Re-fighting the Culture Wars... The October 3 Dispatch, Is a Commercial MLS in Your Future?, really got the juices flowing (naturally). First, a correction. A CIE (Commercial Information Exchange) is not an MLS (Multiple Listing Service). As Whitney Peyton with CB Richard Ellis in Minneapolis wrote, "An MLS creates an absolute sharing arrangement on fees. A CIE handles fees the way commercial brokerage works. They are negotiable on each transaction."

The smaller the market, the better a broker-input CIE seems to work. I loved the comments from Roger Leese of NAI Ruhl & Ruhl in Davenport. "It [a commercial MLS] is not new to the Quad City Metro area, which consists of Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline, Illinois. We have had an on-line commercial MLS for about 15 years and almost all of our local agents are members. The system provides for a smooth distribution of listing information and comparable sales data. We farm boys from Iowa and Illinois figured out this MLS technology many years ago and have been enjoying the benefits of it."

As you move into the secondary and primary markets, the cultural ties between professionals begin to fray, and CoStar www.costar.com clearly sets the standard against which brokers measure CIE initiatives. Cooperation becomes much more difficult as interests diverge. Big firms vs. small firms. Leasing vs. sales. Office vs. industrial vs. retail vs. multifamily. Tenant representation vs. full service. Salesperson vs. owner.

Holy cow. It's a volatile stew of mutual and self-interests. As Eric Northbrook at Colliers in San Diego wrote, "Who cares who owns the data? I want to be efficient. My time is valuable." ... And so the battle for hearts and minds rolls along. Stay tuned.

Building Your Brand... Thanks to our new sponsor, Mike Lipsey , who is enthusiastic about his latest course, "Systems for Success."

--Peter Pike / ppike@pikenet.com