Market Leader had a reseller agreement with Imprev, the leading Agent, Broker and Franchise marketing services provider for years. It was successful, and the relationship ended amicably when Market Leader purchased Imprev’s competitor, SharperAgent. The effort was in concert with Market Leader’s strategic vision of building an end-to-end platform that supports real estate professionals from lead generation to closing and customer retention.
Market Leader announced today that the Sharper Agent marketing suite has been integrated into all of the Market Leader products and made available to all 100,000 agents who are registered to that platform. In concert with the release, all existing Market Leader users also received a gracious service level promotion. Every Growth Leader customer has been automatically upgraded to Market Leader Professional, and every RealtyGenerator customer has been automatically upgraded to the Market Leader Business Suite.
The company now has clearly defined services for Agents and Brokers. Last year they also purchased realestate.com from LendingTree as their consumer portal, and KWKLY for mobile marketing solution.
Market Leader Business Suite is the product name for brokers; the agent product is called Market Leader Professional.
Market Leader offers the following services in the products: Personal Agent Website, Lead Generation, Contact Management, Marketing Center, and Education.
It will be interesting to see how adoption of the SharperAgent marketing tools of flyers, postcards, email campaigns, etc will be embraced by the Market Leader customers. Keller Williams agents on the platform will experience a switch from Imprev. All other Market Leader customers will have access to the marketing center for the first time. Clearly they loved the Imprev products, and although the SharperAgent products are competitive – Keller Williams agents will need to get accustomed to the new offerings. Who Moved My Cheese? Where did my favorite design go? How do I use this new stuff? All normal responses to change within any product. In time, users will assimilate to SharperAgent. Those that miss Imprev will seek them out and buy directly. Market Leader is offering daily webinars and information sessions to ease the transition and to welcome new users.
At the end of the day, Market Leader now owns a valued service that they formerly subcontracted. It strengthens their company. WAV Group wrote a paper called the Shift in Real Estate Technology that supports the demand for comprehensive, end-to-end technology solutions under one application. It is worth reading or re-reading. Here is the link to the free download. https://www.wavgroup.com/2011/06/27/the-shift-in-real-estate-technology-new-white-paper/
Press Release Follows below:
Market Leader Rolls Out the Real Estate Industry’s Only Comprehensive Lead-to-Close Platform to all Market Leader Customers
Market Leader Integrates SharperAgent’s Marketing Platform to Create One Seamless Solution That Addresses All of the Marketing and Technology Needs of Real Estate Professionals
KIRKLAND, WA (June 6, 2012) — Market Leader (NASDAQ: LEDR) (http://www.MarketLeader.com), a leader in online marketing and technology solutions for real estate professionals, today announced the launch of a fully-integrated Marketing Center, immediately available for each of its more than 100,000 real estate agent customers. This comprehensive solution provides real estate brokerage companies and their agents with the industry’s most complete marketing solution, enabling them to stand out from the competition, build their brand, and keep in touch with both prospects and clients.
The new integrated Marketing Center is the result of Market Leader’s acquisition of SharperAgent, the industry’s leading provider of online and print marketing tools, and provides real estate professionals with everything they need to create polished, professional marketing materials and engage with their entire sphere via email and direct mail —all in one convenient solution.
Market Leader’s new Marketing Center has been fully integrated into the company’s already robust platform, and is now available to Market Leader’s more than 100,000 customers. The integration of this new Marketing Center provides all customers with significant product enhancements at no additional cost including:
· Get the perfect look: Choose from more than 4,000 templates for flyers, postcards, newsletters, drip campaigns, and more, for either email or direct mail.
· Enjoy simplicity: Create and customize marketing pieces easily, with no complicated software or shortcut keys to learn.
· Connect with buyers and sellers: Launch automated, custom campaigns for your entire database or for targeted groups.
· Save time and money: Use “set-it-and-forget-it” technology to reach customers automatically.
· Professional printing with Shutterfly®: Order beautiful prints for any marketing materials from Shutterfly, Market Leader’s integrated print partner.
“This is a game-changing advancement for our more than 100,000 real estate professional customers,” said Ian Morris, chief executive officer for Market Leader. “The Marketing Center alone represents the most comprehensive collection of professionally-designed marketing tools available to real estate professionals throughout North America, and it’s now included at no additional charge for every Market Leader customer. No other company provides a comprehensive, fully-integrated solution to real estate professionals, and we are committed to continue innovating and delivering more value to all of our customers.”
Market Leader now offers one seamless solution to all real estate professionals that includes:
- Personal Website – one polished, customizable website designed to maximize lead generation
- Lead Generation – powerful tools and services to help generate additional leads for increased growth
- Contact Management – one central contact management system designed to cultivate and convert prospects into clients
- Marketing Center – more than 4,000 professionally designed templates to continuously engage both prospects and clients
- Education – powerful education and training to successfully build, grow, and manage a real estate business
Market Leader’s new comprehensive agent solution is named Market Leader Professional. The company’s new comprehensive solution for brokerage companies and teams is named Market Leader Business Suite. Both products are available immediately to real estate brokerage companies and agents throughout North America. More information can be found at www.marketleader.com or by calling 877-450-0088.
As a special thank you to current Market Leader customers, every Growth Leader customer has been automatically upgraded to Market Leader Professional, and every RealtyGenerator customer has been automatically upgraded to the Market Leader Business Suite — all at no additional charge.
“The Market Leader solution, with this exciting new Marketing Center, is my secret weapon, saving me time while I build relationships” said Kevin Brooks, a real estate agent and Market Leader customer in Mount Vernon, NY. “From filling my pipeline with leads, to helping me identify, nurture, and engagebuyers and sellers, Market Leader is helping me grow my business. My prospects are blown away with my responsiveness and professionalism, and my current customers keep coming back for more.”
For more information about the new Marketing Center and the full Market Leader Professional and Business Suite solutions, please visit www.marketleader.com/one-solution.
About Market Leader
Market Leader, founded in 1999, provides innovative online technology and marketing solutions for real estate professionals across the United States and Canada. The company serves more than 100,000 real estate agents, brokerages and franchisors, offering complete end-to-end solutions that enable them to grow and manage their businesses. Market Leader’s subscription-based real estate marketing software – including websites, contact management, a marketing center, and lead generation services – helps customers generate a steady stream of prospects, plus provides the systems and training they need to convert those prospectsinto clients. In addition, the company’s national consumer real estate sites, including www.realestate.com, give its customers access to millions of future home buyers and sellers, while providing consumers with free access to the information they seek.
For more information on Market Leader visit www.MarketLeader.com.
Here are a couple further clarifications / additional information:
· We launched the solution for Keller Williams in Feb 2011, so agents used the integrated Imprev system for a little over a year.
· Keller Williams agents began using Market Leader’s new marketing center (instead of Imprev) a couple months ago, and the transition has gone very well. We were able to provide a number of enhancements that agents appreciate.