As we slowly emerge from this recession many Americans are looking for ways to help jump-start the economy by contributing to and hopefully accelerating, the rebound process. After such a difficult, emotional and turbulent time, people have been scarred by unprecedented loss. Perhaps more important, they have been scarred by their loss of control and are now actively seeking ways to gain both losses back. Thankfully for a network made up of locally owned, independently branded companies, one way we are seeing this societal momentum is through consumer preference towards local business.

For example, witness the trend at farmers markets, grocery stores and restaurants around the country towards the latest buzz word, “locally-sourced”. Today, many menus proudly proclaim that produce or meat is from a local provider, reinforcing patrons’ desire to give back to their community and to support a local business. In fact, it is not uncommon to pay a premium for something that comes from a local provider. Yet patrons are happy to pay more since “locally-sourced” represents freshness, quality and the good feeling that comes from knowing they are supporting their local economy.

Or take, for example, the progressive city of Austin, Texas, where they have taken the trend towards locally sourced a step further with the city’s own Go Local card which anyone (even visitors) can purchase (for a few dollars) and use to obtain discounts at local businesses. This is evidence of truly “inspired consumerism”. The locally minded consumer can infuse dollars into the Austin economy, support local business, and even get a discount while also getting the good feeling that comes from knowing they are giving back and supporting their own micro-economy.

What more evidence? Well, you’ve heard of Flash Mobs, no? What about its latest iteration “Cash Mobs”? This is when people gather to help a selected local business by descending on said business as a mob, infusing the business owner with a small cash boost from at least a $20 purchase from each participant. Participants win because they know they are doing a good thing by supporting a local business and their economy, while the business gets a small cash windfall. It’s a win, win.

Even Google has jumped on board by revising their search algorithm to lead users to local brands and businesses by defaulting to your location and giving you separate, local results. No longer do consumers need to rely on TV advertising or national brands to find a brand they are comfortable with. Now Google will steer them to the local, high-performing product or service provider, naturally.

And so – it’s easy with commodity products – when there’s choice, choose local. But what about the mass majority of the fuel for our economy, the service providers? Does the same principle apply? In fact it does. By selecting a local service provider – a hair salon, a tax preparer, a real estate agent – consumers are selecting a more individualized, market-specific service that is more about their needs than a one-size-fits-all mass approach. And, by selecting a local service provider, like with products, they ensure their dollars are going to local businesses and are ultimately being re-invested in that local community. Their dollars are not going to a large, mega franchise whose business may not even be the business in hand. Point in fact, their business is selling franchises.

Ultimately, it’s a good time to be a locally rooted, independent company, especially a real estate broker, because consumers prefer what you represent. Local knowledge and roots. Commitment to the community. Customized service. The stronger we are, the stronger our communities become. And of course, as a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® you provide the best of both worlds because you are a local business with global connections. In fact, you have more global connections then any of your franchise competitors because collectively LeadingRE has more listings and sales, more agents, more market share, and is number one in more markets in the U.S. then any of those folks in the franchise sales business.

It’s great news, but the story needs to be told. So be sure you are sharing your locally-focused values and your global connections with your clients. Help them to make informed, educated decisions by arming them with the facts.

The result will benefit us all.

Note: Special thanks to Hank Perry and Mary Ellen Mancino-Dudum at Empire Realty Associates in Danville, CA in for their contributions to this piece.

Posted by:  Stephanie Pfeffer

This post is being composed after a fantastic conference call this morning/afternoon with my panel for the upcoming Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^® conference entitled: Business Is Going Global; Are You Maximizing International Referral Opportunities? At 11:00 on Sunday, March 25e, I am delighted to be moderating a fabulous panel of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell’s Sherrie Porter (U.S.), WETAG Consulting’s Peter Rabitz (Switzerland) and LeadingRE’s Chris Dietz (UK/Germany).

Now you can see why I used “morning/afternoon” to define the timing of the conference call.

I’ve had the pleasure over the past several years to explore the “international” topic through presentations and posts. A consistent theme throughout is the express interest in showcasing why “global” matters in real estate. My intro will again tackle this topic, but if you don’t know today that global matters, then you likely won’t be in the room to hear it.

Global does matter, but it matters to a varying degree based upon the real estate market. In some markets it’s very important and in others, not at all.

To help discover how important it may be to your market, I’ve created a brief and completely unscientific quiz. Answer the following six questions and record the correct number of points for each response.

Sharon E. Michnay, CRP, GMS 
Executive Director
Corporate Business Development
Halstead Property

Roger Atchinson, senior vice president of sales and marketing for RELO Direct^®, shares his insight on the new reality in the home buying process as it relates to relocation with realestatepro.com. In the article, Atchinson provides an up-to-date analysis and stresses key elements that weigh into relocating – including shifts in how the consumer sector approaches the real estate market, the current realities of the home buying dynamic, the continued importance of location and the greater need for professional assistance. Atchinson describes how all areas point to a “resurgence in relocation activity as the economy shows signs of rebounding.” See recommendations for homebuyers and view the full article here.

Posted by: Kimberly Ecker

Dictionary.com's ‘2011 Word of the Year’ was tergiversate: to change repeatedly one's attitude or opinions with respect to a cause, subject, etc.; to equivocate. Here is some background on why this word caught their attention this year.

Politicians are criticized when they “flip flop,” and people who change their minds repeatedly are often perceived as being weak or easily manipulated. But in these times, when circumstances change from week to week, flexibility may be a sign of an agile, ever-thinking mindset. As more facts become known, or experience shows that something that seemed to be a good idea might not have worked well in actual practice, don’t be afraid to change course rather than remaining married to a particular strategy or philosophy.

This doesn’t mean you don’t have a strong “moral compass” that serves as a guidepost for decision-making. That is foundational for everything we do and determines what we consider right or wrong, what we base loyalty upon, what we consider to be priorities in our lives, and what we stand for.

But sometimes, it’s possible to confuse those basics with a viewpoint or ideology that may need to be re-visited given current circumstances. In other words, being open-minded without compromising heartfelt principles is often a real asset.

So my New Year’s resolution – along with the usual ones you can probably guess – is not to be afraid to tergiversate! Join me in doing that, and maybe we can not only mix things up a bit and have some fun, but also find some new solutions that could make a real difference in 2012. Happy New Year!

Posted by:  Pam O'Connor

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^® had a great showing on the Inman 100 report, an annual ranking of the Most Influential Real Estate Leaders.

Nearly 30% of the people in the category of Brokerages, Franchisors, Brokerage Organizations are affiliated with the network:

• Matt Beall, Principal broker, CEO, Hawaii Life Real Estate Brokers
• Helen Hanna Casey, President, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services
• Harold E. Crye, President, co-founder, Crye-Leike Realtors
• Jeffrey S. Detwiler, President and chief operating officer, The Long & Foster Companies
• Joseph A. Horning, President, Shorewest Realtors
• Paul Hulme, President, founder, CEO, Alain Pinel Realtors
• Robert Moline, President, chief operating officer, HomeServices of America Inc.
• Pam O’Connor, President and CEO, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World
• Ronald J. Peltier, Chairman and CEO, HomeServices of America Inc.
• Jim Weichert, Founder and President, Weichert, Realtors

Also making the list is member Eric Bryn, Vice President, digital innovation at Baird & Warner, in the Digital Innovation category and a number of LeadingRE Solutions Group Partners.

Congratulations to these brokers and partners and to our own President/CEO Pam O’Connor for illustrating the strength of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^®.

Click here to view the complete list. 

Posted by: Kimberly Ecker

While I was traveling very recently, I had some situations that reminded me going the extra mile does make a difference. In today’s hustle bustle world of life and business, so many of us look at how we can accomplish a task the fastest so that we can complete our to do lists. In the long run are we stopping to smell the roses? Are we actually having a positive impact on someone else?

Dealing with car rental companies for many of us is just an ordinary procedure. Last week, I was at the Detroit airport - Enterprise car rental company. When I arrived the registration desk staff verified that the driver carried my bag (he actually insisted, nicely, that he help me), reviewed their hours of operation and what how to contact them if I needed them after hours, was offered a map, presented me with water etc. which is much more than had ever happened with any of my other rental experiences. To my surprise when I returned the car, the manager greeted me by opening my door and asking how my travels were. Well, there was a slight challenge with the car that I mentioned to him for the sole purpose of helping the next customer of this car. Again, to my surprise, he bent over backwards to secure I had a great experience and was leaving smiling. Now, to top that, I received a call from the Detroit Enterprise staff to see how my experience went (he knew nothing of the discussion I had when returning the car) and was there something else they could do for me to make my experience the best to secure the return of my business. Come to find out, all of these interactions are just part of their normal business procedures in Detroit which to me was going the extra mile with their customers. Are we doing that with our real estate business? Do we do the most complete follow-up from first meeting to last with hopefully a closed transaction? Do we hope to do this and then shelve the discussion because we get busy or other items end up on our plates?

Another experience just occurred Saturday. My husband and I take one day in December each year to enjoy Boston. Now, I have had a shrimp allergy for the past 6+ years and always tell the waitperson if I am ordering any fish dishes. When we were ordering, the waitperson asked about allergies and even though I was not ordering any fish items, he took extra note about my situation. On this occasion, the manager of the restaurant actually delivered our meals and completely explained how the food was prepared for both of our dishes, making sure I knew not to eat any of my husband's french fries (darn!) as they could have been cooked in oil that had had shrimp in it. Please note, at time we were there the restaurant was full. Well, this was a first for me. Actually taking extra steps and in numerous actions to make sure we had the best meal and experience. From the greeting, to the initial interaction with our wait staff, to the personal attention from the manager, all the way to our leaving the restaurant was above and beyond. Please note this did not mean the cost factor was higher than any other similar restaurant!

To piggyback these experiences, there was a blog posted yesterday that asked about your experience when you call a company. From the first interaction to the last, are we going the extra mile to make sure we are delivering the most positive, memorable experience? What do we have in place to secure our customer/client will return to us?

Posted by:  Pam Chute

Tune in to HGTV December 8 at 6:30 p.m. (EST) to see one of our network’s very own, Julie Lane with Janet McAfee Real Estate, on the series My First Place. The episode is titled "Waiting in Vain for a House" and will follow a set of first-time St. Louis homebuyers as Julies assists them with the process of purchasing a new home. The episode brings to reality the challenges first-time buyers face in today's market and reveals how an agent’s expertise can make the world of a difference.

