We've launched! Introducing Shaker.io

All of us at Shaker are excited to announce our official launch this week! But before I get into the “why” I thought I would introduce us first!

Who is the team behind Shaker?

The team behind Shaker is a team of fun (sometimes crazy), group of people who share a passion for building elegant software that actually solves a problem and is easy to use.

We have worked at some pretty cool companies like Formstack, Lessonly, Angie’s List, and even a top producing real estate brokerage Mike Watkins Real Estate Group.

In the midst of COVID-19  we teamed up with High Alpha, a venture studio, as a group of entrepreneurs who were ready to take on a challenge and solve a big problem. Remember I said we’re sometimes crazy.

During that time, our paths crossed with Jeff Packer, team leader of the Detroit-based Packer Group who had been working on a better way to manage the real estate transaction process for his team.

As we started to dive into the market and the problem we realized a few things:

1. Despite most advances in software, real estate software is still very underwhelming
2. Real estate teams and agents spend way too much time jumping from one system to the next (or none at all because of the hassle).
3. Most CRMs and transaction management tools don’t work together as they should
4. Clients are left in the dark wondering what’s next and waiting for instructions.

After talking with nearly 100 agents and teams we got very excited about the market and the opportunity to really solve a fundamental problem.

Why Shaker?

We chose the name for a few different reasons.

First, Shaker furniture and architecture. It’s simple and purpose-built. Just like we want our software to be. However, don’t confuse simple with having less power. We want to build something that is easy to use AND provides a powerful solution to the industry.

Second, we love the idea of shaking things up in the real estate industry. We want to provide a fun brand experience that showcases the celebratory aspect of buying a home and the fun opportunity we have to reimagine the experience between agents and clients.

Why now?

When we were in our discovery process we did a survey and found that 68% of buyers and sellers listed communication during the transaction process as their #1 frustration in working with real estate agents. We want to put the customer clearly in the middle of the transaction process. That benefits clients and agents, who’s businesses thrive on referrals.

We also see an opportunity to help agents stay competitive at a time when many technologies are emerging to take the agent out of the process. We hope to help agents compete with emerging iBuyers and giants like Zillow by showcasing the hard work they do, while at the same time, providing a more personal, enjoyable experience.  After all, buying a home is extremely personal.

Our Goal.

Our goal in building and launching Shaker is simple. We want to build a transaction management system, powered by a strong CRM, that allows teams, agents, and brokerages to process transactions in a much more user-friendly way while allowing clients to have transparent access to the whole process.

We want to equip all of these people with tools that so many industries have already adopted and help them move away from legacy, antiquated systems that just don’t cut it anymore.

We have a big eye towards the future as well.

Countless real estate professionals, we have spoken with say, the real estate business is about building relationships, referrals, and repeat clients. We want to build a platform that keeps the agents front and center even after the deal closes.

We want to build tools where clients can store their home information, agents can better understand who in their CRM is likely to refer business, and build out smart nurture campaigns that keep more clients engaged long after the process of buying or selling is done.

We also want to make the process fun! As one agent told me “I didn’t get into the business to manage software, I got into real estate because I love helping a client buy their first home or helping a family buy their dream house...I got into it because I like helping people!”

Helping people should be fun and rewarding. We want our software to be just that, rather than another tool that you hate but have to use!
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A huge thanks goes out to all of our early users, advisors, agents and teams that have taken the time to provide feedback with no reason other than they liked our concept and wanted to help!

We can’t wait to work with you if we aren’t yet and we can’t wait to build something so powerful, so easy to use, and so simple that you are going to be a fan for life...that is our hope anyway!

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Interested in hearing more? Email me, chris@shaker.io and I would love to chat!

Check out our full press release here.

Thanks!

Chris Lucas
CEO/Co-founder

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