I want to take another stab at explaining this because I think it's well worth understanding and obviously I haven't done a good enough job of explaining it so far. This post is kind of long but bear with me. It’s worth the read.
First I want to apologize to any of you who have taken this the wrong way. It was not our intention to use the software you paid for as a "commercial". I don't agree with tactics like that and never will.
Just like you, lenders have become swamped by the Real Estate re-fi boom and are already looking for other alternatives, like AVMs, that will help them keep up. That’s bad for you and it’s bad for us here at a la mode. We’re giving them reasons not to look for other alternatives. While the methods of EDI to date are a tremendous improvement over mailed or faxed in reports, when faced with the unprecedented volume they are seeing these days, they are once again finding themselves bogged down. The problem is volume. When you think in terms of a few reports every day flowing into their in-box, an email with attached PDF is a perfect solution. If someone forgets to include the lender's file number or other needed piece of information, the lender can simply pick up the phone and call. But scale that up to dozens or even 100s and you have an unmanageable nightmare. You and your clients are now spending time playing phone tag instead of getting reports done and closing loans.
Mercury solves these problems by evolving the EDI process. It automates the process of ordering and delivering reports. It gives your clients an easy web based interface to send orders to you, automatically get status back, and pick up the report when finished knowing that all the tracking and other required data is there. For you appraisers, it saves you time by eliminating the step of retyping the information from the order into the report, automatically sends status update messages to your client at various stages of the appraisal process and checks your report against your clients review rules and other requirements before its transmitted to them. When you do transmit, unlike regular email, you get immediate confirmation that it transmitted successfully. Plus, depending on the type of delivery done you can even get confirmation of when they pick up the report.
All that said... what we are doing with the message in the EDI center is giving you and your lender clients a way to experience all the benefits of the process I just described. As I said earlier, we are changing the wording of that message in the next update to better accomplish this goal. We have not decided on the exact wording but it will say something to the effect of:
"Want an even faster turn around time? Next time place your appraisal order with us electronically. It saves even more time and hassle and lets you get your loan closed fast. Just click the following link: www.alamode.com/mercury/placeorder?appraiser=99999"
Clicking this link will let them start an appraisal order with YOU already selected as the appraiser and much of the other information already pre-populated. You’ve just made your clients life a lot easier and they'll remember that when the market levels out again and business starts to drop off.
Frankly, I'm having a hard time understanding why anyone would be against this. But, for those of you who are, just uncheck that box and you can go ahead and continue to do things the way you always have been.
BTW, I just verified with our Tech department that unchecking the "Include Mercury Information" does indeed take the line out for subsequent EDI messages. If you are having difficulty with this, our Tech department would be happy to assist you.
Thanks,
Brad
First I want to apologize to any of you who have taken this the wrong way. It was not our intention to use the software you paid for as a "commercial". I don't agree with tactics like that and never will.
Just like you, lenders have become swamped by the Real Estate re-fi boom and are already looking for other alternatives, like AVMs, that will help them keep up. That’s bad for you and it’s bad for us here at a la mode. We’re giving them reasons not to look for other alternatives. While the methods of EDI to date are a tremendous improvement over mailed or faxed in reports, when faced with the unprecedented volume they are seeing these days, they are once again finding themselves bogged down. The problem is volume. When you think in terms of a few reports every day flowing into their in-box, an email with attached PDF is a perfect solution. If someone forgets to include the lender's file number or other needed piece of information, the lender can simply pick up the phone and call. But scale that up to dozens or even 100s and you have an unmanageable nightmare. You and your clients are now spending time playing phone tag instead of getting reports done and closing loans.
Mercury solves these problems by evolving the EDI process. It automates the process of ordering and delivering reports. It gives your clients an easy web based interface to send orders to you, automatically get status back, and pick up the report when finished knowing that all the tracking and other required data is there. For you appraisers, it saves you time by eliminating the step of retyping the information from the order into the report, automatically sends status update messages to your client at various stages of the appraisal process and checks your report against your clients review rules and other requirements before its transmitted to them. When you do transmit, unlike regular email, you get immediate confirmation that it transmitted successfully. Plus, depending on the type of delivery done you can even get confirmation of when they pick up the report.
All that said... what we are doing with the message in the EDI center is giving you and your lender clients a way to experience all the benefits of the process I just described. As I said earlier, we are changing the wording of that message in the next update to better accomplish this goal. We have not decided on the exact wording but it will say something to the effect of:
"Want an even faster turn around time? Next time place your appraisal order with us electronically. It saves even more time and hassle and lets you get your loan closed fast. Just click the following link: www.alamode.com/mercury/placeorder?appraiser=99999"
Clicking this link will let them start an appraisal order with YOU already selected as the appraiser and much of the other information already pre-populated. You’ve just made your clients life a lot easier and they'll remember that when the market levels out again and business starts to drop off.
Frankly, I'm having a hard time understanding why anyone would be against this. But, for those of you who are, just uncheck that box and you can go ahead and continue to do things the way you always have been.
BTW, I just verified with our Tech department that unchecking the "Include Mercury Information" does indeed take the line out for subsequent EDI messages. If you are having difficulty with this, our Tech department would be happy to assist you.
Thanks,
Brad