Since joining Janet McAfee Real Estate just four short years ago, Julie Lane has quickly become a top agent, a consummate professional and now, ambassador for the St. Louis real estate community on HGTV. You will find Julie on the short list of the Central Corridor's most successful real estate professionals.

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^® continuously brings publicity opportunities to its members including through HGTV and its home-listing site FrontDoor.com. 

To view more on Janet McAfee Real Estate, click here.

Posted by: Kimberly Ecker

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^® members and partners had a strong showing on the Inman 100 list, which recognizes those whose voices and actions have the power to change the industry.

Chris Meyers, Houlihan Lawrence; Harold Crye, Crye-Leike, Inc.; J. Lennox Scott, John L. Scott Real Estate; Jeffrey S. Detwiler, Long & Foster Companies; Jim Weichert, Weichert, Realtors; John Paul Horning, Shorewest Realtors; Martha Turner, Martha Turner Properties; Matthew Dollinger, @properties; Merle L. Whitehead, RealtyUSA.com; Michael Montsko, Weichert Realtors; Michael Saunders, Michael Saunders & Company; P. Wesley Foster, Long & Foster; Pam O'Connor, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^®; Pat Riley, Allen Tate Realtors; Paul Boomsma, Luxury Portfolio International™ / Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^®; Rob Sibcy, Sibcy Cline Realtors; Ron R. Roe, Russell & Jeffcoat Real Estate; Ronald J. Peltier, HomeServices of America, Inc.; Stephen Baird, Baird & Warner Real Estate; William "Bill" Watson, Jr., Watson Realty Corp.; and William Raveis, William Raveis Real Estate. LeadingRE Institute 2.0 Faculty Matthew Ferrara, Matthew Ferrara Learning Network, and Steve Harney, Keeping Current Matters, were also named.

Now is your chance to vote for the leader you believe has had the most significant impact on the industry this past year. through the "People's Choice" Most Influential Real Estate Leader award. This honor is based on a popular vote of Inman News readers and will be announced during the Real Estate Connect conference in New York City January 11-13, 2012.

To view the complete list of readers' nominations and cast your vote (by the December 1 deadline), click here.

Posted by: Kimberly Ecker

Looking for an interesting way to improve time spent on your website, while providing useful information to home buyers? Take the lead from Kahala Associates, which has incorporated a “Walk Score” on its website for every home for sale in Oahu.

In their weekly Tuesday morning show segment, “Beyond Homes,” Kahala Associates’ Chuck Garrett and Tammy Mori describe how the “Walk Score” conveys how easy it is to walk to areas of interest from a given home.

Walk Score is an online application that measures walkable neighborhoods. Walk Scores range from 0-100 for any address—the higher the score, the better the walkability. A score of 90-100 is a walker’s paradise, where daily errands do not require a car. 70-89 indicates a very walkable area where most errands can be accomplished on foot. The mid-range from 50-69 is somewhat walkable; some amenities are within walking distance. The lower ranges of 25-49 are car dependent—only a few amenities are within walking distance. Finally, 0-24 is definitely car dependent—almost all errands require a car.

For example, homes located in older, established areas that were originally developed around shopping, restaurants and businesses have a higher walking score. The same may be true of Oahu’s re-developed urban core where new developments offer easier access to goods and services. Lower Walk Scores are typically seen in suburban or rural areas.

To learn more about walkability, visit walkscore.com.

To view the full morning segment, click here.

Posted by: Chuck Garrett and Tammy Mori

Future luxury property by Luxury Portfolio International™ 

The sun was shining down on Tuscany on September 8 as a group of ten of us paid a visit to Castello di Casole, a fractional ownership luxury property offered through Luxury Portfolio International™ member Joshua & Co. in Aspen. I previously had the pleasure of meeting Amy and Gary Feldman with Joshua & Co. at the Luxury Portfolio International™ meeting in Chicago, and when I heard about this Timbers Resort property, I knew I had to see it for myself.

The local Tuscany representative, Jennifer Young, was a delightful tour guide and led our group through three existing homes as well as a luxury boutique hotel under construction. Sitting on 4,500 acres, Castello di Casole presented a unique opportunity to the discriminating buyer, and I felt as if I were in the Tuscan countryside, not part of a development. Yet, the community still provides all the amenities someone could hope for, and I anticipate that when the 41-suite hotel opens in April 2012, there could be nothing lacking from a homeowner’s perspective. Our guide informed us there would be a total of only 28 Casali farmhouses on the 4,500 acres, with an additional small group of two and three bedroom hotel villas.

In addition to the extensive tour Jennifer provided, we were the guests of a private luncheon done exclusively for us. Castello di Casole really rolled out the “red carpet,” and after the experience I would highly recommend taking the time to send any clients there who are traveling to Tuscany.

Not only was I able to share this wonderful opportunity with the friends traveling with me to Tuscany, but I was also able to register one referral following my return. In this respect, the trip was a great investment of time and allowed me to share the fabulous development with others, along with the value of being an exclusive member of Luxury Portfolio International™ and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^®.

Posted by: Pandra Richie, Long & Foster

In their weekly Tuesday morning show segment, “Beyond Homes,” Kahala Associates’ Chuck Garrett and Tammy Mori list some of the latest mobile apps for homebuyers and sellers involving home improvement projects, investment analysis and loan payment calculation:

• Benjamin Moore^® “Color Capture” tool and Color Snap^® by Sherwin-Williams: These apps allow you to snap a photo of a wall color you love on your iPhone or BlackBerry and then produces a matching color code, along with complimentary color suggestions.
• Wikihood: This tool enables you to discover specific details about most any neighborhood in the world, providing information on people, culture, businesses, points of interest, and overall geography.
• 99₵ Real Estate Calc App-(Loan Qualification Calculator): This mortgage calculator, loan qualifier, and down payment calculator offers the capability to email yourself detailed reports.
• Walk Score^®: This program provides amenities within walking distance from your current location.
• Property Evaluator: The most powerful real estate investment analysis software (according to Inman News), this app for iPads allows you to enter minor details about the property to view major performance projections compared to other properties; you can email with friends via pdf.
• Kurio app: Launched by the Honolulu Board of Directors, this tool allows you to search for nearby listings for sale from any web-enabled mobile device.

To view the full segment, click here.

Posted by: Chuck Garrett and Tammy Mori

Inman News is now accepting nominations for this year’s Inman 100 List, which features the top 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders. Get your nominations in by Tuesday, November 1, 2011 to recognize those leaders who have demonstrated leadership, innovation, ingenuity, power and persistence in the success of the home buying and selling business.

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^® had a great showing on Inman’s 2010 Most Influential Leaders List in the brokerage category, with 9 of the 24 honorees affiliated with the network. Making the prestigious list were:

• Stephen W. Baird, President, CEO, Baird & Warner
• Mary Frances Burleson, President and CEO, Ebby Halliday Realtors
• Harold E. Crye, Co-founder and president, Crye-Leike Realtors
• P. Wesley ‘Wes’ Foster Jr., Founder, Chairman and CEO, The Long & Foster Companies
• Howard W. ‘Hoddy’ Hanna, III, Chairman and CEO, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services
• Paul Hulme, President, Founder and CEO; Alain Pinel Realtors
• Pam O’Connor, President and CEO, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World
• Ronald J. Peltier, Chairman and CEO, HomeServices of America Inc..
• Jim Weichert, Founder and President, Weichert, Realtors

Nominations are reviewed by Inman News' editorial staff and company managers, and an internal review team will consider these and other influential individuals that fit the criteria before making a final selection. Now is your chance to honor those who have inspired you to become an expert in real estate!

View the online Nomination form here.

Posted by:  Kimberly Ecker

This very important principle must be understood. It basically deals with the fact that clients must be given a reason to contact you. This then begs the question: What do clients want? In addressing this challenge you must ask yourself the following questions:

1. What are my client’s motivations?
2. What is most important to my client?
3. What does my client want to buy or sell?

The key to finding out what clients want: ASK THEM, then listen hard!
Finding out what your clients want is easier than you think; just simply ask them when you have them on the phone when you prescreen them.

Not understanding your clients’ needs is definitely the biggest mistake that most business people make, especially in real estate.

For example, we make assumptions why someone is selling. We might automatically assume they want to move up, or perhaps are in pre-foreclosure.

People have many different reasons to need the services of a professional real estate agent based on their personal situation. Given this, it is important to speak to each prospective client differently, addressing his or her specific questions, concerns and needs.

The key here is to ensure you go deep enough into their thinking to understand their true motivation. If someone wants to downsize from a home to a condo, that’s great, but that’s not all the information you need. Ask…what got you thinking about doing that? Question each answer until you get to answer 5, 6 or 7. That’s when you really start to understand their motivation and when you know how you can best serve them.

Posted by: Michael Demcho

Vice President / Managing Broker

Watson Realty Corp.

I actually got involved in Amway years and years ago when I had a very bad week as a Realtor^®. Three customers had tanked on me in one week, and I’d been working with all of them for months. Amway was presented as an alternative to real estate, and I bit.

While Amway did not end up making me the money I had imagined, it did teach me a lot about how to look at my business and my life. At that time, Amway recommended a path to success that included three things: ‘books, tapes, and functions’.

Here is what they meant. Books – they recommended a book each month. That book was something like a Napoleon Hill or a Dale Carnegie or an Og Mandino; books that had something to offer that would make you a better person.

Next, was tapes. At that time (pre-CD days) you were supposed to subscribe to the tape-of-the-week. Each tape was made by someone more experienced in the business and listening to them provided training for becoming better at your (Amway) job.

Finally, functions. There were weekly meetings, monthly meetings and great big out of town meetings. They were educational, but their real purpose was to put you in touch with positive people who were moving on in their lives.

While I only stuck with Amway for a few years, I carried the philosophy into my real estate career. To this day I continue to read books that will help me understand myself and others and help me be a better person.

I continue to take advantage of opportunities to learn more about real estate and stay on top of the business and become better at what I do.

Finally, I learned that it was better to be around positive people than negative ones. Those friends who are always complaining about life and how unfair things are, yet do nothing to change their lives for the better – I don’t hang with them any more. I prefer to be with people who get up each day and believe they can make a difference in their own lives and the lives of others.

So while Amway didn’t make me rich in the sense I had expected, it actually made me richer in a far greater way. I know that I have become a better person and Realtor^® because of it.

Posted by: Crissie Cudd, Manager, Watson Realty, Southside Office

As a new REALTOR^®, I don't have much advice for people in the business, but here's why I got in.

