Founded in 1978, Zephyr Real Estate has become the largest independent real estate firm focusing exclusively on San Francisco - with 4 offices, 150-plus agents, and nearly one billion dollars in gross annual sales.

Zephyr Real Estate has over 150 agents plus administrative staff in each of their offices -all of whom need to access and share information with each other and their clients around the clock. At Zephyr, transactions happen swiftly and are heavily “paper” driven. Agents must be able to get their hands on information and the proper forms quickly.

“Several years back we recognized the need for a more productive system to communicate and disseminate information throughout our offices, explained Ilse Cardoni, Sales Manager at Zephyr. “Our vision was to implement an Intranet that was easy-to-use and one that would give our agents and staff the necessary tools to work more efficiently and from remote areas. Unfortunately, our intent was accurate, but the Intranet did not work, let alone accomplish our objectives,” continued Cardoni.

In 2003, Zephyr decided to replace the current Intranet with a new Intranet solution that would streamline communication processes and meet the current and future needs of the agents and staff. Zephyr wanted an Intranet that was simple, yet rich in information - one the agents would view as a valuable, important resource to both their daily interactions and real estate careers.

Zephyr put together an evaluation team to spearhead the search for a development firm that could meet their Intranet requirements. Based on recommendations and a thorough evaluation, Zephyr chose Marker Seven to develop and design their new Intranet, and new Internet as well. “Marker Seven’s extreme professionalism, coupled with their experience and demonstrated success, made us confident they could meet our needs,” explained Cardoni.

Zephyr had many sophisticated requirements for the new Intranet. The Intranet needed to support hundreds of employees, from remote areas, who use it for countless activities and purposes. Some of these requirements include: posting Zephyr real estate listings (current, sold) with a direct link to Zephyr’s Internet; interactive floor schedule; categorized and pre-populated transaction forms in HTML and PDFs; agent directory; conference room scheduling; employee training; and administrative forms.

In addition, the system automatically updates the MLS listings daily and makes them available to the agents through the Intranet. “When we decided to implement a new Intranet, it meant more than just replacing the old one,” explained Ilse Cardoni. “Most of what we had before didn’t even work so Marker Seven had to essentially rebuild the Intranet to provide full functionality that would greatly benefit our agents.”

Marker Seven deployed a team that provided Zephyr with project management, Intranet and Internet development and design (including content), training, testing and on-going support. Working according to Zephyr’s requirements and functionality specifications, Marker Seven developed an Intranet and Internet that is tightly integrated, easy to navigate, and laden in functionality.

“Since we were embarking on a complete overhaul of the Intranet, we decided to upgrade and refresh our Internet site as well,” explained Cardoni. “Marker Seven worked diligently to get both the new Intranet and Internet sites developed and implemented in a relatively condensed timeframe. Support has been terrific and our questions are always answered,” said Cardoni.

After recently completing a thorough beta test, Zephyr went live with the new Internet in November and the new Intranet in early December. Zephyr plans to roll-out the new Intranet and train their agents and staff at the start of the New Year.

"With the Intranet, we will see a great improvement in productivity and agent satisfaction,” explained Cardoni. “The Intranet is an essential tool to help attract and sustain quality agents. Marker Seven helped us realize our vision and we look forward to working with them to support and maintain the sites,” concluded Cardoni.

About Marker Seven

Marker Seven is a full-service digital agency. Established in 1999 and headquarters in San Francisco, Marker Seven is comprised of a cross-disciplinary in-house team of analysts, architects, designers and developers. The agency provides both online marketing and business solutions which allow companies to build brands and streamline operations. Marker Seven helps clients ranging from leading regional businesses to Fortune 500 companies create memorable digital experiences by guiding them through the full life cycle of a project. Among the award-winning agency's clients are such premier global brands as Pearson Education, Disney, IBM, Blue Shield, Ghirardelli Chocolate and more. For more information visit www.markerseven.com

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