Real estate professionals rely heavily on their MLS for listing promotion, especially when they subscribe to large MLSs like Bright MLS with over 100,000 customers. Agents know that photos are one of the key ways to effectively promote a property, yet many limit the number of photos they upload to the MLS because the process can be very onerous. Bright MLS, after soliciting input from their subscribers about the best ways to simplify the process of setting up a listing, has made it a LOT easier to upload photos now.

With their new Media Sync product, high res photos can be uploaded directly from the photographer with a click of a button. No more downloading and saving the photos on an agent’s home computer and then uploading them into the MLS one at a time. With the new tool, all of the property photos are uploaded at once. Listing photos that previously took from 15-30 minutes to manage are successfully uploaded in just seconds.

The beta test for Media Sync has netted great reviews from agents, the system saved them a bunch of time and eliminating the need for them to store large photo files on their computers.

This type of innovation is EXACTLY the type of thinking that every MLS needs to embrace. How can MLSs help agents do their job better, faster, and easier? How can MLSs free up time so agents can spend more time prospecting, nurturing client relationships, supporting their active clients, and reaching out to their past clients to help create customers for life?

Here are three ideas to get you started on the right road to long-term loyalty and satisfaction for your MLS customers.

1. Partner with Bright MLS

If you have the desire to uncover exciting ways to improve your MLS system workflow, but don’t believe you have the skills or resources yourself, partner with companies like Bright MLS. They have a large internal development and research team that has the budget and skills to uncover and address unmet needs. Then you can simply work with them to leverage all of their great work instead of having to dedicate resources yourself.

2. Set up User Groups
There is no better way to learn how to make it easier for agents to work with your MLS than to talk to them directly. Some of the best questions to ask them to uncover opportunities for improvement:

• “What is the most frustrating part of setting up a listing?”

• “What is the most difficult part of providing insights to a client when you’re in the middle of touring homes?”

• “How do you keep your prospects, customers, and past clients up to speed on the real estate market?”

• “How do you keep your brand in front of past clients so they don’t forget about you for repeat business or referrals?”

3. Participate in the WAV Group Customer Experience Index Survey
WAV Group has launched the WAV Group Customer Experience Index survey. This tool allows you to gather information from your local market and then benchmark your results against MLSs around the country. In the open-end questions, subscribers highlight tons of ways to make your software, service, training, and compliance more effective.

4. Monitor Feature Usage

Monitoring the features used in your MLS technologies is another way to see what elements your subscribers are engaging in most often. Work with your MLS technology vendors to better understand what features are used most and least often. Then interview heavy users of each of the tools to find out what works best and what needs to be improved

If you need help thinking through a product innovation strategy, conducting focus groups, or setting up user groups, we’re happy to help. We have helped many MLSs and technology companies uncover exciting new ways to serve their clients better and we would love to help you too! Before joining the real estate industry, I was SVP of Product Management at Fisher-Price toys. We launched 400 new products a year, so we have an unparalleled depth of skill and experience in outlining and building new products!

 

Read the Full Press Release Below

Bright MLS Launches Media Sync
Powerful tool dramatically speeds up photo listing and tour uploads

(Rockville, Md.) August 2, 2022 — Bright MLS, which serves over 100,000 real estate professionals from Pennsylvania to Virginia, announced today the launch of Media Sync, a powerful new tool that eliminates the need for listing agents to manually download, save, and upload their listing photos one by one into Bright MLS. Instead, Media Sync allows agents to upload images directly from the professional photographers they work with into their listing with a click of a button, dramatically speeding up this critical step of the listing management process.

Bright MLS recently completed a successful beta test of Media Sync with three partners (HomeVisit®, Real Tour, Inc. and TruPlace) and a variety of agents across Bright’s footprint. The results of the beta test were remarkable, as agents noted Media Sync saved them valuable time, and also importantly eliminates the need for them to utilize valuable storage for photos, as they are moved seamlessly directly from their chosen vendor’s website. Listing photos that previously took from 15-30 minutes to manage were successfully uploaded in just seconds.

“Virtual tours, floor plans and rich, compelling photos are the foundation of a great listing,” said Brian Donnellan, Bright MLS President & CEO. “Bright’s Media Sync dramatically speeds up moving these important assets through the listing management process. Our beta testing partnerships were a resounding success. Bright’s subscribers can now look forward to a faster, simpler media upload and management experience.”

“We were pleased to be selected to partner with Bright MLS to participate in the Media Sync API beta, enabling a single-click push of labeled photos and virtual tour links from our Client Portal directly to an agent’s listing in just seconds. Our technical teams worked well together to quickly implement this time-saving solution for our mutual agents, reducing listing management time by up to 30 minutes per listing. We are very satisfied with the seamless outcome and positive response from agents during the beta and look forward to a successful full launch and continued collaboration,” said Bob Cusack, CEO, TruPlace.

“At HomeVisit, we give real estate professionals the marketing tools they need in a single workflow so they can get to market and sell properties faster. We were thrilled to collaborate with Bright MLS on Media Sync which gives our customers the power to publish their HomeVisit photos, property websites and floor plans to their listing in seconds with a single click, greatly streamlining and simplifying a once time-consuming process,” said Mark Spraetz, Sr. Leader, HomeVisit by CoreLogic.

Media Sync is the latest innovation from Bright MLS, following the recent successful launches of Teams and Teams Pro. Both are now being utilized by nearly 1,000 teams across Bright’s footprint, enabling them to establish their team in the MLS; build the team’s brand recognition and visibility on listings; route workflows more efficiently; and easily track volume and rankings, all within Bright’s system. These agent-focused tools and advances put brokerages’ and agents’ valuable time at the forefront by eliminating cumbersome steps, clicks, and manual tracking.

Media Sync is open to any photography service who would like to participate and meets the technical requirements that enable the tool to connect with their system. More details about Media Sync is available at BrightMLS.com/MediaSync.

About Bright MLS
Bright MLS was founded in 2016 as a collaboration between 43 visionary associations and two of the nation’s most prominent MLSs to transform what an MLS is and what it does, so real estate pros and the people they serve can thrive today and into our data-driven future through an open, clear, and competitive housing market for all. Bright is proud to be the source of truth for comprehensive real estate data in the Mid-Atlantic, with market intelligence currently covering six states (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia) and the District of Columbia. Bright MLS’s innovative tool library—both created and curated—provides services and award-winning support to well over 100k real estate professionals, enabling their delivery on the promise of home to over half a million home buyers and sellers monthly. In 2021, Bright subscribers facilitated $141B in real estate transactions through the company’s platform. Learn more at BrightMLS.com