I just love the idea of running my own show, being the boss, taking it to the streets, putting the pedal to the metal. Enough clichés already, but I am serious about the idea of free enterprise, the lifeblood of The American Dream. We all better get serious about it, or we could be facing an American Nightmare!

As Realtors we are free - to plan, organize, prospect, follow up, inform, educate, and help people. As our business gradually builds, we can legitimately call it an enterprise. How great is it that we are free to build a business of our own, a business based on working hard and helping others? It's not complicated, but it is very important.

It is easy to get frustrated by people who would rather get than to give. The economy is tough, and we need growth to bring jobs back and renew prosperity. The political situation now is clogged by red-blooded Americans who stand with their hands out waiting for help. Guess what? Most of us need to go out there and help others before we can begin to get anything for ourselves. When we see this clearly, we can appreciate the way things really work and start to put ourselves in the position to grow, build, and create our own slice of the free enterprise pie.

Proud to be a REALTOR^® in America.

Posted by: Liz Reiman, Watson Realty Corp.

After many requests (actually “pleas” may be the more appropriate term) to agents and managers for help with transferees who want to look for rental homes when they arrive in our region, it occurred to me I need to connect the world our agents are living in with the world inside a relocation department. Distressed sales make up 30% to 45% of our agents’ transactions. Agents speak daily with sellers who are about to face foreclosure, need to do a short sale, or are under water and cannot move. They understand the stress in the market, but do they relate that to the calls from our relocation department to ask for assistance with another renter. We all miss the days when a corporate client would send us a number of buyers and an occasional renter. Those days have past – at least for now.

If 30 to 45% of sellers are in distressed situations, then it only makes sense that a corresponding percentage of relocation properties are distressed. Transferees who have just experienced a foreclosure cannot buy in the new location. Transferees who just completed a short sale cannot buy in the new location. Transferees who have been told they are underwater are most likely going to rent the old house and not buy in the new location. Yes, agents, 30 to 45% of relocation business to our area is now from rental clients. Add to that the stress about the unemployment numbers and talk of new layoffs in various industries (example Bank of America and the Post Office), and transferees arrive at their new location concerned about having a job next year. Given that, the percentage of renters is now pushing 50%.

BUT, there is good news. Statistics show that once a person/family has owned a home, they want to own a home again. A recent poll by the New York Times/CBS News showed that 55% of Americans think owning a home is part of the American Dream. 63% think it is important for the federal government to continue the home mortgage interest deduction. Put these statistics in the perspective of historical home ownership running around 60%, and the dream is still alive. These transferees will buy again.

In any market, a smart agent will help a transferee looking for a rental. A basic of real estate 101 is to develop a sphere of influence. It is to build a real estate family who sends the agent business, either for themselves or as a referral. Successful agents live on referred business. Add to this the fact that the best way to build a relationship is face-to-face. Given an opportunity to meet someone new, deliver a needed service to them, impress them with expertise and professionalism, how can an agent turn this down? This new contact is a strong addition to any agent’s real estate family. This new contact has seen this agent in action. It makes asking for a referral a pretty sure bet. And they will buy again someday.

Thank goodness we still have agents in our company who do remember real estate 101 and are there to help us develop rental service to our clients.

Author: Carolyne Hotze, CRP, GMS

Regional Director, Southern Virginia Region

Long & Foster Corporate Real Estate Services

804-320-2561 direct 800-446-6009 toll free

A Cogent Case for What Makes a Successful Leader

You are the CEO of your real estate business. That being said, I thought you’d be interested in what The Economist magazine listed as key qualities of successful leaders:

• A sound ethical compass (a requirement of our REALTOR^® Code of Ethics)
• The ability to make unpleasant decisions (always put your clients’ interests above your own)
• Clarity and focus (show discipline in your work habits…prospect daily…get the job done)
• Ambition (you set goals that stretch you a bit)
• Effective communication skills (your clients understand what’s going on at all times)
• The ability to judge people (figure out how best to work with co-brokers and clients)
• A knack for developing talent (hired a new agent or an assistant lately?)
• Emotional self-confidence (get over the setbacks you’ll inevitably face in this business)
• Adaptability (who moved your cheese today?)
• Charm (you have oodles of it!)

How do your leadership skills stack up against this list? After all…you’re the leader of your business.

Author: Tom Gongaware, CRB^®, e-PRO^®, GRI, ABRM

General Sales Manager – Triangle Region

Allen Tate, REALTORS^®

Well, just when you think that you’d seen it all, “Wait… there’s more!” You may have read recently that Polk County, Florida, has a record high of over 800 Adverse Possession claims on real estate currently pending with the County Appraisers Office and Florida Statutes 95.16 and 95.18 outline the details of how to go about it. Why such a rise in claims? Well, it seems that certain individuals have decided to take advantage of abandoned and foreclosed homes by going into the County Appraisers Office and paying back taxes with the idea that if the original owner does not object over the next seven years, the property will convey to the ‘possessor’… adversely. And, by the way, many of these possessors are not just satisfied with ultimately obtaining the property for relatively little. They also are renting out the properties to unsuspecting tenants who think that they are renting from a legitimate owner/landlord!

All 50 states currently have Adverse Possession laws on the books that date back to Renaissance England where large tracts of land would often go unattended for long periods of time. It was a method that was put into place to restore the integrity of the land and ultimately, reward the possessor for their ‘public service’. That said, today’s adverse possessor seems to be motivated by greed and preys on the misfortune of others for personal gain. It’s not that easy to get adverse possessors out of the properties that they are occupying. The process is very lengthy and requires the Sheriff’s Department to obtain copies of the Adverse Possession Registration and then actually go out to the property to interview the occupant. If the occupant is a tenant, the Sherriff will inform them that they are paying rent to someone that doesn’t own the property and that they do not have to continue doing so. Next, the Sheriff has to locate and interview the individual who actually abandoned the property and inform them that their property is being occupied by an unauthorized tenant who may cause damage to the property, and that they, the abandoner, will ultimately be responsible. Hopefully, given that information, the abandoner will sign a trespassing warning which will be served on the occupant/tenant who will then be ordered to move or be arrested.

Given the dramatic increases in the number of Adverse Possession filings throughout the state, it’s hard to imagine that the local Sheriff’s Department will be able to keep up with the process required to evict these unlawful detainers. Those who practice this scheme say that it’s a way of providing housing to those less fortunate and cleaning up our neighborhoods, but at the end of the day it’s really a devious and deceptive practice by some who are clearly taking advantage of the misfortune of others… for personal gain.

Author:Ken Bennett,
Regional Vice President,
Watson Realty Corp.

Clients Don’t Want To Be Sold

The harder you pursue in your attempts to be a salesperson, the faster your potential clients will run from you.

A great real estate agent will establish value, build loyalty and lifetime clients.

Consider that most real estate agents think of themselves as salespeople instead of educators, counselors or service providers. They’re marketers, too. As soon as your client feels you’re a salesperson, he/she will instantly view you as easily replaceable and lose interest in dealing with you. This is the fastest way to lose your value to any client; especially someone you’re trying to help.

Do Something Different… Market “Outside the Box”

Most agents try to advertise homes with classified ads that say the same old thing: “3/2 Colonial in desirable part of town” or “Move-in charmer!” You know what? Do something different.

Run an ad that says something like: “Tired of real estate agents hounding you? Search the MLS like a pro and learn the home buying process.”

Change it up. It’s absolute madness if you have the same marketing message as everyone else. Separate yourself from all the stereotypical agents, and bring business in the door. If your ad looks, feels and smells like advertising, it’s likely that your best potential clients will never see it. Because the average person is exposed to thousands of ads and messages every single week, they have become immune to advertising. So while big, flashy adverting is done by most marketers, they all make the same old tired promises of service, quality and integrity. Often, their advertising is haphazard, with no tracking to determine what is effective.

Prospects do not want to be sold; they want to seek counsel with a credible, trusted professional. Do your best to truly help people overcome their challenges and difficult situations. That is actually what I believe is my duty, and my greatest source of inspiration to get started each day is knowing that if I didn’t get there first, the customer will work with someone else who will deliver a lower quality of service. I will always remember some of the bad decisions I made over the years, and how much my mentor guided me to correct those mistakes. Today, it gives me great satisfaction to share my experience and knowledge with others who are newer to the business.

Establishing The Right Frame Of Mind

Realize that you are unique and have the ability to add tremendous value to your clients and help them fulfill their dreams. Develop a single-minded focus on that, and when you do, success will come your way.

Posted by:  Michael Demcho
Vice President/Manager Broker,
Watson Realty Corp.

Following a conversation with UV Professor Ed Burton on what the raising of the debt ceiling would mean to interest rates and the real estate market, Roy Wheeler Realty Company CEO, Michael Guthrie, who also hosts “Real Estate Matters” every Saturday on WINA Radio, speaks with station host on the matter.

Jay: We’ve been looking at the debt ceiling from different angles and I think one industry we all look to when we try to gage the barometer of the economy is the real estate industry. Is this a relief to your industry?

Michael: This particular act, as far as raising the debt ceiling, it really didn’t do anything other than raise the debt ceiling. No promise for tax revenue, no promise for dealing with the entitlements, we just raised the debt ceiling. Going back to the personal; it’s like all of us. If you have a credit card and you can’t pay it, that baby just keeps on going up because you pay the minimum payment and you’re not even paying the interest on it.

The point being is confidence. You’ve got these companies that have had some success in the last few months and real estate has picked up a little bit in the last 2 or 3 months so you’ve had a little bit of optimism and you have a little bit of the momentum going, and yet you don’t really want to pull the trigger on some new opportunity because you don’t know what’s going to happen in the next 3 or 4 months because you don’t have the confidence. That’s a lot of what prevents people from buying homes.

People may be ok and they may be secure in their jobs and they’re thinking, but what happens “if”…and that’s what hasn’t been answered yet. And so if we can build some trust; if people can see some positive things happening and see they’re really dealing with the issues to start paying down the debt, then you start getting the trust, then you start getting the confidence and people say ok and are ready to step out and do something.

Jay: Do you feel like real estate is the most critical to your industry about this confidence you’ve been talking about..more so than cars, more so than other types of other things because of how large a purchase a home is?

Michael: People know when they buy a car and they drive it off the lot, it’s not worth what they pay for it. But in real estate, you buy something, you hang on to it and ultimately, you have an investment. It appreciates, you pay down on your mortgage, and ultimately you have equity that you sell the house and do something or else or buy another house.

