Shelley SpecchioRE Technology is publishing a new series called Follow the Leader.  The Leader to follow this week is Shelley Specchio, CEO of Northern Nevada Regional MLS.  Shelley impressed us with her out-of-the-box thinking, tech-savviness, and commitment to serving real estate professionals in the Reno and Northern Nevada MLS.

Republished from RE Technology……

Shelley’s Inspirational Accomplishment
Shelley is as humble as she is innovative. She sat down and chatted with us about her bright idea: using a fun event at the Apple store to unveil the new Paragon 5 and demonstrate its compatibility with the Mac OS and iPad. Talking to her, you can hear the enthusiasm in her voice.

“I realized that experience is far more valuable than mere words,” Shelley says. “So I decided to find a way to give people a hands-on demo. Thankfully, the owners of the Apple store in our area are really progressive and immediately saw the potential – put a Mac or an iPad into a REALTOR’s® hands for the first time and let them use the MLS system live.”

Shelley promoted the Apple store event to her members with a slick email blast (“paper flyers are SO outdated”). The event was drop-in – no RSVP was required. When MLS members arrived, Apple “Geniuses” were wandering through the store to help them as they sampled the Paragon 5 interface on iPad, iPhone, and MacBook.

“The event was a huge success,” Shelley says. “And we decided to take it a step further. We’re sending trainers to the Apple store to train the Geniuses with an overview of our products, including Paragon 5 and our mobile product. This way, we can help to meet our members’ needs by ensuring they receive accurate information and can preview our products on the Apple interface before making the decision whether or not to buy.

Industry Response
“Mac compatibility has been a key demand of MLS system satisfaction for years,” says Victor Lund of WAV Group. “Agents and brokers who are committed to the Mac OS have been very vocal about the challenges of compatibility. The fact that Shelley listened to this need and worked to find a solution shows her commitment to serving her MLS members.”

“So often, our MLS members would ask if they could use their Mac with the Paragon platform,” Shelley says. “I hated to tell them ‘no.’ That’s why I was so thrilled that the new Paragon 5 is Mac-compatible.”

This was big news. It deserved an equally big announcement. Shelley called on her marketing background, as well as her understanding of her members’ needs, and came up with a great idea.

We also spoke with Marty Reed, VP of Product Solutions at LPS (the developer of Paragon). “Paragon is a product enjoyed by over 200 MLS service providers reaching 190,000 agents,” says Ms. Reed. “Shelley and the rest of the team at NNRMLS are key drivers of the success that P5 is having in the marketplace. They are one of our prerelease customers and work closely with our product team on our Product Advisory Committee. They get their hands dirty in the QA process of our development and provide workflow feedback that leads to great product releases.”

Ms. Reed continues, “It doesn’t surprise me that Shelley came up with the Apple store launch idea. She’s doing a fantastic job; they execute everything so well as an MLS. In fact, this Apple store event is something we wish we’d thought of ourselves. Nothing is more powerful than putting a new feature in the hands of an agent and showing them how it can make a positive change in the way they do business.”

About Shelley Specchio

Shelley has served as CEO of the Northern Nevada Regional MLS since December of 2008. She also sits on the Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS) Board of Directors and holds a position on NAR’s MLS Issues and Policies Committee.

Prior to becoming CEO of NNRMLS, Shelley held the position of Vice President of Sales and Marketing. She also produced a popular bi-weekly real estate publication as a member service of the Reno/Sparks Association of REALTORS®.

Congratulations, Shelley, on being this week’s leader to follow!