SentriLock RLC Newsletter

2009 January 1 - 12:01 am

In This Issue

What’s Your New Year’s Resolution?
SentriLock Names John Heithaus as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Updated Card Utility Software Now Available
SentriLock Teams with Rappatoni
Honolulu Turns to SentriLock
Announcing SentriLock University
See You At. . .

What’s Your New Year’s Resolution?

With yet another successful NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Conference & Expo behind us, it’s that time of year again: the time when New Year’s resolutions are made – and more important, kept. I’ll touch on a few of my own a bit later. To that end, I wanted to thank everyone for stopping by our booth in Orlando and for the opportunity to catch up with clients and chat with others who may consider using our services in 2009. And that brings me back to a few resolutions you can count on from all of us at SentriLock as we move forward in the new year:

The Next-Generation Product, Today – As your electronic lockbox provider, more than anything else, you continue to receive from us the industry’s most advanced and secure solution
Unparalleled Service – For two years running, you’ve rated SentriLock the industry’s top lockbox; we are striving to make it three years in a row
Born in the U.S.A – Remember when “made in the USA” meant something? At SentriLock, we do – and it still means a great deal to us. That’s why our lockboxes are designed and built in the U.S. and all of our technical support is handled right here in our Cincinnati corporate office
Team-Based Alliances – Our goal is to develop team-based alliances with association executives and your members as we develop solutions tailored to your specific market’s requirements
We Do the Right Thing – NAR’s majority ownership of SentriLock provides a many unique benefits that no other lockbox company can claim. We earn the respect and loyalty of our customers one at a time and fully understand that only then, financial performance will follow.

On behalf of the entire SentriLock team, these are just some of things we’re committed to in 2009 and beyond. We’re excited by the opportunity to deliver these and much more, and to working together with you in the weeks and months ahead. Sincerely, Scott Fisher President and CEO

SentriLock Names John Heithaus as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing

With a client roster that includes 200 REALTOR® Boards and Associations and more than 200,000 sales agents, SentriLock President and CEO Scott Fisher is focusing his sites on even larger growth. To help the company achieve it, Fisher recently appointed respected industry veteran John L. Heithaus as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Heithaus’ 28-year career in residential real estate and relocation spans management and executive positions with Coldwell Banker, Prudential Real Estate and Relocation and Internet startup Monstermoving.com. For the majority of his career, Heithaus has specialized in business development and strategic alliance management. He and the teams he has led have been widely credited with pioneering mutually beneficial and long-lasting alliances with residential real estate organizations and ancillary service providers. These include national mortgage programs, home inspection companies and residential closing and title services. In addition, Certified Closing Network, a national closing services firm Heithaus co-founded, was acquired by First American Residential in 2005. Heithaus is a frequent keynote and panel speaker at regional and national industry events. “To say we are thrilled to have John join our executive team would be an understatement,” Fisher said. “We’ll immediately tap into his nearly three decades of real estate industry experience to guide our sales and marketing efforts to advance SentriLock’s growth as we continue on our record-setting pace.” Educated at Iona College, Manhattan College’s MBA program and Georgetown University’s McDonough Graduate School of Business, Heithaus is currently matriculating for a Ph.D. in Organizational Theory and Design. Heithaus received The Employee Relocation Council’s coveted President’s Award in 1996, in addition to three Distinguished and two Meritorious Service Awards, for his contributions to the industry’s educational and technological initiatives.

Updated Card Utility Software Now Available

SentriLock recently released the latest version of its Card Utility Software that includes a variety of enhancements. In addition to improvements to the diagnostic tools, real estate professionals will now see options related to SSL in the Options menu and enhanced back up capabilities. SSL connectivity was introduced in an earlier version, but users will now have additional control over this setting. The Utility will also prompt the user to turn off SSL if it detects that the network connection does not allow it. Additional enhancements have also been made to improve the user experience. For instance, if SentriLock’s main server goes down, the Card Utility automatically switches to the company’s alternate server. Each time a card is inserted during failover mode, the utility checks the main server address to see if it is operating again and will switch back if it receives the appropriate response. This seamless redirection of server communication helps keep card renewal activity running normally regardless of internet or server interruptions. We also added the ability to display important system messages for any agent, office or association within the card utility window when a card is inserted into the card reader. Updating to the newest software version is simple: just click ‘Help’ and then ‘Check for Software Updates’ (following the onscreen prompts for users running version 1.09.1 or later). If you have an earlier version of the software, it can be updated by running the updater file located at www.sentrilock.com/files.