Well right now, a lot of people don’t feel that way. We’ve been hit bad enough that we’re down to 2006 prices, so that anybody who bought a house in 2007-10, there’s a very good chance that they can’t sell their house for what they paid for it.

If you’re a first-time buyer, one of the things I tell folks is find out what that house can rent for and don’t buy the house and have a monthly payment that’s more than what you can rent it for so that if you do get moved in a couple years, and its not the right time to sell you can rent it and have somebody else paying your mortgage until the market improves or you come back to enjoy that house on football and basketball weekends and whenever you want to come back during the summertime.

Visit this link to hear the full interview.

Posted by: Kimberly Ecker

In the olden days potential buyers relied on Realtors^® because we were the only ones who had knowledge of what properties were for sale. Now customers believe that with the Internet they can find the homes themselves. Some agents perpetuate the problem by telling customers to go online, pick out the homes they want to see, and let them know when they do so the agent can make appointments.

Recently one of my agents got a call from a customer to look at properties. When asked if the customer was working with an agent, the customer replied, “Not really. I looked at several homes with a Realtor^® but they didn’t do anything. I picked everything out myself and they just showed them to me.”

Surveys show that the most important service a buyer wants from a Realtor^® is to find them a home. When Realtors^® abdicate that responsibility they become, in the buyer’s mind, a door-opener. They don’t yet realize that the Realtor’s skill and training is really called into play for writing and negotiating a good contract and following up on inspections and deadlines all the way to closing.

Realtors^® need to spend time educating buyers on the process and explaining how buyers can use the Internet to SUPPLEMENT what the agent is doing, but not replace it. Our agents need to help buyers understand how their skills will be put to use through the mortgage and inspection issues as well, and the unforeseen things that always come up prior to closing. Realtors^® all have “listing presentations” but most don’t have “buyer presentations”. Those are just as important if we truly want to help them develop buyer loyalty.

Years ago it was prophesied that agents would become obsolete when customers had access to the Internet. Yet we know that in this day and age Realtors^® are more necessary than ever to help buyers through this complex market. We will only become obsolete when we fail to demonstrate that skill to the buyers.

Check out our website.

Posted by:  Crissie Cudd, Manager, Watson Realty, Southside Office

Roy Wheeler Realty Company CEO, Michael Guthrie, who also hosts “Real Estate Matters” every Saturday on WINA Radio sat down with the station’s news director Coy Barefoot to discuss how integrating social media into business strategies helps to build rapport, gain credibility, and ultimately show people that you care.

Coy: With social networking, this is not just something the kids are doing, it’s something businesses are doing and you have really gotten a hold of it and taken advantage of it and been a real leader in the community to show other people that it isn’t just something you do for fun, it’s about good business and networking…give me an idea of how you think all this social networking has impacted how businesses operates in Charlottesville?

Michael: Classic example: Why I’m here right now.

Coy: You sent me a message on Twitter.

Michael: Yes, we were tweeting back and forth about stuff and you said why don’t you come on the show?

Coy: It was on Facebook actually.

Michael: Yes, if we hadn’t been having that conversation, I would have been on your show at some point because I come on from time to time, but it wouldn’t have been today….and that leads me into what I want to share and that is what people need to understand about social media.

I look at it as just a conversation: …. think about the coolest Christmas party that you always want to be invited to because 1.) it’s a really cool Christmas party and 2.) all the people that are going to be there are people that maybe you don’t get to rub shoulders with the rest of the year. They’re all in the same room and you’re talking and then you hear a conversation over here and you want to get in that conversation so you move respectfully and politely out of this conversation and over to here. That’s what I see social media as…social media is just the beginning of conversations and if you’re not there, you aren’t in the conversation and things are going to be happening and going along and by the time you find out about it; it’s too late…somebody else has moved in and taken advantage of that particular situation.

Social media is not the “be all, end all”. It is engaging in conversation. You begin to build rapport with people; you begin in the business role. If I friend somebody or somebody friends me, we begin to have a conversation, so I’m building a rapport with that person. They begin to see what I’m posting, whether it be on my own site, or whether it be on my “Real Estate Matters” Facebook page, or Roy Wheeler’s Facebook page, I begin to gain credibility with them. They think this guy has some idea of what’s going on so they track and see what I’m doing and then the back end of it is once I’ve built the rapport, gained the credibility, how do I show them I care? You do that by birthdays, or you see somebody passed away and you’re right there saying, “hey, I’m so sorry”. But here’s the key from my standpoint: In one of those situations, you come out of the Facebook and you pick up a pen and write that person a note, “Hey I’m so sorry to hear your grandmother died”

Coy: It really does make a difference

Michael: It does. I was on a call today and we were talking about these types of things and the guy said, “In business, we hear all the time about ‘return of investment’, he termed social media as ‘return of engagement’. And the whole point is that as you engage into this social media, what kind of return is your business getting? I can tell you for a fact that since I’ve decided to engage in social media, so that I can lead my agents into this type of marketing, what the agents are experiencing as far as building that rapport, gaining credibility, and showing people that they care and then doing business with them is significant.

Visit this link to hear the full interview.

Posted by:  Kimberly Ecker

LeadingRE is looking forward to the upcoming Fall Workshop series where we’ll be delving into the latest trends, economic impact of the credit downgrade, new LeadingRE announcements and lots more.

We’ll hear from keynote speakers Mike Staver in Providence on September 7 and Costa Mesa on September 22 and Brian Parsley in Chicago on August 23 and Atlanta on October 4.   Mike is Institute 2.0 Chief Learning Officer for LeadingRE, and since he’s just returning from a 2,000-mile Harley open road junket, he should be full of new stories! Likewise, Brian, who is our Institute 2.0 content partner and CEO of WeSkill, never fails to engage his audiences.

In addition, the opening session will feature network leaders offering their insights on the latest industry issues, and we’re fortunate to have participation from Harold Crye, Crye-Leike®, Nashville, TN; Dan Parmer, Harry Norman Realtors, Atlanta, GA; Carol Bulman, Jack Conway Realtors, Boston, MA; Sally Lapides, Residential Properties, Providence, John Turpin, Turpin Real Estate, Far Hills, NJ; Bud Clark, Willis Allen Real Estate, La Jolla, CA; Charles Moore, McGuire Real Estate, San Francisco, CA; John DeSouza, Cressy & Everett, South Bend, IN; Jose Perez, PCMS Consulting, Atlanta, GA; and Steve Hudson, The Hudson Company, Winnetka, IL.

And we’ll also dive into other topics ranging from REOs and short sales to property management, business planning and broker brainstorming forums. Information about the four workshops, which are open to all LeadingRE members, is available here.

Hope to see you there!

Posted by:  Pam O'Connor

THREE days to cast your vote for the 2011 People's Choice Innovator Award, which closes Friday, July 22!

Selected LeadingRE members and partners are being honored by Inman as nominees for the People's Choice Innovator Award, one of nine categories that will be featured in the annual Inman News Innovator Awards. The winners will be based on popular vote and are set to be announced during the Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco, which runs from July 27-29, 2011.

The People's Choice award is intended to recognize a standout real estate-related technology. Last year's winner was the DocuSign ESIGNControl app. This year, member nominees include Baird and Warner, Barrett & Co, Crye-Leike, Edina, First Team, Howard Hanna, Intero, Laffey Fine Homes, Long & Foster, Nothnagle, William Raveis, Windermere. Partner nominees include CoreLogic, KeepingCurrentMatters.com, KWKLY, Obeo, Onboard Informatics, Roost and .

We are so pleased and proud to have such a great showing on the list this year…Congrats to all those nominated!

Please support your fellow members and partners by getting your votes in now!

Click here to read more and vote

Posted by: Kimberly Ecker

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^® was once again recognized by a widely recognized, third-party survey known as the “The Top 500 REAL Trends” report for being the highest-producing network in terms of total sales for 2010.

The 97 LeadingRE affiliate firms on the Top 500 list produced 551,832 sales “sides” in 2010 totaling sales volume of $142.4 billion, over 30 percent more transactions than the closest competitor, Coldwell-Banker, with 415,540 units and 60 firms on the list.

The power of local branding was further emphasized with #1 market share rankings for the nation’s top 96 markets. In that portion of the study, LeadingRE members ranked first in the market in 40% of the cities, compared to 24% and 11% for the next two networks.

LeadingRE’s entire network of over 550 affiliates produced collective 2010 sales units of 800,000 and volume of $225 billion.

Posted by:  Kimberly Ecker

Selecting delivery options for training agents is not as simple as it used to be.

Classroom training is an opportunity to get face to face, get a glimpse of the level of commitment in the room and stimulate lively, educational exchanges. The down side is that it is costly, not necessarily convenient for attendees and it’s easy to get side tracked by an overzealous student.

Live webinars involve people in real time, accessing information at the same time while not having to travel. Depending on the size of the group, you can engage in active conversation and idea sharing. The down side is that it’s difficult to gauge the attention level of the learner. Also, people who are more familiar with the traditional classroom method may not be comfortable asking questions, so their learning experience may be diminished.

On-demand training offers asynchronous learning that does not require the trainer and learner to participate at the same time. These are self-paced courses, done online with greater flexibility and the opportunity for the learner to repeat challenging material as needed. This is great for those people too embarrassed to raise their hand in class and ask for the instructor to repeat something (that would be me).

Realtors are busy entrepreneurs out there building their business. Do we stick them in a classroom for 5 hours teaching them? Since webinars have a maximum attention span of 45 minutes to an hour, do we tie up numerous days to fit in all the different training or do we take the time to create scripts and presentations that we post and then track?

The strategy of a learning organization is to target the issues that are important to the company and then make sure the solutions implemented deliver the intended results. After evaluating our agents’ experience following different training methods, on-demand seems to make them smile.

I applaud LeadingRE for providing online, on-demand course content through LeadingRE Institute. The courses they now offer (and those to come), augment what we do as a company and adds even further value to our LeadingRE affiliation.

Posted by: 

Devon Hill, CRP, CPLP, Relocation Training Director, Long and Foster Corporate Real Estate Services

Too often, the real estate stories that illustrate the ‘beyond the call’ efforts of top practitioners don’t get told. We’d like to share some of these with you in this series highlighting the service that brings customers back again and again.

When a natural disaster caused desperate times to call for desperate measures, Judith Haslam of Harcourt’s International LTD, Christchurch, New Zealand and 1st Runner Up of the 2011 LeadingRE Customer Experience: Referral of the Year Award, went to courageous lengths to aide clients. Judith not only handled a variety of country-specific counseling and orientation details for her American client referred by Cutler Real Estate, but also went above and beyond when an earthquake struck just a week prior to closing. She arranged for further inspections before the clients even reached her by phone, and provided this family of five tremendous peace of mind during a challenging international relocation.

