How Top Teams Set Themselves Free!

For the longest time, real estate agents and brokers alike have sought something of a holy grail: the perfect "all in one" software platform that can literally do it all, from generating leads to providing both customer relationship management (CRM) and transaction management.

But the reality is that the perfect, "best at all things" platform simply does NOT exist. And when you really think about it, how can any one company be the best at absolutely everything?

In a growing trend, the highest performing teams now choose to work with the top specialized providers in each category and make sure that there is a seamless integration with these "top gun" solutions. Grant Johnson, founder of the Grant Group, said, "I used to have one Hyundai and now I have both a Ferrari and a Porsche!'

Johnson further explained that his company formerly worked with an all-in-one platform that had a decent CRM but digital marketing services that were sub-par. Today, they work with a purely focused CRM and a separate, best-in-class digital marketing platform and the absolute key is their seamless integration.

As Howard Tager, Ylopo CEO and co-founder, explains it, "CRMs should be CRMs, and digital marketing companies should be digital marketing companies. It's absurd to think that one company can be the best at everything."

As a founder of Tigerlead Solutions, he was on the front part of the all-in-one wave. But now in 2021, that model is antiquated at best. That's why at Ylopo, "we don't try to be all things to all people. As a pure-play, digital marketing solution for real estate, we can maniacally just focus on being the best at lead gen, dynamic remarketing, AI texting, video marketing, and custom-branded IDX websites. And we make sure that we have amazing two-way integrations with the best CRMs in the real estate industry."

"In 2021, being an all-around software development company doesn't cut it anymore," says Dan Corkill, CEO of real estate CRM Follow Up Boss. "Technology companies now need to have deep domain expertise and be uniquely specialized in order to effectively build and manage the latest and greatest advancements in tech. We live and breathe all things real estate CRM—this is our pure focus!"

Corkill further explains that this is where the all-in-one platforms run into trouble. "By still trying to do absolutely everything, rather than focusing on integrating with other, more advanced tools, they're living in the past, with outdated technology and as a result providing merely average tech to their customers."

Unfortunately, the old-school all-in-ones have what is called a closed application programming interface (API). When a company maintains a closed API, that essentially means they refuse to integrate well with other needed technology tools.

Why does this matter? Companies with a closed API can easily create a situation called "customer lock-in" where they hold their customers and their data hostage by preventing them from switching to other products and by forcing the customer to put forth massive effort, incur significant switching costs, or suffer substantial data loss if they tried to leave. But the good news is that making the break and moving off of an all-in-one platform, while it might cause some short term pain, will ultimately provide greater freedom and control over an agent or team's business and put them in a better position for long-term success.

Furthermore, with this approach, agents, teams and brokers will have the ultimate freedom to switch out any of their individual providers at any time that they like without affecting the other solutions at all.

There was a time when we believed an "all-in-one" platform was the best way to support agents," said Mike McGowan of Chime. "Through our strategic partner program, we learned that by maximizing the potential of each best of breed partner and tightly integrating with our powerful CRM, we can deliver a more powerful technology stack to our clients. As one of our valued partners, we are incredibly proud to work with Ylopo and offer our customers unmatched lead generation and digital marketing tools for long term success."

"Agents should be able to adapt and change as fast as tech changes and must partner with technology companies who can do the same," says Tristan Ahumada, top team leader and CEO and Co-Founder of Lab Coat Agents. "Better products come out for agents when companies focus on what they do well. Companies like Ylopo who have an open API and singularly specialize in the services they provide allow for agents to freely build their businesses how they see fit."

The key then, according to Ahumada, is to make sure that your best of breed tech solutions all talk to each other and are integrated in a seamless two-way manner. "Great integration is critical!"

Learn more about how Ylopo and our strategic partner program can work for you.