It’s a brand new day for the MLS in Phoenix…
By: Greg Swann,
BloodhoundBlog.com
Posted: Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
Category: General Information
Welcome! This weblog exists to document, explore, explain and alleviate any fears ARMLS members may have about the pending transition from the Tempo MLS system to FBS Systems' flexmls system. The contributors are among the most tech-savvy real estate professionals in Phoenix. In consequence, we're totally stoked about the change, first because some of us have come to hate Tempo over the years, and second because FBS is run by people who are deeply connected to the Web 2.0 on-line world.
But: You may not feel the same eager anticipation. We are not directly affiliated with either ARMLS or FBS Systems, but, working with those two organizations, we're going to do everything we can to make this transition not just painless but fun and profitable for you.
Your job? Read, learn, mark and inwardly digest. Don't be shy about asking questions in the comments to weblog Posts or Pages. or subscribe to it by RSS feed or email notification.
You heard it here first: This is going to be wicked cool...
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Thank You!!
By: Russell Shaw,
NoHassleListing.com
Posted: Monday, October 8th, 2007, 11:55 am MST
Category: General Information
Thank you Michael. Thank you, Gary. Thank you, Greg. No doubt there are others (Abe Schwartz) who deserve a big THANK YOU, as well. I am just delighted to be a part of this and I want to say why.
I’ve always thought that I was fortunate to be with John Hall & Associates because Jim Sexton, the broker of John Hall & Associates was so involved with AAR and with ARMLS. Jim has been on the board of directors at ARMLS for around ten years. Whenever I had a question I could call Jim and ask him and he would always know. Direct communication. Well that just got a whole lot better. For everybody. Every single member of ARMLS now has the “right” (and ability) to ask any question about the new MLS system. And get an answer.
Prior to this announcement, Michael Wurzer had been on my radar for some months. I had no idea that FlexMLS was in negotiation with ARMLS to be our MLS vendor. What had impressed me about Michael was the extraordinary posts he had written on his blog. I am quite accustomed to reading blog posts that have ideas about “what a national MLS should be”. Many written by highly educated people who gave a lot of thought to what they wrote before they wrote it. From my point of view, almost all of their writings are so stupid and illogical that I would wonder how they could arrive at such nonsensical conclusions. Michael Wurzer was different. Very different. Just read a sample post on his The Future of the MLS to see what I am talking about. So, when I read that Flex MLS was the vendor for ARMLS - to say the least I was delighted.
Could I have predicted that Greg would want to set up a special blog for everyone to post and ask questions on this issue? Yes. Would I have thought we would be so fortunate to have the head of the company providing our MLS and the incoming president of ARMLS both on board? Well lets just say that would have fallen into the pipe dream category. And I already know this is going to be a smashing success. I know it for the very same reason that I have been happily married for 25 years. Communication. Open communication.
I have a custom website designed and hosted by Superlative. I also have four of their studio sites. I spend a lot of money driving traffic to the custom site so naturally was concerned when I discovered all of my forms pages had broken links. Anyone going to my pages like Online Homefinder could fill out the form, click and then nothing would happen. Nothing. Now this sort of thing is going to happen with any vendor and any website from time to time. Having a site down or having a broken link is part of having a site. It shouldn’t happen but it does. This time I was able to get the problem fixed without going through my sales rep. Brian Ford has always been completely responsive. There has never been a time that he did not get right back to me and once any problem was on his radar he would follow through until it was resolved. Calling or sending an email to the service department is another matter. This time I called about six times, always leaving a message. I wrote several emails to the service support person. The problem did get fixed but I found it remarkable that I did not ever get a response communication - phone or email, from the tech person. Never.
We have two admin assistants in my office for the weekend. One to handle offers on our listings and the other to answer the phones, check availability for agents calling, and to handle anything our clients may need. The 2nd position, really the weekend “service person” that we have now, I am totally delighted to have with us. The one we had just prior to her was a very different story. Monday mornings I would hear from our Monday - Friday crew all about missing messages. Well she is new, maybe the missing message wasn’t ever actually called in, etc. Finally, I had a trusted staff member, my Seller Consultant, Trina, come in on Saturday to observe and let me know what was really happening. Not only were messages left on voice mail getting erased and not written down at all (don’t you see, it is much faster and efficient that way:-) my favorite was when a potential home seller called the office by hitting “88″ on his phone saying, “Someone from your office just called me”. The weekend service person’s response, “It wasn’t me”. There were only two people in the office, her and the seller consultant - the Contract Manger had gone to lunch. Her “handling” of the person on the phone was to see if she could quickly get off the phone. It wasn’t her. She was not guilty of anything. It wasn’t her.