Prior to this, however, as noted in a client email: “The homes she had lined up for us were spot on. She took us to lunch that first day and continued to narrow down our needs. She listened to us carefully and intuitively and went to work for us with vigor and enthusiasm.” The clients’ satisfaction was also measured by Judith’s efforts to make sure they were aware of the differences abroad, “Judith and the mortgage broker she arranged for us walked us cautiously through the home buying process since we were new to the laws, procedures and processes for purchasing in New Zealand. We found a great house one afternoon and she had us in that house and making an offer within 48 hours.”

Posted by:  Kimberly Ecker

Too often, the real estate stories that illustrate the ‘beyond the call’ efforts of top practitioners don’t get told. We’d like to share some of these with you in this series highlighting the service that brings customers back again and again.

Sandi Salisbury with Allen Tate Company brought the phrase “make yourself at home” to a whole new level, and was recognized as the second runner up for the LeadingRE Customer Experience Transaction of the Year Award at the this year’s 2011 conference, when she opened her lot and her home to her clients’ parents, allowing them to park their RV on her property for several weeks while they searched for a vacation home. Without making previous arrangements, The Hartzlers (client’s parents and RV owners) went so far as to take Sandi’s dogs out, cook loaves of homemade bread and brownies in Sandi’s oven, and even request her internet password during their stay in Sandi’s backyard.

With patience and diligence, Sandi was able to put the Hartzlers in connection with Allen Tate Realtor Cindy Ransone who found them a home well suited for their family’s needs. During inspection negotiations, it was quite convenient for Sandi to knock on the door of the RV to get any initials or signatures needed. At first it was a little strange, but it became pretty normal after the first three days. When they finally departed Sandi’s yard, the Hartzlers left behind words of gratitude, several loaves of Margaret’s homemade bread and a basket of peaches from Georgia they picked up en route back to Charlotte. Both agents and clients came away with a funny story of how personal the real estate transaction can become.

Posted by:  Kimberly Ecker

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^® has taken a stand opposing NAR's policy allowing franchisors (Realogy brands, Prudential, etc,) to post IDX listings on their national websites for all of the markets where they have affiliates and have the permission of those franchisees. LeadingRE is requesting that this policy - approved last November - be rescinded for several reasons, the main one being that those franchisors are not cooperating members of the MLS systems and are therefore not bound by the same obligations concerning those listings, nor do they have the same rights as other brokers within the MLS systems. The more that listings move out of the control of local brokerages, the more liable listing brokers become concerning the protection of that data

In addition, there are restraint of trade issues around the fact that certain national networks are being given a competitive advantage. LeadingRE, along with HomeServices of America and Realty Alliance, will be voicing these concerns to the NAR Multiple Listing Issues and Policies Committee on May 12 during the NAR mid-year convention in Washington. This move – and other policy proposals coming before NAR involving distribution of IDX listing data to social media outlets and mobile devices, underscore the growing concerns about listing syndication and the increasing erosion of control of listing data by brokers, despite the fact that they own that data. We believe it is important to take a stand to begin reversing this trend. 

This matter has been covered by Inman News and the larger issues around syndication are addressed quite aptly by two recent industry white papers from The WAV Group and Clareity Consulting.

Have an opinion? Let us hear from you on this important topic!

Posted by:  Pam O'Connor

Too often, the real estate stories that illustrate the ‘beyond the call’ efforts of top practitioners don’t get told. We’d like to share some of these with you in this series highlighting the service that brings customers back again and again.

Coming in as the first runner up at the 2011 Annual LeadingRE Conference for the Real Estate Transaction of the Year Award are the well-deserving real-estate agents out of Manhattan’s Halstead Property, LLC.

The agency gives true meaning to the eight million stories in the Naked City, as their associates – in four separate New York real estate transactions – managed to navigate a perfect storm of supremely convoluted circumstances and obstacles to ultimately close transactions that would have floundered if handled by anyone else.

Halstead’s agents took measures as drastic as hunting down a home-owner at a golf course whose property had been taken off the market, and, armed with a digital camera, requesting a one-time access for a one viewing, one customer deal. Another agent worked around the clock for a divorcee couple, standing in at court hearings for them and coordinating requested showings around visits by the children, making sure to clear each and every showing in advance. Halstead’s agents even went as far as to compile bilingual information for a board application. Collectively, Halstead’s team ensured all areas were covered to bring a necessary level of professionalism to each and every step of the process.

These multiple transactions were all protracted situations in which the agents had to be tenacious and follow-up focused over months if not years in order to bring these sales to successful conclusions. This kind of dedication is typical of the best in the business and doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves.

Posted by:  Kimberly Ecker

Too often, the real estate stories that illustrate the ‘beyond the call’ efforts of top practitioners don’t get told. We’d like to share some of these with you in this series highlighting the service that brings customers back again and again.

Lending his philanthropic hand to help a client in need, Frank Flynn of Stark Company Realtors, was recently acknowledged at the 2011 Annual LeadingRE Conference where he received the Real Estate Transaction of the Year Award for his commendable client services.

This one-of-a-kind agent whose client, John, had already quit his job, liquidated his pension and refinanced his father’s home in order to provide round the clock care for his 92-year old dad, recognized an opportunity to help. When his father passed away, leaving the family home to him, John was unable to even pay the utilities.

In seeing his client’s selfless efforts, Frank decided to pay it forward and reached into his own pocket to help John cover utilities, remediate a mold issue, cover property insurance, and negotiate with mortgage lenders and other creditors to avoid foreclosure and postpone debt payment upon closing. Not only did Frank sell John’s home, but he continued to work with John, driving him around the city to find an apartment rental he could afford. The client was so grateful that he presented the agent with a plaque, “for caring, concern, and dedication to his client.”

Posted by:  Kimberly Ecker

There is a lot of talk during the lingering real estate recession about reducing brick and mortar. Overhead costs have been a huge challenge for many brokerages during this market downturn. But as so often happens, the pendulum swings from one extreme to the other. Yes, we all know there is no financial prudence in having beautiful 10,000 square-foot offices with few agents working in them, given how technology has made us all so much more mobile. That said, though, I’m not sure the answer is creating purely virtual companies with no physical office presence at all.

This topic generated some conversation in posts following an Inman story on LeadingRE.

Our argument is that credibility (to the consumer) and culture (within the brokerage) do rely to some extent on an office presence. Companies are learning how to balance space costs with the need for a “home” where agents can interact and energize one another and where the company can convey its message and mission by action as well as email. This may be a business of independent contractors, but the best companies who survive and thrive over time are about more than just a group of people who happen to hang their licenses under a particular broker. The trick in today’s environment is to create places that are less about ego and more about a base of operations that allows the company’s culture to take root and blossom.

Posted by:  Pam O'Connor

One of my favorite books, “Guns, Germs and Steel, The Fates of Human Societies” by Jared Diamond brilliantly examines how those items and more formed our world today. While far too complex to do justice here, I will attempt to summarize a sliver of information – one that has been in my thoughts since I learned about OUR WORLD™, LeadingRE’s brilliant new community platform being rolled out to members in the coming months.

In Chapter 11 “Necessities Mother”, Mr. Diamond discusses the development and spread of technology. (Technology as in the wheel, not Google-powered Android PDAs) Mr. Diamond credits our adoption of a sedentary lifestyle with a huge jump in accelerating development.

“All other things being equal, technology develops fastest in large productive regions with large human populations, many potential inventors, and many competing societies.”

In today’s global world where societies are not defined solely based upon geography or government, I would propose that we could define additional distinct societies for ourselves as our individual companies and our collective network. In both, we have specialists from luxury to first-time homebuyer, from management to sales and from customer service to IT/Marketing. We are also varied by the specific needs of our communities, local customs and laws, as well as company size and cultures. Most importantly, we have traditionally diffused technology/knowledge very successfully to the benefit of our companies and our network.

I use the term “traditional” to describe both the history of successful sharing and the manner in which we have executed that sharing up to this point. OUR WORLD™ is the technology through which we will have the ability to diffuse information more quickly, effectively and securely.

OUR WORLD™ is a significant point of differentiation for the LeadingRE membership that has the potential to give the network and every participating member a real, definable and eventually an income-verifiable competitive advantage. While the vision and the capability are in place, success also requires commitment and participation. The forum comes from LeadingRE; the conversation must come from us as individual members.

This technology is game-changing not in the fact that it exists, but in how we implement and exercise it. I encourage every member to finally discard the “referral only” perception of LeadingRE and include all department heads in the implementation discussion. It should be considered in 2011 business plans for the company and each division. How is corporate headquarters disseminating information to managers and agents? What one-way communications would benefit from becoming two-way conversations? What “communities” already exist within your company that could improve and grow online? How does your Relocation or Corporate Services department keep their trained agent team informed in between training session?

Look at your company – what it does, how it does it or what it can’t do, but would like to. Take a moment to post a comment and share in this “traditional” way one idea for how you think you could use this business-side-of-social technology.

Posted by: Sharon E. Michnay, CRP, GMS, WRS, Executive Director, Corporate Business Development, Halstead Property. Sharon is a member and former chairperson of the LeadingRE Advisory Council.

That’s a rhetorical question since we all know the answer. I think many agents understand and accept the necessity of referral fees. Many agents who choose not to work with Relocation because of these fees may not.

The term “referral fee” is really not accurate. In the context of e-business (or e-leads), a more appropriate term is “lead generation fee” – because that’s what it is. The fee covers the expense (marketing, listings syndication, SEO, staff, systems, etc.) associated with generating and processing e-leads. Leads don’t just happen. “Build it (a website) and they will come” is a myth. Listings must be marketed to generate leads.

The cost to you, the agent, to do all this on your own would be significant (time, expertise, money). Aren’t we all better served when agents can focus on selling and servicing customers?

Posted by:  Dan Cheek, Director, e-Real Estate, Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc.

Our goal this year is to recruit 100 agents to Balistreri Realty. This may sound quite lofty but I have divided the recruiting plan into a 12 month strategy with weekly assigned tasks. My first task was to analyze the membership makeup of the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale and by doing so, learned that from 2006 to 2010, membership dropped from 13,800 to 7,400. For the same period, sales volume dropped from $6,166,000,000 to $3,391,000,000. This translates to an increase in per agent volume from $447K to $458K in 2010 from 2006. That’s right – fewer agents sold more (per agent) in 2010 and this trend is expected to continue in 2011. Clearly, those agents still active in real estate today treat this industry as a career and represent a vast recruiting opportunity. Secondly, I analyzed the average age of our current agent base and determined that in order to ensure continuity and prosperity, it was necessary to recruit young talent to replace those who would be retiring soon.

