personal style and brand, and then get back to the business of real estate.”
The initial reception to the new agent web sites has been extremely positive. In mid-October, Windermere Solutions offered the product to agents within the Windermere Real Estate network. Since then, more than 2,500 Windermere agents have setup the new websites and the numbers are growing rapidly. Jones said the reception from agents has been enthusiastic.
The Agent Website product is the first stop along the company’s product roadmap, he said. Windermere Solutions expects to launch several additional products in 2012, including an innovative agent tool designed specifically for mobile devices.
For information, visit www.windermeresolutions.com.
