We Don’t Build For Agents…We Build With Agents

The Product Studio lives, eats, sleeps and breathes user feedback and iteration. Our product managers spend a great deal of time working with agents to better understand their needs and how products are used and received. Do they delight or are they causing frustrations?  Do they add value or do they simply create noise?  What products should Coldwell Banker NRT invest in and which aren’t helping agents win more listings and drive new business? Feedback is gold in our world and makes us better product owners.

Just last week, our Listing Concierge Product Owner, Heidi Bonnel, spent two days in the field meeting with dozens of agents to get feedback on the next iteration of the Listing Concierge product.  The agents spoke loud and clear about what they loved and what they hated, and now she and the team are working in the background to adjust and iterate based on that awesome feedback.

Desk is an “MVP” (minimum viable product) — we’ve done our homework and we’ve spent countless hours surveying, conducting focus groups and hosting one-on-ones with agents. The goal: to better understand how we build a product that will be part of a unified platform that unites the key products and tools agents need to run their business effectively in one cohesive, integrated solution. Recently, we documented the evolution of Desk, and I think it tells a compelling story of how we are truly building products “with” agents – and no longer simply “for” them.

The ability to offer a platform where everything is integrated is core to our product strategy with Desk. So, while today Desk is an MVP, this is a product that will continue to evolve over the coming weeks/months as we continue to get feedback from users.

Today’s MVP of Desk includes these core features: 

• Mobile responsive
• First-time user prompts to guide agents through the tools
• Improved, modern user interface
• Chat functionally to connect with our support team instantly
• Ability to customize your experience and eliminate the noise; add widgets, customize the dashboard to the tools you use most and turn apps on and off based on what interests you most

Features that we are actively working on: 

• Common user interface across products
• Contact syncing with O365 and Gmail
• Integrations with our key partners like Moxi, InTouch, Xpressdocs and more
• Intranet content in one place with a robust search that makes it easy for you to find the items agents need, when they need them
• Ability for agents to update their bio and profile in one place and have it feed across internal and third-party applications
• Eliminate the noise by focusing on simplifying our product offering and creating alignment and cohesion with products wherever we can

And so much more! This is just the beginning. We have five core products we are actively developing right now, including:

• Desk
• Listing Concierge
• Design Concierge
• Social Concierge
• Prospect Square

The product work is designed to create products around how agents work. We are focused on new tools that are easy to use, where things are easy to find and the experience is customizable to how the user works.  At every step, we’re listening, learning and iterating.  Our goal is to create raving fans of our technology solutions by providing a compelling, easy to use suite of tools and technology that greatly improves the user experience and contributes to improved productivity for our agents and employees. It’s an exciting time to be with Coldwell Banker NRT.

To quote one of my tech idols, Steve Jobs, “We’re here to put a dent in the universe.  Otherwise why else even be here?”  Watch out real estate.  We’re coming for you.