My next task was to choose a coach that would not only guide me with selecting weekly activities to achieve my goal but also hold me accountable. In turn, I would coach my four office managers to ensure their tasks were being accomplished. I chose Mike Ferry, of The Mike Ferry Organization to assist me. With his help, I have developed a 12 month plan divided into weekly duties. Each week, the four office managers at Balistreri Realty and I are required to speak with 40 agents not currently affiliated with Balistreri Realty. These conversations can take place over the telephone or in person at open houses, caravans, closings or other industry events. The goal is to lay the groundwork which opens the door for the recruiting appointment. Every Monday, I speak with Mike to review the previous week’s contact report showing the combined details of our calls, other forms of contact, recruiting appointments and new recruits. We are also tracking listings, sales and closings on a weekly basis and these are reviewed with Mike, as well.

In order to streamline the recruiting appointment, we also developed a new tool, the pre-recruiting package, to aid in the recruiting process. This information package details the benefits of associating with Balistreri Realty and is delivered via FedEx to the prospective recruit prior to the appointment. We are in the process of creating a television campaign to recruit agents between the ages of 23 – 35 and a separate commercial for the 36 -54 age group. In fact, we are going to use some of our earliest recruiting successes as actors in these commercials.

In order to reinforce my goal and ensure achievement, I verbalize our goal frequently to those around me. Similar to increasing the chance of success with any diet, telling those around you how much weight you plan to lose usually results in a much greater chance of achieving that goal! Most recently, I announced our goal to all agents and staff at the annual awards breakfast and remind them of the $1,000 incentive for helping us reach quality agents. The response was overwhelmingly positive.

We are off to a great start with new recruits to show for our efforts and anticipate that the plan in place will gain momentum throughout the year.

 

Posted by:  Jim Balistreri

The 2011 Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^® Annual Conference encourages audiences to “ENGAGE, INNOVATE and LEAD” in the 2011 business year. Being held at the exciting, luxurious new Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas March 8-10 the conference offers a compelling line-up of speakers, including:

Todd Buchholz

The Associate Press says Bucholz “lights up economics with a wickedly sparkling wit.” A former director of economic policy at the White House, a managing director of the $15 billion Tiger hedge fund, and an award-winning economics teacher at Harvard, Buchholz will show attendees how to thrive in a challenging economy, while gearing up for future prosperity.

Scott Belsky

Scott Belsky has committed his professional life to help organize creative individuals, teams, and networks. He is the author of the national bestselling book MAKING IDEAS HAPPEN and is the founder and CEO of Behance, a company that develops products and services for the creative industries. In 2010, Scott was also included in Fast Company’s list of “100 Most Creative People in Business.”

Simon T. Bailey  
 
Voted the best keynote speaker by the readers of Meetings and Conventions magazine, Simon T. Bailey is a compelling instigator who enriches people’s lives by encouraging them to create the destiny they want. He does this by illuminating and then magnifying the brilliance inherent in everyone through his positively contagious energy and enthusiasm.  

Jared James

As a Realtor and broker, Jared James built one of the largest and fastest growing teams in the country, was inducted into the International Hall of Fame, wrote a best-selling book and was even voted by the over 2 million readers of the international publication REALTOR Magazine as one of their “30 under 30”… all before the age of 28. At the conference, he will share insights on “Recruiting & Retaining the Next Generation of Superstars.”

Michael Tchong

Michael Tchong, founder and trend analyst of Ubercool, Inc., is the founder of five start-ups. His expertise in marketing, media and technology will help you better grasp how massive trends, called “Ubertrends,” are reshaping the consumer culture.

Brian Solis      
 
Brian Solis is the author of Engage, the complete guide to build, cultivate, and measure success in the social web. Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis has influenced the effects of emerging media on the convergence of marketing, communications, and publishing. He is principal of FutureWorks, an award-winning New Media agency in Silicon Valley.

The conference is open exclusively to members of LeadingRE, who can find details and register here.

Posted by:  Robin LaSure

Establishing an employee’s need doesn’t mean asking how many bedrooms & baths they want in their new home. It also doesn’t mean finding out they want an agent who is responsive. Shouldn’t all agents be responsive? The last time I checked, it doesn’t take a specific expertise to locate a 3 bedroom home versus a 4 bedroom home. So why are we asking those questions.

The most critical role the Real Estate Brokerage Firm’s Relocation Division has in a transferring employee’s move is matching the employee to the sales associate who has the expertise and communication style that best meets the employee’s need. There are 7 key elements you need to uncover during that first call with the employee: motivation, experience, ability, status, urgency, requirements and expectations – aka “MEASURE.” 

Motivation 

How will this move impact the employee’s current lifestyle? At the end of the day what is going to determine if the employee makes this move or not. What do you need to help the employee resolve in order for him/her to commit to this move? Power question: If you couldn’t have…. would you cancel your move?

Experience

Have you relocated before? Have you worked with a real estate agent before? Tell me about those experiences. Uncover their hot buttons and/or pre-conceived notions about how this is going to work. Listen for the keys to the employee’s personality (visual, audio or kinesthetic). You have to get the employee talking to discover their style of communication.

Ability

How long has the employee been in their existing home? Has the employee spoken with a lender? (do you need an agent who’s familiar with the short sale process; do you need an agent who is capable of assisting this employee if they end up being a renter).

Status

When does the job begin in the new location? Are they already familiar with an agent? Sometimes employees are afraid to advise they’ve already acquired assistance prior to receiving their employer’s okay. It’s best to deal with this upfront and not after you’ve already involved another agent.

Urgency

When does the employee want to be in his/her new home? When does he/she want to list the property for sale? Have they made their plane reservations for the house hunting trip? So often we choose a realtor based on the timing the employee provided only to find out those time plans were not concrete.

Requirements

Is there anything else I need to know? Am I missing anything?

Expectations

What do you expect from your agent to market your home? Make sure there aren’t any disconnects in the way your agent markets and the way the employee expects the home to be marketed. A good example is print ads versus internet ads. What does the employee expect to accomplish on the house hunting trip? Are they ready to identify a home or are they coming to determine if the new location is a place they feel confident moving their families to.

All professionals qualify their clients. It’s the only way we can provide the ultimate service. Sales Associates don’t become frustrated if they know the quality of the lead before they accept it and employee’s don’t become frustrated if they are getting what they need. It’s much easier to be successful from the start than it is to redirect the service delivery later. The needs assessment call is critical to that process.   

Posted by: Vicki Hamp, CRP, GMS

These days, the economy is having an impact on virtually every area of our business in expected and unexpected ways. In relocation, one of the most unusual developments has been in the area of pre-decision tools. While we have often been involved at this stage of a relocation, what is unique today is that more and more frequently we called in even before the employee knows they are being considered for a job or promotion involving a relocation.

It is not unusual for relocation directors to receive a call from a third party relocation management company or an corporate client noting a hiring manager is thinking of offering a position to a homeowner, and the potential transferee does not even know they are being considered yet.

Because of declining real estate values, the employer wants to do a preliminary search to determine what the potential loss on sale expenses will be before going further down the road. In trying to determine just how much they stand to lose with the hiring of a given employee, they want to know a head of time the potential loss for a candidate’s home.

In these cases, relocation departments try to help as much as we can, being careful not to violate any laws or privacy issues. Because so much information is publicly available, it is fairly easy to offer assistance, but it does require a local eye because MLS photos can be outdated (depending on the last time the home was actively on the market). Many of us offer these services with no compensation, but with the understanding that if the relocation proceeds, we would have the opportunity for the referral and one of the brokers asked to provide a BMA.

Employers are not the only ones reaching out early in the game. The other extreme is when a potential transferee calls us directly before deciding whether to pursue a job in another location. Like the employer, they want to know what their house is worth so they can make an informed decision.

With these types of requests, the same strong customer service principles apply:

• Be sure to be responsive, pick up the phone and be available.
• Act quickly, as these requests usually carry an immediate need; it’s not uncommon for them to need to know tomorrow.
• Pull in a top agent who really knows the area. Or, ask a sales manager to drive through, take photos and make an assessment. Everyone is so eager to get business, I have found my managers and agents to be willing to go the extra mile.
• Whether a sales associate or manager has done the assessment, have them report back with comps and a synopsis of the home and neighborhood. It can be challenging because they cannot get interior photos, so it is advisable to use a range for the market value, noting that it can vary based on the condition of the interior.

Having involved parties understand what they face before going too far down the job offer road is a wise approach in today’s market – essentially putting the “real” back in real estate. Without these pre-decision tools, someone may start the hiring path, thinking there will be a relocation package, only to discover later on that the costs make it prohibitive – either for the homeowner, the employer or both.

Of course the old relocation considerations still apply. Is the relocation a good fit? Is it a good for the employee and his or her family? Will the spouse be able to find employment in the new city? Is it a good investment for the company? But these days – the value of the house is a key determinant in the “pre”-decision process.

Posted by: Deborah Benavides

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^® had a great showing on Inman’s Most Influential Leaders List in the brokerage category, with 9 of the 24 honorees affiliated with the network.  Making the prestigious list were:

• Stephen W. Baird, President, CEO, Baird & Warner
• Mary Frances Burleson, President and CEO, Ebby Halliday Realtors
• Harold E. Crye, Co-founder and president, Crye-Leike Realtors 
• P. Wesley ‘Wes’ Foster Jr., Founder, Chairman and CEO, The Long & Foster Companies 
• Howard W. ‘Hoddy’ Hanna, III, Chairman and CEO, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services
• Paul Hulme, President, Founder and CEO; Alain Pinel Realtors
• Pam O’Connor, President and CEO, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World
• Ronald J. Peltier, Chairman and CEO, HomeServices of America Inc..
• Jim Weichert, Founder and President, Weichert, Realtors

See the complete list.

Congratulations to these brokers and to our own President/CEO Pam O’Connor for exemplifying the quality and strength of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^®.

Posted by:  Robin LaSure

I didn’t set out to be my own Santa Claus last week. In fact, I was supposed to be shopping for everyone else on my day off. But that’s what happened thanks to the superb service from Carmel and Holly at Nordstrom’s. Most everyone is familiar with Nordstrom’s philosophy: to offer the customer the best possible service, selection, quality and value.

