The best MLSs today recognize their broker customers are under a ton of pressure to produce, while facing enormous amounts of downward pressure on profitability. Today’s hot market is attracting newcomers into the industry. Brokers need to onboard their new agents as quickly as possible so they can get trained and on their way to their first sale. Maine Listings, one of the 6 statewide MLSs in America, now recognized they could make it easier for their brokers to onboard and transfer agents. They built a self-service portal to make it simple for brokers to add agents to their roster. Love to see this type of customer-centricity! Great job, Maine Listings!

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Maine Listings – Making it Easier for Brokers to Onboard new Agents with Self-Service Tools

Maine Listings is one of the six statewide MLSs in the United States today, serving over 6,000 members. It’s an organization owned by the Maine Association of REALTORS® that is dedicated to making it easier for their subscribers to succeed at supporting homeownership, according to their motto.

This efficient organization was successful at creating one MLS throughout the state because of its progressive thinking and customer-centricity. They build innovative solutions to support their customers that provide easy ways for their customers to do business with streamlined processes.

Maine Listings has a small staff, so they regularly investigate opportunities for simpler, more automated methods of supporting their subscribers. The organization is documenting and automating as many processes as possible in order to strategically position the organization to serve its participants and subscribers well into the future.

Maine Listings began working with MMSI, their Membership Management System partner, many years ago. Recognizing that the process of onboarding new agents can be cumbersome, Maine Listings set out to find a simpler and more efficient way for brokers to add new agents into the MLS system.

Maine Listings went to MMSI and asked them to build a Broker Self-Service tool to allow brokers to add their own agents. The organization had built their own End User Manager, but went to MMSI to ensure the system was seamlessly integrated with the company’s membership management and accounting system.

“We went to MMSI with the idea of building a broker self-service portal and they welcomed the challenge. We built it together. MMSI listened closely to our needs and built a system that works very, very well,” says Cathy Libby, CEO of Maine Listings. “We have a strong fundamental relationship with MMSI because they work with us to address our unique methods of providing exemplary service to our customers.”

The Broker Self-Service tool allows a broker or office manager to add an agent themselves. With the same tool, brokers and office managers can also terminate an agent’s access as well, and adjust MLS User Classes within preset boundaries (for example: to adjust permissions to be office level or firm level). The tool includes a streamlined method for MLS staff to approve a new member and to automatically connect to billing and the accounting system.

According to CEO Libby, “The MMSI Broker Self-Service tool dramatically speeds up the approval process and simplifies the process of onboarding a new agent for both the broker and our staff. It truly is a win/win. With the surge of growth that we, like many MLSs, are enjoying right now, this tool has been critical to our success.”

To learn more about how MMSI can provide your organization with a Broker Self-Service tool, click here.

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