Start becoming the brokerage of the future today!
Simple concepts to assist in reinventing your company
It would be really easy to blame the market for all our problems. I hear many brokers saying, “Lower transaction volume, lower average sales price, higher commission splits, lower commission dollars, and tight credit are just about to drive me out of business.”
While all this is going on, there are a number of cultural trends that are also having an increasingly dramatic effect on our industry. Social media, web 2.0 and the resulting way consumers and agents are communicating are not only here, they are here to stay. Furthermore, the impact this is having on real estate marketing is radically changing the playing field.
So what are you going to do?
In order to start becoming the brokerage of the future today, you must understand that the change starts with you. You are the leader and thus the foundation for the reinventing of your company. You and your management team must fully accept this and hold yourselves accountable before asking anyone else in your company to do so.
Are you and your company on social media? Are you texting? Are you blogging? Are you aware of what the agent and consumer of the future wants?
The next level of your reinvent pyramid is your website. You must recognize that consumers are expecting to engage with your company and its agents through an informative, interactive web 2.0 platform way before they ever call you or send an internet inquiry. They are checking you out right now so your website can’t just be a brochure any more. If your site does not have the information they are looking for, they will just go to the next one regardless of how big your company is or how long you have been in the market.
Do you know what your bounce rate is? Do you know how many new visitors get on your site every week? Do you know how long people are staying on your site every time they visit or how many of your web pages they go to?
Your site having a lot of good information is worthless unless consumers can find you. Internet marketing and leads management is the next important step in your reinvention. It is pretty well accepted that print is on its way out and the future of marketing is on the internet. This takes several forms but two very effective ways to create traffic to your site are social media and search engine optimization. Viral marketing is just a fancy way of saying word of mouth. The difference is that the results online can be exponential because people can click a button and send information about you and your company to hundreds or even thousands of people.
Do you have an internet marketing strategy? Do you have a social media strategy? How do you manage leads that come in from your website? Do you know how soon your agents are responding to these leads?
There are many reasons the first three layers of the pyramid are important but maybe none more than this… without a reinvented broker/manager, an engaging web 2.0 website, and a solid internet marketing and leads management plan, it will be difficult for you to recruit the agent of the future because these are the things they are looking for in a company. If you don’t “get it”, they will go look for someone who does. A recent NAR survey states that 71% of agents 29 or younger engage in social media while only 19% of those 60 or older do. This should give us an idea of what is coming down the pike with younger agents who are totally comfortable communicating this way and even older agents that have accepted this as the new reality.
How are you reaching the agent of the future? Are you communicating with them the way they are comfortable with or the way you are comfortable with? Are you viewed as an innovator or a dinosaur?
Once you have addressed the issues in the first four layers of the REinvent Pyramid you will be will on your way to finding more buyers, sellers, listings, and closings. But first things first… start working on you today!
Camp REinvent was created by PCMS Consulting. PCMS has positioned itself to be at the forefront of the new real estate industry. Our mission is to deliver a portfolio of cost-efficient consulting services and related products that leading real estate companies require to maintain and enhance their market position and profitability.
"It's great to get to talk real estate ideas and changes going on in markets around the country with Jose, he has long been a great source of guidance and a good friend to our firm! Camp REinvent is allowing me to ask some questions and find out what others have tried, would try given another chance and wish they'd tried so we can make the best changes for our company moving forward! I have high expectations!" Fritzi Barbour, Vice President, Coldwell Banker Caine, Greenville, SC
"He was excellent!", when asked what he thought about guest speaker Tom Tognoli, Founder and COO of Intero Real Estate Services. Alex Joseph Cservek, Chief Operating Officer, The Strata Group, Baltimore, MD
"Going very well. Our managers are eating it up." Patrick J. Fortin, CENTURY 21 Commonwealth, Winchester, MA
"I would say my signature and social networking. Agents are slowly starting to catch on. Most of the web content will be done from the company level", when asked what he has learned so far from Camp REinvent. Jim Zarkadas, CRS, CBR, GRI, LCM, CENTURY 21 Commonwealth, Winchester, MA
"I have to say that overall I have enjoyed the program." Cindy Penn, Marketing Manager, The Strata Group, Baltimore, MD
"Last session was the best one-The Integrated Technology Plan. As I told you before, after the first few sessions, it became clear to us that there was a lot more involved than just attending the 1 hour session per week. Overall Jose, the sessions have been very good." Alex Joseph Cservek, Chief Operating Officer, The Strata Group, Baltimore, MD
"I have created a Facebook page for my office, still working on it. I have also been stressing the importance of social media and have helped agents create their page. Great retention tool! My last 2 recruits of the past two weeks were very much impressed when I 'talked the talk' in our interview. Thanks again, enjoying these sessions." Alison Brown, CRS, CBR, VP Sales Manager, CENTURY 21 Commonwealth, Winchester, MA
I have been looking looking around for this kind of information. Will you post some more in future? I’ll be grateful if you will.