Well, I experienced this first hand on the day before Thanksgiving. My plan was to simply return one item purchased online and then look for a pair (yes, one pair only!) of jeans and then proceed to check a few others off my Christmas list. The return went smoothly and quickly and before you knew it, I was in my favorite department. Carmel was quick to introduce herself but not overbearing. She was kind enough to ask my name and use it but not so pushy as to constantly bug me while I perused the beautiful clothes. She also searched all of the departments for just the right skirt to go with the sweater I had to have.

When all was said and done, I had purchased jeans (multiple), shirts, a sweater (the one I had to have!) and a skirt from the other side of the store. Carmel then escorted me to the shoe department on another floor to find appropriate footwear for each outfit. Yes – that’s right – she informed her co-worker that she was leaving and we were off to the shoe department! Carmel was candid in expressing her opinion of what looked right and what did not and she also streamlined the entire buying process by ringing up all of the purchases together once at the conclusion of the (multiple!) footwear purchase. She asked where I was headed next, and I meekly replied ‘well, I had intended to shop for my husband today’. She promptly whisked me over to the men’s department, introduced me to Holly and explained that she would store all of my bags in the back until I finished. Holly was just as helpful with picking out my husband’s gifts but this went a lot quicker – it’s just not as fun when you can’t try it on!

At the end of the day - I had never touched a bag and Carmel and Holly carried my bags out to the car for me and loaded them into the trunk. Was I ‘wowed’? You bet! In every business, there is a way to ‘wow’ the customer by going the extra mile. In real estate, it may be:

• Asking that one question the competitor did not ask during the listing presentation
• Taking the time to walk the customer to the car every time they visit your office
• Have calls coming into the office forwarded to your mobile phone so that the customer does not have to wait for a call back – immediate access is ‘wow’ service
  

At Jordan Baris Inc., Realtors it’s inviting the seller to move in with you when the back-to-back closings go awry! This seller is not only a customer for life now but extols the virtues of Jordan Baris, Inc. Realtors to everyone he meets, and Ken Baris has made a lifelong friend. You can see why Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® selected Jordan Baris Inc., Realtors as the 2009 Customer Experience – Real Estate Transaction of the Year Award winner!

At Westmark Realtors, its agents like David Rayburn who prepared a worksheet where he analyzed ten investment properties and put together a plan to sell the properties for a seller in trouble. He spent untold hours over a year’s time strategizing and many long distance phone calls trying desperately to help the seller understand what she was up against, as well as what was in her best interest. He knew early on that this would be very time consuming with very little monetary return. Eight of the properties were sold via short sale within the year. Westmark Realtors was the 2009 Customer Experience – Referral Transaction of the Year Award winner.

Nordstrom’s philosophy has remained unchanged for more than 100 years since its establishment by John W. Nordstrom as a shoe store in 1901. As a result, Nordstrom’s has weathered the various economic downturns over the last 100 years and continues to thrive in these challenging times. I am confident that Jordan Baris Inc., Realtors (in business since 1952) and Westmark Realtors (in business since 1981) will also continue as shining examples of superior customer service providers in the real estate industry.

Posted By: Jana Coleman

You often hear organizations talk about Performance Management of employees. Tracking performance is an important tool in talent management and achieving organizational goals, but what about REALTORS? Because sales associates work as independent contractors, do we have a say in how they conduct business? Of course we must manage their actions in regards to liability issues, but what about their day-to-day efforts to increase their business or the sapping of company resources due to their inactivity?

Once we answer the question “should we monitor agent performance,” we might ask ourselves:

1. Why should we document performance?
2. How do we go about documenting performance?
3. What are some possible reasons for agent performance problems?
4. Is there anything our organization is doing to cause these performance problems?

Finally…what is the ROI in time and money spent improving performance?

How we recruit might have a lot to do with managing agent performance. Agents have many options on what firm to affiliate with. There are companies with just a desk fee and zero support all the way to full manager support and training with adjusted compensation. If an agent chooses the second example, can you safely assume they are looking for support? I would think so, and managing their performance, similar to an employee, would not be out of the question. Those agents we think we want to let go of might just need a more structured approach.

I would encourage brokers and managers to become familiar with methods of Performance Management and start holding agents more accountable. As independent contractors they might be running their own business, but at the end of the day, we are all looking to make money.

Posted by: Devon Hill, CRP, CPLP, Relocation Training Director, Long and Foster Corporate Real Estate Services

Recently, in response to a member inquiry on how our affiliates were handling their advertising budgets, I posed the question via our Luxury Portfolio listserv: “How are you approaching marketing budgets in terms of online versus print advertising?” As expected, the trend toward online efforts is strong, but most are still finding value in print advertising and other more traditional avenues.

One member notes that his firm is always expanding online, but that the company also committed to run a full page, full color ad for the next 52 weeks in their largest regional newspaper.

Taking a similar approach, one company ramped up its newspaper ads, just as competitors were pulling out. Even though he notes it is difficult to tie sales results to the ads, they remain popular with this firm’s customers and agents alike.

Many noted that print advertising focuses more on corporate branding, rather than specific listings, designed to drive consumers back to the company website for property information.

Another member shifted away from print advertising 25 years ago – long before the development of the web – and instead invests in direct outreach to each agent’s sphere of influence, using postcards, letters, success stories, visits and calls. Despite his avoidance of print advertising, he recognizes that many sellers want to see their home in print, even if it does not necessarily help sell a home.

Other firms embrace newer forums such as YouTube and social media sites. One firm has recently entered into an agreement to have a video on YouTube for each listing, with the videos linking back to either the agent’s personal website or to the corporate site. This company has dramatically decreased their newspaper expenditure – by more than 60% in the last four years – noting that the firm’s agents and clients find little value in it.

One respondent notes that “the choice between print and online should be guided by your objectives,” citing mass media as the best outlets for brand awareness and online efforts (such as AdWords, SEO, banner ads and even ads on Facebook) as the best approach to drive traffic, leads or business.

While the tactics shared by our members in this informal discussion were varied, most agreed that a variety of media should be employed. As described by one member, the most effective approach is “a deliberate marketing mix that combines a variety of outlets.” These real estate firms are reaching out to consumers in a variety of ways – combining pay per click advertising, social media, syndicated marketing, direct mail and, yes, traditional print.

Another common theme: ongoing evaluation of what is working – and what is not. If you are not achieving the desired results, mix it up. The good news is today’s media gives you many options for engaging consumers in meaningful ways.

Posted by:  Robin LaSure

Some say that the latest decision of major banks to halt foreclosures temporarily is not all bad. Yes, homeowners facing foreclosure may have just received a reprieve, and the temporary delay in sending these homes to the market could allow for some price stabilization, and that could help sellers who act quickly.

But realistically, doesn’t this just give buyers one more reason to sit on the sidelines in what is already a troubled housing environment? Doesn’t it create fertile ground for lawsuits that won’t benefit anyone except attorneys? And doesn’t it just delay the inevitable and prolong the foreclosure overhang problem?

Banks seem to be “dumbing down” the whole process to help the lowest common denominator – and cover themselves to the max – rather that doing everything possible to help buyers with resources buy homes. If there are truly situations in which a homeowner’s rights were compromised in the foreclosure process, then of course that should be addressed, but if banks are doing this because of minor technicalities, they are once again worrying about those who defaulted, creating a ripple effect of plummeting price comparables, homeowners who will stop making payments because they can, and escalating finger-pointing spawning litigation…instead of focusing on facilitating the home-buying process for qualified buyers.

I just heard about a buyer with a 40% down payment trying to buy a home. The mortgage was declined because other homeowners in the subdivision were behind on assessments. Other banks are saying “no” to qualified buyers because the ratio of renters to owners is too high.

And in some cases, the brokerages being used by asset managers to market foreclosure properties are out of the area or otherwise poorly qualified, making the process difficult if not painful for the buyer and his or her agent.

It’s understood that liberal lending practices are what got us into this mess, but the other extreme is not the answer. The foreclosure problem is a sad one affecting lives, and no one likes to see that – but it is what it is and the sooner we move beyond it the better. What is needed is leadership with thoughtful, practical solutions to problems we haven’t seen before caused by the preponderance of distressed properties. Without such attention, buyer confidence will continue to erode. The data tells us there are many individuals who are sitting on cash and want to buy. We need to do all we can to remove the barriers.

This latest news is yet another example of blocking one of the roads to a better housing market – absorption of foreclosures – as banks take steps to “check their paperwork.” Is anyone else frustrated?

Posted by:  Pam O’Connor

We live in a Chicken Little World, which is why I love Steve Harney’s take on the latest gloom-and-doom housing market numbers: http://kcmblog.com/2010/08/26/everybody-calm-down-armageddon-is-not-upon-us/.

No, the sky is not falling, and yes, anyone who really knows real estate could have predicted these numbers. We know the tax credit pulled forward many buyers, and we know that poor jobs numbers and lagging consumer confidence directly affect housing. Regardless, many brokerages will book better numbers than 2009 at year-end, even though the story would be happier had it ended in June. As Steve and others note, we’ll still see about 5 million sales this year, similar to what we had in 2000, which we thought was a pretty good year. Like much in life, it’s all relative.

What IS different is that we have far too many sales agents and far too much brick and mortar – even after the attrition of the past few years. That absolutely has to change to “right-size” this business. Smart-and-savvy practitioners must skate where the puck is going:

• Opportunity: Fewer agents don’t necessarily mean less revenue. How about putting the effort we put into recruiting bodies into coaching our fertile raw material to a 20% or 30% increase in units? How would that look from a productivity, profitability and branding standpoint?
• Opportunity: Home ownership as a percentage of households is declining for various reasons, which means rentals will be stronger. People have to live somewhere. What are the opportunities in developing profitable rental and property management offerings?
• Opportunity: Many Americans are sitting on cash they’ve been unwilling to invest due to market uncertainties. At some point, they’ll want to put that money to work. Real estate is a great buy now. How many of our associates are truly educated and proficient at working with sophisticated investor buyers, who can represent a long-term, customer-for-life income stream?
• Opportunity: Years from now when we look back on 2010, we’ll be saying things like, “Gosh, I could have bought this house for X in 2010. Boy, did I miss the boat.” Are we articulating that to buyers when they ask us, “How’s the real estate market?”

