Blast BPOs - Dumb and Dumber

[Justin Richards]

Earlier this year I had a scare when my 3yr old daughter started sneezing and later coughing up blood. I did my best to keep my cool, but I inside I was freaked out. What I needed as I drove to Kaiser was an accurate diagnosis of what was wrong so we could make the best decisions possible.

Later this got me thinking about blast BPO companies (don’t ask me why). These blast BPO companies are paid by their client to compile the most accurate information possible, but instead send the order to the first person that raises their hand. What if instead of going to a qualified pediatrician for my daughter, I sent out a blast message to anyone who had taken a science class? What if I didn’t choose the person with the most experience, or the person that had performed well in this area in the past, but rather I chose the first person to respond??

That would be STUPID!! I’d probably end up with some college dropout who took a semester of biology instead of a trained physician. Isn’t it just as STUPID though when we’re talking about a family’s home? This BPO can decide whether that family gets a needed loan mod or gets rejected; whether they successfully short sale their home or go to foreclosure? Whether the underling investor loses 150k or 225k?

Just a thought, who do you think is more likely to be sitting in front of their computer all day fondling the refresh button hoping to capture an order? The successful broker who has sold tons in the area, or rather the lame-brain agent who last sold a home when Reagan was in office?

Anyone else have a different take on this? Which BPO companies have you had the worst experiences with?

 

 

http://agentacceleration.com/blast-bpo-companies-%E2%80%93-are-you-really-surprised-your-bpos-are-crap/

 

[Justin Richards]

Stephan - I applaud your patience, because I don't have it. I fired two of these retarded BPO companies for just that. They order more than one BPO (in my case yes once again through the blast method) and then want me to spend an extra 30min on a BPO that is barely profitable in the first place, to do a free QC review and figure out why the other agent's 6 comps don't make sense. If this was an appraiser, they'd be paid for their extra work, but since we're a BPO broker, we're expected to do it, smile, and thank them for the chance to do their job....?

[Stephan K Black]

well the excitement is tempered by the fact that BPO requestors typically don't rely on just one BPO, they order several from different vendors, some of which surely don't blast,  and then compare. So if the blast tactic attracted a flaky agent then those results would be offset by the other BPO's ordered. I know this is true as when I submit a BPO, I often get a QC message that questions my value and they supply me with a prior BPO done. I often rip those priors apart because the comps were not well chosen, so the flakes are called out in the end, so at least some of the time the system works...

[Justin Richards]

Thanks for the compliment Vanessa - Like you said the loser in this equation is the investor....and possibly the agent as well if he's not on the favorite list that John mentioned.

[Vanessa Calhoun]

That was an excellent analogy and you're absolutely correct. There's so much riding on a BPO regardless of if it comes in too high or low. Either way, the investor looses money. Now or later at resale.

[John Accornero]

I love Old Republic. They blast and I think everyone gets a fair shot. All this hype about signing up for BPO's is really dumb because most of them got their favorite agents anyway.