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December 6, 2007
Cobalt and The SouthEast Valley Regional Association of REALTORS® (SEVRAR) have partnered to bring Realtor® associations a better choice for the management of membership data and communications. Cobalt is working with SEVRAR to co-develop a REALTOR® Association version of the Cobalt Association Management Suite (CAMS).
Headquartered in Mesa, Arizona, SEVRAR (www.sevrar.com) is the 14th largest Realtor® association in the country. Its mission is to provide it’s nearly twelve thousand members with quality services, member benefits, education and advocacy in order to promote professionalism and enhance business opportunities.
SEVAR began the search for a new technology solution after thoroughly evaluating the latest offerings from the few vendors that offer a REALTOR® association specific product and finding them to be outdated, cumbersome and inflexible. To be ‘the ultimate REALTOR® support organization’ called for a better solution; one that could leverage relationship management technology instead of simply a contact database. The solution was found in CAMS, a full-featured association management system built upon the industry-leading Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform.
CAMS is comprised of the CRM system, a web-based Executive Dashboard for business intelligence reporting and a fully integrated content management system driving a member service web portal. It is capable of tracking all interactions with a member from one user-friendly interface and includes workflow management and automation tools to streamline processes. Its built-in web integration enables a host of online member service tools such as: profile updates, event registrations, invoices and dues payments, education tracking, content targeting, dynamic directories and single sign-on for a plethora of “Web 2.0” functionality (blogs, forums, wikis, e-libraries, online collaboration, etc.). With these tools, SEVAR staff plans to automate many manual tasks, increase efficiency and provide superior service to its members.
The CAMS Real Estate Solution will integrate with SEVRAR’s existing website and property listing service (the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service or ARMLS) as well as the Arizona Department of Real Estate (ADRE) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR). In addition, it will allow SEVRAR to manage membership dues for multiple member types and to enforce members’ monetary, educational and legal requirements, to include the requirements imposed by local and national bylaws. CAMS will also allow SEVRAR to manage corporate affiliates, course instructors, brokers, appraisers, vendors and advertisers.
The web portal component of this implementation provides for real-time posting of events, meetings and courses, year-round dues payments with prorating, online forms and applications, online store functionality to include posting products and processing purchase, secure voting during board elections, online advertising management and general content management. More importantly, the web portal is integrated with the backend database, which provides SEVRAR with a complete history of each member.
With the formation of this partnership, SEVRAR and Cobalt are dedicated to providing ideal solutions for REALTOR® associations considering a new membership management system.
About Cobalt
Cobalt (www.cobalt.net) in an Alexandria, VA based software development firm focused on working with associations, non-profits and certification boards. Founded in 1996, Cobalt has worked with hundreds of customers to help drive revenue, increase internal efficiency and offer value-added services. Cobalt’s products provide integrated data and communications management solutions using the power of the Microsoft CRM platform.
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