When Tempo has had a server that intermittently wasn’t working correctly (discovered later to be the case) it has been nothing short of fantastic the past few years that no matter how many times it would get reported that “we are having trouble logging into MLS” or “the host computer keeps kicking us out” they could respond almost immediately. It wasn’t on their end. They knew this. No need to look.
Poor communication and/or not caring. A recipe for failure.
Michael Wurzer and Gary Cumiskey just showing up here speaks volumes about the future of our MLS. I very much appreciate both of you being here and I am already looking forward to Flex MLS having their contract with ARMLS renewed for an additional three years three years from now.
October 8th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Wow, thanks very much Russell! I love the idea of this site and appreciate your participation as well. You’ve been so giving of your time and talent over at the Bloodhound with your posts and podcasts, that I know your participation here will be enormously valuable for all involved. Even though it has only been up about twenty-four hours, I think this is going to be a much better forum for discussing the new MLS system than the FBS Blog, because this site is specific to the Phoenix area. We’ll see how it all pans out, but this seems like a great opportunity for everyone.
October 8th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
I am blown away by all of the enthusiastic responses! Thank you, Russell… and thank you for your thoughtful participation here and elsewhere in the blogosphere! I’m totally amazed at how quickly Greg got this site up and running. What a fantastic idea!
The ARMLS MLS RFP Task Force (Request for Proposal) did a superlative job throughout the complex MLS vendor selection process. Abe Schwarz, Sheila Strunk, David Newcombe, Michael Novotny, Lynne Ramey, Duane Washkowiak, Christopher Paris, Jay Graves, Larry Sunday, James Wehner, and Joel O’Desky generously volunteered weeks of their valuable time toward this endeavor. Steve Yanoviak, of Management Advisors, kept us all on task from start to finish. Steve’s expertise is unparalleled.
The web based MLS scene has changed dramatically in the last seven years and there were many excellent vendors vying for consideration. FBS FlexMLS quickly became a standout as Mike Wurzer and his excellent team demonstrated their product and throughout all of the hands-on sessions. However… and beyond the nuts, bolts, bells, and whistles of FBS FlexMLS, Mike Wurzer’s sense of integrity, honor, and the sheer passion that he exhibited for our industry throughout our many meetings was the clincher. I have no doubt that FBS can… and will deliver the goods.
October 15th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Just to piggy-back on Gary’s comments:
I joined ARMLS on October 1 as the new chief executive officer replacing the irreplaceable Bob Rucker who is stepping down after 18 years of exemplary leadership. Two days into the new job I spent the day across the table from Michael Wurzer negotiating the finer points of the new agreement that will bring flexmls to Arizona. I, too, was impressed by his straightforward, no-nonsense attitude and uncommon candor in discussing various aspects of our relationship.
I recalled that during the interview process I was advised that ARMLS was looking for a new vendor, had the selection narrowed down to two companies, and I was asked if I wanted them to defer the decision until my arrival (should I be the one selected for the job). I answered that I was confident their task force and current officers and directors had done a thorough job and would be selecting the vendor based on what was best for their membership. Far be it for me to come in as an outsider and try to figure out in just a few days what the greater Phoenix market wanted or needed. Besides, I had not done much comparing of system technology for a number of years and couldn’t possibly make an informed judgment without considerable research.
They went ahead without me. And then they selected me for the job. And on Wednesday, as I listened to Michael talk I became quickly convinced that the task force has made the right decision. It wasn’t at all about technology, although FBS has some of the best. It wasn’t at all about features and functions; they are comparable in most areas, ahead in some, behind in others. It was about attitude over ambition. It was about substance over style. It was about progress over promise. Michael represents what every MLS is looking for in a vendor: someone you can trust to do what he says he will do. I’m confident we found the right vendor for ARMLS and I am looking forward to working with the FBS team to deliver this new system to the agent community of central Arizona.
And I’m looking forward to hearing your reaction to our work here on this site. I must admit I’m new to the art of blogging (this is actually the first post I have ever put up anywhere). So my contributions may be few and far between, but rest assured I’m reading everything I can get my hands on.
Bob Bemis, CEO
ARMLS
Bob.Bemis@ARMLS.com