SentriLock Teams with Rapattoni

As part of its commitment to anticipate and then meet its clients’ needs, SentriLock has teamed with Rapattoni Corporation on a technology initiative that enables real estate professionals using the Rapattoni MLS to receive immediate updates with multiple listing service information retrieved in real time. With a Single Sign On (SSO) link between the Rapattoni MLS and SentriLock lockboxes, brokers and agents now have real-time syncing between MLS data and lockboxes. “We are continually looking for ways to deliver useful, relevant information to our clients,” said Scott Fisher, CEO of SentriLock. “Teaming with Rapattoni Corporation enables MLS data and our lockboxes to exchange information immediately, putting pertinent data literally at our clients’ fingertips.” Rapattoni MLS users of SentriLock lockboxes can click a button in the multiple listing service that takes them directly to www.SentriLock.com. This will display all of their lockbox information synchronized with their MLS listings. Additionally, it eliminates the need for the agent to log in multiple times to the SentriLock site since users are automatically logged on through the MLS. Once logged in, users can easily link listing information to lockboxes in the SentriLock system.

Honolulu Turns to SentriLock

Marking a major turning point for its real estate agents and brokers – going from mechanical lockboxes to electronic – the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® recently completed the rollout of SentriLock’s REALTOR® Lockbox NXT. “We did a better job than we imagined in terms of people getting enrolled and getting them to training,” said Rochelle Gregson, CEO for the Honolulu Board of REALTORS®. “Our goal was to distribute 3,000 lockboxes and we actually distributed 4,800, which is incredibly good news,” she said. And agents have already begun to realize the potential time savings – including no longer needing to call an agent before showing a property – and other benefits associated with “going electronic” with SentriLock. “I received an e-mail from SentriLock that one of my vacant listings had been shown,” said BJ Allen of Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties. “My showing instructions in the multiple listing service gave permission for agents to show the home anytime with no need for them to call before showing,” Allen added. “This agent did not have to contact me and this is how the (electronic lockbox) system works.” In addition, Honolulu agents and brokers with a question or two about their new system have found SentriLock to be incredibly customer-service oriented. “SentriLock is there for us whenever an agent or broker calls,” Gregson said. “The responsiveness is great and willingness to get the job done is fantastic.” Prior to converting to the new electronic lockboxes, Gregson identified four key areas that would be critical to her board’s success:

Get the product out to as many brokers and agents as possible
Show people how easy it is to use
Clearly demonstrate the benefits of the product
Always keep the user in mind: “The average age of our members is 55 and it’s our job to bring them an easy-to-use system so they become as familiar with the SentriLock lockbox as they are with their cell phone.”

SentriLock University

SentriLock is pleased to announce the establishment of SentriLock University and the promotion of Zach Cummings to lead SentriLock’s new employee education program. Starting in 2009, a series of new hire training and continuing education programs will be provided to our employees to support the award-winning team’s efforts to provide our REALTOR® customers and association staff with outstanding support and service. We’ll keep you posted on new developments from this exciting initiative!

See You At. . .

We’ll be at industry conferences from coast to coast over the course of 2009.

Banff Western Connection Conference, Banff, Canada, January 29-31, 2009
AE Institute, Colorado Springs, CO, March 20-24, 2009
NAR Midyear, Washington, DC, May 13-15, 2009
NAR Leadership Summit, Chicago, IL, August 24-25, 2009
NAR Annual Expo, San Diego, CA, November 13-15, 2009

If you would like to schedule an appointment with your sales directors while attending any of these conferences, feel free to e-mail us at Sentrisales@Sentrilock.com

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