Editor’s Note: “eXp Insider” is our new continuing series in which we share what’s happening behind the scenes within eXp Realty. Learn here how CFO Alan Goldman and Vice President of Agent Services, Kee Wah Chung are teaming up to speed up commission payments to our agents.
“Operation Payment Express” Payment & Process Matter
Q. “Operation Payment Express” sounds like a pretty weighty initiative. What are you trying to accomplish?
Alan: In our quest to become the #1 brokerage firm in nation and beyond, there’s really nothing more important to us than making sure our agents are paid quickly when they close a transaction. For the vast majority, we do a pretty good job. We also know that for some agents, this has not been their experience during this past year given our rapid growth. Regardless of the reasons for this, we can, and will, do better.
Chief Financial Officer
Q. Where do you start on something as important as this?
Kee Wah: Like most important things that happen at eXp, it’s a team effort that goes well beyond the two of us. It all starts with understanding where we are today, and where we want to go. We started by deeply looking at the process as it exists today across every touch point where an eXp staff member interacts with a transaction or affects commission payments. Then, we are assessing if there are deficiencies internally that we can quickly correct through adjusting our resources or through additional training. Being a technology-enabled brokerage firm, using the right technology in the right way is also key.
Q. What have you found so far?
Alan: As I talk to a variety of agents, their payment does not always post as fast as we would all like and there is a need for a consistent notification mechanism of when a payment was processed. Often, we think we have done the right thing on our end, but a local bank can have a slower process than we would like. Communication is a big part of all this–setting a standard that makes sense for all, and making sure we define that standard.
Vice President of Agent Experience
Q. You just started on the effort. Have you implemented any early changes?
Kee Wah: We are still in the audit phase, but have also made some quick changes that agents tell us are having a early, positive impact. We’ve added two new settlement specialists who are helping to speed up the process in multiple ways. We’ve also moved one of our very experienced staff into this area to ensure we are improving, identifying quick wins and leading with an agent-first mindset. It’s all about driving greater transaction payment velocity for our agents. This gives us some immediate wins as well as learning for how we might make changes to the overall process for the longer term.
Q. How does the eXp Enterprise App tie into all of this?
Kee Wah: For those not familiar, we launched the eXp Enterprise App on May 1, after more than a year of development. Enterprise will be the data processing hub of all we do at eXp. We started with leveraging Enterprise for the management of all eXp transactions. In less than one month of operation, we are starting to realize the benefits for driving greater speed of the transaction payment process. Operation Payment Express directly ties to this as it allows us to identify process and technology improvements, execute on some quick fixes / wins and prioritize key process or future development efforts within Enterprise to drive maximum efficiency. We are very excited about the future of Enterprise and we’ll be sharing much more about its benefits in the coming weeks–so stay tuned!
Q. What’s next?
Alan: We have a detailed 60 day plan we are feverishly working on. There will be continuing improvements during that time, as well as the development of performance standards, and we look forward to communicating with everyone as we better understand what’s working, what’s not and how you can help us better serve you. We all understand the importance of prompt commission payment and are excited to make it happen for you!
Alan Goldman joined the Company as its Chief Financial Officer in March 2016. Kee Wah Chung serves as the Vice President of Agent Experience, joining eXp in April 2017. Feel free to share your thoughts with them! Reach Alan at [email protected] and Kee Wah at [email protected].