Project Description
Indiana Association of REALTORS® (IAR)
Project Description
Founded in 1913, The Indiana Association of REALTORS® (IAR) is a professional membership society representing more than 18,000 REALTORS statewide who are involved in virtually all aspects related to the sale, purchase, exchange or lease of real property in Indiana.
When the Indiana Association of REALTORS decided to move into the “education business” in 2010, they knew they would have their work cut out for them. With 33 competitors serving the education needs of real estate agents in their state, and ever-changing regulation and continuing education requirements, they needed a way to create and distribute valuable, relevant, and timely training to members across the state. Traditional instructor-led training meant members would lose valuable time and productivity to attend, while the association incurred costs for the facility, instructor, and materials.
Bright minds converged, and a new business model was born. The association set out to convert their classroom-based 54 hour pre-licensing course into an online, 24/7 accessible course that members could access from anywhere. But that was the easy part. The real challenge would be getting the brokerages to buy into the concept, and help market the association’s course to their employees.
IAR knew that they would need an online course delivery and credentialing system that would enable them to not only integrate with their Association Management System (AMS), iMIS, but also enable them to create individually branded and segmented learning portals for each of the brokerage firms who would help them market and sell their courses statewide. IAR’s search for a Learning Management System (LMS) began with a requirements document outlining their need for a robust platform, which would support multitenancy for their 28 affiliate partners, single sign-on, aggregate course assessments, eCommerce using PayPal’s Pay Flow Pro payment gateway, as well as the ability to sell courses in bulk, and issue activation codes to learners within the system.
Solution
IAR chose Digitec and their Knowledge Direct® Learning Management System (LMS). Digitec understood their new business model and offered a unique solution which gave the association the ability to franchise their learning and build in revenue-share opportunities for their organizational members. Digitec also employs an in-house IT and support staff with extensive experience in iMIS integrations.
The Knowledge Direct Learning Management System supports IAR’s curricula and certification programs, requiring that learners complete portions of the assessment throughout the course before continuing in the content. The scores from each section are then combined to arrive at the student’s aggregate score.
Results
Since launching their first course in 2013, and rolling out 28 branded learning portals for Century 21, REMAX, and others, the association’s course sales exceed projections by 200%. Online course sales also accounted for 50% of the association’s total revenue from education in year 1. Learning retention and passing rates for the state exam also soared to new heights with a 98% pass rate for the inaugural class.
By utilizing Digitec’s Knowledge Direct LMS, IAR is able to:
- Provide its membership with convenient 24/7 access to their pre-licensing course, eliminating the need for travel and increasing efficiencies.
- Provide learners dynamically generated eTranscripts for tracking their progress.
- Sell courses by way of an access code system.
- Market related courses to learners using the built-in “recommended courses” marketing application.
- Franchise their learning, creating a new non-dues revenue stream and revenue-share opportunity for their organizational members.
