There’s a lot of buzz in the technology world about User Experience, or UX as it is more commonly abbreviated. There is definitely a need to make the human-machine interface a more natural and intuitive one. However, I was reminded this weekend that UX can (and indeed, should) be applied to every interaction that a business has with their clients.
Today I had the privilege of attending the RE/MAX Broker/Owner Conference at the Spier Estate. White Wall Web has a long history with RE/MAX but my personal involvement has been relatively short. Today I got to know them a bit better as well as seeing what makes them such a great brand.
It’s great to see a company’s top leadership interact with such charisma, honesty and integrity. It is clear to me that they see RE/MAX as a large family, with each broker/owner a valuable and respected member.
The 2 speakers, Christopher Invidiata from Aboutowne Realty and Steven Murray, President of Real Trends, both gave enlightening and useful talks on a variety of topics, applicable not only to realty, but to business in general. I personally walked away with many revelations and valuable business nuggets that I will be applying in my team.
Recently I featured on eTV’s ‘The Tech Report” illuminating the concept of Cloud Computing and discussing the benefits thereof. I thought it would be fitting to further my thoughts on the topic, as the insert didn’t allow me to expand on why I’m so passionate about the technology or what the path was that has led me there.
I’ve been in the technology world working with computers for most of my adult life and to tell you that I’m tired of computer problems is quite an understatement. I used to really love the idea of being able to build my own computer up from various components that I had specifically chosen for their features, performance, speed, etc. I could sit for hours configuring the multitude of settings, tweaking this, fixing that, until the machine was running optimally. That would never last for long though. Something invariable changes and incompatibilities arise – usually it’s an updated driver, an update to the operating system or something as obscure as temperature fluctuations due to a faulty fan. Just like a mechanic’s car spends a large portion of its life with the bonnet off, so the geek’s PC usually spends most of its life with the side panel open – easy access if something needs to be changed, ripped out or replaced.
It’s amazing how much positive feedback we’ve had since the launch of our new Partner Program, WWW Inside. It seems as if everyone we approach really wants to explore the possibilities that partnerships offer. The problem is that it can be quite difficult instigating these partnerships. The other impression I get is that the willingness to share and collaborate in order to provide better service to clients is stronger than the need to protect and wall off their own client base from possible intrusion. This gives me a great sense of optimism about the future of our industry at large. We are a social species after all, with the need to interact and utilise the diverse set of individual skills that we have, so it makes sense to bring this through to our business environment, a traditionally cut-throat, dog-eats-dog environment. If we can move past the multitude of fears that partnering usually conjures up and instead see the opportunities for major growth and expansion that collaboration brings us, how much better would this be, both for our businesses and ultimately for our clients?
I’m looking forward to the road ahead with our new partnerships. Onwards and upwards!
