I just wanted to quickly give everyone an update on what we’re working on for FetchReport.com:
NACHI Agreement Integration - Make sure that your client has signed your inspection agreement before they’re able to download your report.
Branded FetchReport - Let your clients download your reports directly from your web site, and have all e-mail from FetchReport.com reference your web site URL rather than FetchReport.com.
Pay-Per-View Reports - Charge people a fee to view your inspection report.
Confirm Payment Prior To Download - Ensure that your report has been paid for before it can be downloaded. We’re looking into online credit card processing and paypal integration, so you can accept payment for the report online through FetchReport.com if you wish.
Phone Integration - Let FetchReport.com automatically call your clients with their username and password when you upload a report for them.
Fax Integration - Let FetchReport.com fax your clients’ username and password to them when you upload a report, or even fax an entire copy of the report to them. We’re even looking into a way that you could fax your report to FetchReport.com and have it automatically converted to PDF and sent to your clients (for cases where you don’t have Internet access).
Mailing Services - Either choose to mail a copy of the report to your client automatically when it’s uploaded, or give them the option to request a hard copy via FetchReport.com. This will be completely automatic–your PDF will be printed in full color and mailed first-class at the click of a button.
Advanced/Non-Electronic Signatures - If you prefer to have a real signature on your inspection agreement, we’re working on a way to have your agreement physically signed through an automated process (your client prints out a signature form and faxes it in).
E-mail Receipts/Failure Notices - Get notified when your client’s e-mail inbox is full or if you mis-typed his or her e-mail address.
Send to Desktop - If you’re using the FetchReport.com PDF Creator, the new version will let you automatically send a copy to your desktop (or to a backup drive) so you can have a copy on your computer.
High-Capacity/High-Availability Storage Through Amazon - We’re working with Amazon.com, Inc. to use their giant web infrastructure to make reports hosted with FetchReport.com even more reliable and faster to download.
100% Up-Time Network - We’re in the process of moving from our beta server to our full server system. Part of this upgrade will include a 100% network up-time guarantee.
FetchReport-Friendly and FetchReport-Integrated 3rd Party Applications - We’re working with industry vendors to make their reporting software offer a FetchReport.com option out-of-the-box.
Usability Upgrades - We’ve been doing usability testing on the system and are constantly working to make it even easier and faster to use.
I’m really excited about all of this, particularly #7. Printing and mailing a report can be such a pain, particularly when you only have to do it every once in a while. By offering this service through FetchReport.com, you’ll be able to fill out one quick form and have everything else taken care of for you. And by making it a very flexible system, you’ll be able to choose what’s offered (binder/no-binder, include a copy of the Home Headstart Guide/don’t, etc) and how it’s offered (“I’ll pay for the printing and mailing of the basic report, but if my clients want a Home Headstart Guide charge them”).
FetchReport.com is turning into an all-in-one platform for everything that happens once the report is finished. Imagine this scenario:
**Inspector’s Steps
**
Click “Print” in reporting software/Word/whatever
Fill out one-page form about report
Click “Upload”
Go to bed/play with kids/have a romantic night with spouse/all the things you couldn’t do 'cause you were too busy making sure the report got to everyone it needed to get to in the formats that it needed to be in and that everyone knew it was available and how to get it
**FetchReport’s Automated Steps
**
Converts file to universal PDF
Password-protects file
Sends your client their username and password via e-mail
Calls your client to let them know that their report is ready and tell them what their username and password are
Prints a copy of your report, puts it in an envelope, and mails it to your client (once the client has signed the agreement and paid for the report) Client’s Steps
Receives a phone call letting them know their report is available
Signs your inspection agreement
Pays for the inspection
Downloads the report for viewing on their computer
Receives the report in the mail a day or two later
Refers you to all their friends Real Estate Agent’s Steps
Receives a phone call letting them know their client’s report is finished and available
Downloads the report so they can discuss it with their client
Refers you to all their future clients because the process was so easy
All this from the 30 second, one-page form you filled out.
Obviously I’m pretty excited about some of these new features… excuse my over-enthusiasm. I just can’t get over how great this service is turning out to be. A lot of this is in the early stages, but we should see new features in the system before the end of the year. I’ll keep y’all updated as things are developed.
BTW… you left out the fact that there will be tons of freebies, coupons and
value added offers that it will make people want an inspection, just to get
the free offers.
Nick… you should get a deal for us with the airlines so that we can show
ads for their airlines and they will provide NACHI members a free flight
to the NACHI convention in Vegas.
Question: If I upload the report for the client and agent, the client has not signed the agreement yet, will the agent be allowed to download the report or will they be notified at that time that the client needs to sign the agreement before they can even read it?
Will there be an option of weather we need a signed agreement or not sometimes I send out the agreement online ahead of time and I have had clients print, sign and fax it to me or just dont get how it works…I just want the option do go ahead and let them view if the online agreement didnt work out but I have hard copies.
That is it for now.
I love the send to desktop option…that is what I have been waiting for.
For the pay per view or free per view inconjunction with the MIC…Is it possible to get contact info for potential buyers that download the reports so we inturn can hand that over to the listing agents…This would turn on the listing agents to the MIC even more if they knew they were getting contact info for potential buyers.
Is there any legal probs with this?
Just a thought.
Also a couplt of other questions for Chris that were not answered yet:
Question: If I upload the report for the client and agent, the client has not signed the agreement yet, will the agent be allowed to download the report or will they be notified at that time that the client needs to sign the agreement before they can even read it?
Will there be an option of weather we need a signed agreement or not sometimes I send out the agreement online ahead of time and I have had clients print, sign and fax it to me or just dont get how it works…I just want the option do go ahead and let them view if the online agreement didnt work out but I have hard copies.
Once FetchReport is tied into the agreement system it won’t let anyone download the report until the agreement has been signed. Andy yes, you will be able to override this in the case of a paper copy (or whatever the case).
As for your idea–that’s definitely something we’re looking into but I don’t know about the legal issues. I imagine if the privacy policy and download agreement a worded correctly it shouldn’t be an issue, but we’re going to have to look into it some more. Even if we can legally do it, I want to make sure that we can do it in a way that doesn’t upset the potential buyer. This is definitely further down the road than most of the other stuff I listed, but it’s also definitely part of the “grand scheme.”
One reason I brought up the contact info is because I am sure we will deal with alot of looki loos, nosey neighbor types downloading reports that have no interest in purchasing the property or having an inspection done…now charge $5, $10, $15 or what ever, you have serious interest only downloading reports. They use their credit card, real name, # etc. the real estate agents would love to have those leads. Inturn it would even be easier to sell to agents.
