It’s one thing for a new tech Startup to grow rapidly, and quite another for a tech service that has been around for 15 years to grow 20 percent in just 50 days. But that’s exactly the incredible accomplishment that Florida Realtors® has registered: 9 new state and local associations and nearly 90,000 new members in 50 days. Tricia Stamper, who manages Form Simplicity and Tech Helpline, and her team at Florida Realtors have done just that. They’re also growing Form Simplicity, their transaction management software firm by targeting Real Estate Brokerages with a highly affordable “white label” service so brokers can offer their own system, something that their competitors don’t have. But the activity at Tech Helpline, approaching a reach that extends to nearly half of all Realtors in North America (they have a very large footprint in Canada as well), is truly a stunning accomplishment.
Here’s their news release:
Florida Realtors® Tech Helpline Registers Record Growth in 50 Days
Adds 9 State & Local Associations, Nearly 90,000 New Users
Orlando, FL – March 2, 2016 – Today, nearly half of the Realtors® in U.S. and Canada – some 500,000 real estate professionals – now have access to Tech Helpline, a service owned by the Florida Realtors® that provides technical support services for a wide range of software and hardware, from smartphones and tablets to desktops, laptops, email problems, virus issues and more.
Dubbed “the Genius Bar for real estate,” Tech Helpline is the real estate industry’s number one technology support service and in just 50 days, it has contracted with 9 local and state Realtor® Associations, including Arizona Association of Realtors, Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, Oregon Association of Realtors, St. Louis Association of Realtors, Glenwood Springs Association of Realtors, North San Diego County Association of Realtors, Great Falls Association of Realtors, South Okanagan Real Estate Board, and the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. Membership in these Associations total more than 89,600, making support from Tech Helpline available to almost half the Realtors in the U.S. and Canada.
“The growth of Tech Helpline has been stunning,” says Tricia Stamper, Director of Technology Products at Florida Realtors®. “But we attribute this record growth to what we offer other Realtor Associations, Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) and real estate brokerage firms: A service built for Realtors by Realtors and no nonsense technical advice from a warm and friendly U.S.-based customer services staff. This is a high-skilled group with over 250 combined years of experience 
who deeply understand what agents need, offering support in both English and Spanish.”
According to Stamper, Tech Helpline’s growth rate from December 14, 2015 to February 1, 2016 has exceeded by an incredible 20 percent. Stamper notes that Associations, MLSs and brokerages all want to give their members and agents the benefits that they value “and tech support consistently has proven to be one of the most valued benefits,” she explains.
Stamper notes that Tech Helpline’s growth also has been buoyed by the growth of Florida Realtors® Form Simplicity transaction software and retention of highly satisfied clients, as Tech Helpline provides technical support for Form Simplicity. “Arkansas Realtors® Association, which recently renewed Form Simplicity as a member benefit and its Ultimate Edition as a member service, has a nearly 80 percent adoption rate among its 7,000 members for Form Simplicity and also has been a client of Tech Helpline since 2011,” she notes. Stamper says these “built by Realtors® for Realtors®” services are beginning to attract the attention of the real estate brokerage community.
“Both Form Simplicity and its sister service Tech Helpline have long been a staple of dozens of state and local Associations and MLS offerings, but because Form Simplicity can be ‘white labeled’ or customized to a brokerage’s brand, we are now gaining the attention of brokerages. Because of our affordable price point and heavy broker-centric feature, for the first time, brokerages are beginning to consider Form Simplicity for their own transaction management system, one they can offer and their competitors can’t,” Stamper says.
Because Form Simplicity’s technical support comes from Tech Helpline, Stamper believes Tech Helpline will begin to also garner the attention of brokerages in markets where the local MLS or Association does not offer it as a member benefit. “Broker-owners managing listings in a hot market know that they can’t afford for their agents to be left stranded when a laptop fails or a smartphone freezes, especially when the solution could be just a click or call away,” Stamper adds.
More information about Tech Helpline is available online at www.techhelpline.com.
About Tech Helpline
Tech Helpline began almost fifteen years ago as a service for members of Florida Realtors®. Known for its no-nonsense technical advice and warm, friendly, customer service, Tech Helpline rapidly grew by offering its service to other Realtor® Associations, Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) and real estate brokerage 
firms. Tech Helpline is the real estate industry’s #1 tech support service, available to one in three Realtors in North America – more than 500,000 in the U.S. and Canada. Tech Helpline’s office and staff of professional tech analysts, with more than 250 years of combined IT experience, are located in Orlando, Florida, and are available to provide technology support by phone, chat or email. More information is available online atwww.techhelpline.com.
Florida Realtors®, formerly known as the Florida Association of Realtors®, serves as the voice for real estate in Florida. It provides programs, services, continuing education, research and legislative representation to its 155,000 members in 56 boards/associations.
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Note: WAV Group Communications provides consulting services to both Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity.
