Property ManagementRegardless of Supplier, The e-PRO Certification Course Will Continue, Says N.A.R.
In this exclusive Realty Times interview, Bob Goldberg, senior vice president of marketing and business development for the National Association of REALTORS®, explains that the news that Websuite, the N.A.R."s current supplier for the online educational platform for e-PRO is having financial difficulties has nothing to do with the integrity of the online educational course for Realtors.
B.E.: Where does Websuite"s problems leave the N.A.R.?
B.G.: We (the N.A.R.) own the certification and curriculum development and the course objectives. Websuite is a supplier. We retain the logo, brand and certification. The reason we set up agreements that way is so that it won"t matter who is supplying goods or services to us, we have the right to pull the agreement and give it to another third-party supplier.
B.E.: The course?
B.G.: "We license the right to market the program to a third-party. e-PRO will go on. This is a situation in which people may not have understood the details.
B.E.: What happened?
B.G.: I just want to clarify events. They (Websuite) came to us a month ago and indicated that their plans to go public were not going to happen,...
B.E.: Were stock warrants part of your deal?
B.G.: No. The delivery of the education program was most important to us, and they had experience delivering online courses. They came to us and told us that they were looking at private placement dollars. To Websuite"s old management"s credit, they asked us to talk.
B.E.: Talk?
B.G.: If you have a contract with us, we can approve an investor or a change of management. That"s consistent with many of our contracts, it protects our interests if an unfriendly buyer comes in that might be counter to the interests of our members. To their credit, they have been bringing several investors to the table, the meeting last week was with one of several potential investor meetings. What we have been inquiring them about (the new investors in Websuite) is to get their commitment in expanding the e-PRO certification. They have to be committed to the growth and expansion of e-PRO. We want to have an e-PRO for advanced professionals, and association executives. We had talked about "A-e-PRO" for association executives and their staffs to tailor the curriculum to how an association runs. That"s why we have been active in their due diligence. Whoever comes in has to be equipped to meet those objectives.
B.E.: Are they paying you?
B.G.: Part of our alliance agreements is that we receive a royalty to offset staff costs.
B.E.: Is Websuite current in paying your royalties?
B.G.: No, but that is by design. We weren"t taking payments because we were giving them a chance to get going. There were monies that were due us, not a great amount, but we intentionally didn"t press the issue of accepting payments. We said, "Be sure you are meeting your cash flow needs."
B.E.: Were you concerned that they took your money and did other things with it?
B.G.: They were closely communicating with us on new things they were working on with regards to expansion. It was being plowed into expansion on N.A.R. services. We weren"t concerned that they were absconding with our money.
B.E.: Were you aware that people were going unpaid?
B.G.: We weren"t aware that people weren"t getting paid. It was a start up. Instead of our incentive, we really believed it is important to raise the bar.
B.E.: Why was Websuite picked? Other companies with more experience, such as University.com, report that they didn"t even get a chance to bid.
B.G.: That came out of one of our committee - a task force that looked at many vendors. The reason Websuite was selected was they had a dedicated education division and they were very impressed with a woman who was an Internet expert, a PhD.
B.E.: Dr. Barbara Hoffman? She was pulled off the project shortly after Websuite got the contract to do other things.
B.G.: The point is that e-PRO will continue. It is irrelevant to the outside who the supplier is. The point is not whether we continue with Websuite or their new investors. We are also looking at other third-parties to see if they are going to be better suppliers.
B.E.: Were you happy with the e-PRO results?
B.G.: The feedback was extremely positive, and the course is an overwhelming success. But we learned from the pilot program that there are different levels of expertise from one extreme to the other. You have some people say that it was the best thing that ever happened and others who said it was too difficult, if you can imagine that. The other extreme said they could do this course in their sleep. When we did the meetings with Websuite, we concluded that they need a beginner, intermediate and advanced e-PRO.
B.E.: I"ve read glowing reports about the course, too, but I know an e-PRO who can"t even do an e-mail attachment. I"m not saying she didn"t learn some things, but that the course was different than her expectations. She told me that she thought she would graduate knowing basic e-mail skills for example. Do you really think someone like that deserves to be called an e-PRO?
B.G.: It really is a full range and that is the make-up of the membership. You have people on the far end. How do you serve all of them with some kind of standard? That"s the challenge. How do you bring these people up to that level? We are still pleased with the program. Michael Russer says the course is "50 percent there" because what we have learned is that it hit a key core of agents, but we need to get it there for the above and below groups. Other industries have looked at this and it is a large undertaking for a trade association to get their membership trained like this.
B.E.: Are you thinking of licensing to other industries?
B.G.:That"s not our objective and Websuite would have loved to do that, but we said they couldn"t t do that until we have solved the course objectives for our agents. We want to take all 750,000 agents and get them to a certain level, and that embodies what Russer said. That"s where it needs to be at the end of the day. We are working to enhance the program.
B.E.: Are you looking at other vendors?
B.G.: What is important to us is to work with a company that is dedicated and committed to educational development and can utilize the latest and greatest technologies to deliver the course. Wireless access. You will see different levels on how the program will be distributed through different channels. We are always challenging our partners to deliver the best and greatest. I do want to say this about Websuite - they were very viable and had the timing been better, I would have bet on them to go public and had a high level of confidence in them. But unfortunately they were hit with the same bug as many other companies, but again, to their credit, they proactively came to us and brought different players and said, "We want to make sure you are comfortable with them. They really cared about the success of this program and that is why I feel very confident that Websuite will...We have been very impressed with their new investors and their innovative techniques. They have brought ideas we hadn"t thought about.
B.E.: So will Websuite continue as the e-PRO supplier?
B.G.: We have not made that decision. Nothing is signed and out of fairness to the players involved, we have to acknowledge that it would be in everyone"s best interest to allow Websuite to do what we want them to do, and to demonstrate financial viability. We don"t want to be held hostage to a vendor when another could do a better job.
B.E.: Will the e-PRO course of the future be able to be all things to all agents?
B.G.: The biggest dilemma with any vertical market, and you "ll hear it with CE courses, is that when you try to create a standard, the question is whether it is appropriate and there are multiple levels. We aren"t trying to create a master plumber compared to a regular plumber or a master electrician compared to a regular electrician. The master can charge more money. Our objective is to get them (agents) to play in the e-world, not to create a different status.
We did intensive feedback and got overall positive responses. How do you deal with that core group? The curriculum needed to be multi-level. We have to get someone who can do an e-transaction at the high end.
B.E.: So instead of being discouraged, you are more committed than ever?
B.G.: We are committed to the e-PRO certification for the members. This is a program we are 1000 per cent behind and we will continue to expand it and refine it no matter who the supplier is.
B.E.: So when will you know?
B.G.: A decision will be made in the next few weeks. The new investors with Websuite are very impressive. They have got their act together. They are not just trying to create the "dotcom aura." That is refreshing. They are more interested in building a product.