BY Craig C. Rowe | Staff Writer | VIEW FULL ARTICLE AT INMAN.COM

‍KvCORE, an Inside Real Estate product, is an enterprise platform for real estate business management, marketing, lead capture and customer relationship management.‍

Top selling points

• Custom website builds; not limited to templates
• Best-of-breed user experience
• Integrations with popular transaction systems
• Connected to 97 percent of nation’s MLS data
• Easy-to-manage nurturing automations

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Top concerns

Its size and scope worry me somewhat. There is a robust onboarding and coaching system, but its breadth of features means that there are that many more third-party tools agents would have to cease using.

What you should know

A standout feature in kvCORE is a listing activity feature that defines lead activity by property, not by name.

Instead of a list of recently active contacts, which can be visually overwhelming and not as apt to incite a user response, kvCORE puts the property first, using images and a menagerie of insights to engage the user. Who clicked on it and when? Did they use a phone or a desktop?

It’s a subtle UX (user experience) design choice, but highly effective because agents ultimately center business on addresses, not people. “What’s happening with Elm Street? Any showings?”

This “listing CRM” is the type of touch that helps businesswide solutions like kvCORE differentiate themselves.

There are many, very good solutions of this magnitude out there, and they all have a few specific assets that help brokers make buying decisions. Look for nuance in a potential software partner, find nooks of design intelligence that demonstrate a company’s understanding of real estate. They can be hard to find these days, and don’t jump if something doesn’t stand out.

For example, in a recent announcement about Baird & Warner choosing kvCORE, it was revealed they examined eight different solutions.

Additionally powerful is this feature’s ability to put an entire MLS within reach of a touch-pad. Open one listing, and you’ll quickly see its market counterparts, level of activity and history.

Agents can call interested parties directly from the listing card, discuss property features or send similar listings via text.

This accomplishes the very important need to once again put agents in control of information. When data is that accessible, it’s that much easier to communicate to buyers and sellers and keep them away from time-sucking, confusion-inducing portals.

In terms of a website, kvCORE doesn’t limit users to a small library of web templates because it pushes its features through an API.

It can develop from-scratch custom solutions to ensure your company has its own identity, while fully handling the brunt of the software’s lead capture, nurture and oversight power.

Search result pages display a sharp menu of market data so users can juxtapose properties with what’s happening out there.

Image-reading technology and location information combine dynamically behind the scenes to give homeshoppers the option to view similar properties to the one that drew them in. This helps satisfy the buyer urge to see “what else is out there” and might encourage them to treat your listing page as they would a stroll around Zillow. It’s the same technological tactic that made Jeff Bezos (Amazon’s founder and CEO ICYMI) one of the world’s wealthiest people.

Listing agents are alerted when a property is viewed or clicked on to encourage rapid follow-up. If too busy at the moment, the lead can be pushed into a nurture campaign.

Our demo centered primarily on the browser application, but it also included glimpses of the mobile app’s functionality.

It does a good job of making tasks a priority, and can launch a power-dial session, convenient when driving and connected to Bluetooth.

I saw enough to trust in the app’s capability, trust that’s backed by the performance witnessed in the web app.

If mobile is core to your workflow (as it better be), certainly take time to analyze it separately as you enter due diligence. But I doubt you’ll come away disappointed.

Word count limits my ability to explain in detail how broad a system this is, but brokers considering a change should understand that this product:

• Included Smart CRM, totally configurable to agent and team workflows
• Connects to SkySlope, DocuSign Transaction Rooms, Brokermint, Broker Sumo and dotloop
• Automatically captures and nurtures sphere-of-influence contacts from agent databases and social profiles as well as dormant contacts
• Free & organic lead gen options
• Quickly launches Facebook ad campaigns and squeeze pages
• Simplifies automated follow ups
• Encourages actual voice calling
• Has multiple lead routing rules and automatic performance accountability features
• Allows brokers to monitor agent, team and office performance
• Includes all common calendar integrations
• Offers business analytics for forecasting and reporting

Software solutions with such a broad business scope aren’t priced off-the-shelf. There is a per-seat fee, which might prompt some brokers to consider the harsh reality of which agents are worth the cost of admission. Total price will ultimately vary on the level of customization needed for the consumer web experience.

That said, in most cases, return on an investment like this wouldn’t be fully realized without a renovated website. It’s critical to solid lead gen and, overall, smart business.

Brokers today can’t afford to neglect their websites, and kvCORE’s best features will be even more effective with a carefully strategized front-end. Consider it curb appeal for your business, except you’ll need to do more much than paint the door red.

Look especially at what independent brokerages are designing for consumers, as they’re not pinned down by the tedious branding requirements of some big franchises. They can be more creative and flexible.

KvCORE is on the level with the top players in this milieu. Its recent partnerships and Inside Real Estate’s announcement of new financial backing suggest much bigger things are on the way from this already well-established proptech company.

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