1. Make it easier to track the effectiveness of listing advertising.
2. Make it easier for an agent to demonstrate value to clients.

The second is the primary goal, however I think that it’s a lot easier to demonstrate value if you first measure key areas in your business (as Deming was believed to say “you can’t manage what you don’t measure). One of the challenges I noticed when studying this problem is dearth of tools for agents to measure their value. That in turn makes it tougher to prove value.

David Garfinkel mentions in his copywriting blog the two kinds of proof necessary for people to believe you (in real estate, this means ‘be willing to pay your fees’).

The first kind of proof is proof that you can deliver the results you are promising.

The second kind of proof is proof that you understand how you deliver your results well enough to explain it to ordinary people — non-experts.

The advertising and marketing of a property is of course only one of the many value propositions agents make to their clients and thus only one of many to measure.

It’s a start.