I keep reading that recruiting is the only salvation of today’s broker. Yet, in private conversations with brokers, I hear them say that probably 30% of their sales force is truly engaged, committed and effective. Think of the wasted effort and resources spent on the other 70%, and on continuing to spin that revolving door by adding the wrong people to your bus with feverish but not necessarily thoughtful recruiting. Remember the old saying about continuing to do the things we’ve always done and getting the same result?

Success does in fact depend on a GREAT sales force. It does not depend on recruiting for recruiting’s sake. The real key is quality talent selection, arming that talent with market-relevant, consumer-focused skills development and coaching, and enforcing standards and accountability.

So what if you take a temporary step back in market share in that re-tooling process? Building a company with universally strong talent is the ticket to true brand differentiation. It will trump body shops every day of the week in this consumer-driven economy. And you may in fact not step backward, because cleaning house sends a powerful message to those remaining: “You meet our standards, we only have winners here, our leadership is focused on helping you achieve your full potential.”

As someone smarter than I said: “Stop waiting for the storm to pass, and learn to dance in the rain.” Opportunities are everywhere. Those who seize this day will be the market leaders of tomorrow.

Posted by:  Pam O’Connor

When was the last time you were “tricked” by a brand? The last time a promise conveyed via a brand’s marketing and promotional efforts was not honored or fulfilled? How many customers feel like Spike Lee when he learned that Lebron James was not signing with the Knicks?

“We got hoodwinked. Led astray. Hornswoggled,”…“We got bamboozled.” cite

Oftentimes this “trickery” is unintentional or inadvertent. Indeed, many times it’s a result of not fully mapping a consumer experience. Usability, accessibility, and readability are base-level components of any effective website, according to this research article. These elements are important considerations in designing a superior customer experience. But the article points out that an understanding of cultural nuances is equally important in elevating customer satisfaction. And it’s this angle in the article that led me to think this concept could be applied to real estate website design.

Think about it. Each of your targeted customer niches is essentially part of a distinct consumer culture. First-time home buyers’ culture differs from second home and vacation home buyers’ culture. Understanding these “cultural differences” is critical to delivering a superior customer experience that flows from your web presence to your call center to your agents. Accordingly, a first-time home buyer webpage/website will have different imagery, calls to action, content, property choices, etc, than a webpage/website targeted at fulfilling the needs of second and vacation home customers.

The biggest take-away from this article is that brokerages should not try to create a “one-size fits all” website, but to focus on creating distinct webpages/websites that recognize “cultural nuances” in these distinct consumer segments.

“The right approach is to create a “culturally usable” website where designers localise websites for each of the target cultures, taking into account all the overt and covert factors that need to be considered when designing for such cultures.”

Another point the researchers make regarding website design is for developers to ensure design consistency across a company’s entire web presence. This consistency should take the form of uniform navigational elements and layout.

Thus, to minimize the possibility of “consumer trickery” the article states that businesses should focus on understanding cultural nuances, designing a web presence that meets each consumer culture’s unique needs, with an eye towards consistency and ease of use. This article is a very easy read (about 24 pages), includes a handy design flowchart on page 15, and includes sound advice for anyone interested in ensuring that their web presence properly resonates with potential customers.

Posted By: Eric Bryn

“You can learn a lot from people who view the world differently than you do.”
- Anthony J. D’Angelo

Multi-national corporations use pre-decision surveys and questionnaires to identify if an employee will be successful in an overseas assignment.  While the exact list of the attributes they are trying to discover in candidates varies slightly from company to company, essentially they are looking for those who are adaptable, open, and empathetic.

In this series we have looked at how, in order to be local experts, we need to have an understanding of what happens elsewhere; at how small changes in how we express ourselves can create a huge improvement in comprehension no matter what the language and how to redefine “International” into more actionable consumer segments for better marketing and service situations.

The world is a very big place, and the complexity of culture makes it impossible to identify and understand every single person around the world within its context. Since we can’t develop a local mindset for everywhere and every situation, the best we can do is to develop our global mindset. Working to further develop our adaptability, openness and empathy is an important part of the process.

Although difficult for everyone, those living in large or more isolated countries have a greater challenge. For example, compared to other countries, those of us in the U.S. are actually at a disadvantage in the race to develop our global mindsets. Just based on our location, we are separated from most other cultures by vast oceans.  Even the media we consume lacks diversity. A 2004 study found that only 12 percent of local television news was international, and of that, 81 percent was devoted to the war on terror and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The remainder—49 minutes out of 48 analyzed hours—was spent on all other international issues.

To build or expand an existing global mindset means an independent investment and dedication in many cases. The links to information about real estate and business customs around the world in PART II can be helpful, but are just one resource. Foreign news websites and travel, taking advantage of new technologies to “chat” with people in different parts of the globe and making a point to share information with existing relationships outside your home country are things that consistently challenge and educate me in my pursuit of a more global way of viewing my business and the world.

Posted by: Sharon E. Michnay, CRP, GMS, WRS, Executive Director, Corporate Business Development, Halstead Property. Sharon is a member and former chairperson of the LeadingRE Advisory Council.

We live in times where the truth is a hard thing to find. Journalists present opinion as fact, making it difficult to distinguish between the front page and the editorial page. A journalists’ list-serv was exposed recently for sharing tips on how to present stories to influence a particular outcome. Whatever your politics are, this should be disturbing because we rely on the media for facts we don’t have time to research ourselves.

The same disconnect occurs in the real estate business. Our industry’s own “news arbiters” face the same challenge, I suppose, of generating revenue, so they respond by being provocative and positioning themselves as the hotbeds of innovation and bad boys of real estate.

They make judgments about which companies are the most innovative in real estate, based either on “pay to play” sponsorship dollars, or whoever touts the cool new business model. What they often fail to consider, however, is who is actually doing the business.

Creative marketing is one thing, but too often, reality is something else entirely. Actual results are what truly matter. We should be searching behind the Wizard of Oz curtain to ask, “Where’s the beef?”

When one highly-touted “model of the future” company claims to have 24 average transaction sides per agent – a goal anyone would want to emulate – and in fact did 32 sides in total in the first half of 2010 and is ranked about 75th in the market per the MLS, what’s with that? Certain companies are highlighted in every real estate media outlet, yet no one seems to ask how much business they are actually doing relative to their competitors.

Yes, we should respect new ideas and new forms of competition, but we also must balance hype with results. Accurate statistics paint a true picture of who is doing what relative to whom, how they are improving or declining compared to the market, and the kinds of customers they are serving. That is why – in this age of transparency – numbers reported to real estate news sources must be submitted correctly and validated appropriately so that we can identify the emperors with no clothes.

At LeadingRE, we talk a lot about numbers and performance because they matter. We put a high value on innovation, with our own “Most Innovative Brokerage” award, but to even qualify, the company has to be a market leader within its footprint, regardless of size.

Ideas without execution and marketing without monetization are meaningless.

So let’s pay attention to what’s behind the curtain to see whether ideas are producing results. Talk is cheap. Results require hard work, tenacity and staying power. Regardless of size or business model, the true verdict must rely on how well high standards of performance are generating growth, profitability and market leadership.

Posted By: Pam O’Connor

Four years ago challenger Google passed incumbent Yahoo! for dominance on the consumer web (as measured by market share). Guess what’s happening right now? Facebook is turning the tables on Google, and in less time.

The two graphs below look strangely similar no?

Granted, Facebook is not yet in a position to substitute for Google in search the way Google was for Yahoo!. But I think the analogy still holds well. Yahoo! was not simply a search engine at that time either. It was the gateway to the web of the day, and that’s what we’re talking about.

The point? Even if SEO is working well for your company today, you need to start paying attention to Facebook.

The good news is that Facebook is not another lead generation platform; it is a referral sphere builder for both your company and your agents.

Facebook is a platform for building out both an individual REALTOR and brokerage company’s network with an eye to generating referrals.
As we all know, the majority of any successful REALTOR’s business is word of mouth referral, the minority SEM/SEO/leadgen driven.

Have someone on your team build a Facebook centric marketing strategy for your brokerage and your agents. Those who do so now will get an advantage over their competition the same way the early SEO visionaries did.

Alex Chang is the CEO of Roost, a proud partner of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^® and a real estate technology company leading the way in innovation in the Social Media space. Roost’s Social Media Toolkit provides free and premium tools for Real Estate Agents & Brokers to get real ROI out of Social Media.

Terms like International and Global are both in heavy use however they are far too broad to be useful.

In our local business, we recognize different consumer segments – luxury, first-time homebuyer, investor, etc. From a macro level, we typically segment our customers at the customer level. Internationally, the macro level is the country level.

The best place to start identifying which countries are most interested in your location is by checking your company website analytics. Analytics from www.relohomesearch.com and www.luxuryportfolio.com reporting can enhance your knowledge of potential consumers and where your marketing efforts should be directed.

With the countries identified, you now know:

• What languages you potentially should translate your website and materials into
• Cultural training to offer your agents
• Where to investigate on and offline marketing venues

To approach your marketing from the micro level, you need to consider the in-market segmentation and detect segments across borders. This is going back to some of our “local” segments such as luxury and investor and identifying the segments that exist in each identified country. Additional research should be performed here as not every segment exists in every country or in the same amount in every country.

Don’t forget the valuable relationships you have through your membership with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. Other local experts are willing to share the venues that have generated the best response for them and if a reciprocal client base exists perhaps a co-branded campaign can be an option.

While we have the tendency to look elsewhere when we consider the International issue, migration has created another consumer segment to consider when marketing and developing services.

Statistics from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development showed a 61% increase in immigration to the U.S. and a 104% increase in immigration for the combined countries of the EU during the same 9 year period of 1998 – 2007. Although immigration has slowed along with everything else recently, it is predicted to resume as economies improve.

Increasing evidence indicates that diversity is growing in more areas than just New York City and L.A. New U.S. residents are less likely to choose these gateway cities and more likely to opt for a mid-sized metro area. This switch is bringing home the international issue.

Posted by: Sharon E. Michnay, CRP, GMS, WRS, Executive Director, Corporate Business Development, Halstead Property. Sharon is a member and former chairperson of the LeadingRE Advisory Council.

For us, the 4th of July weekend was rainy with no breaks for fun on the beach. Our annual family gathering, which usually takes place outside at Madeira Beach, Florida, had turned into a cocooning event spread out over several condominiums overlooking gray skies and a turbulent Gulf of Mexico. My nieces and nephews, ranging in age from 22-30, were starting to get cabin fever by the second day when one piped up and said “let’s go to Target!”

These college graduates in their first post graduation jobs all agreed in unison with great enthusiasm. I had to ask: “What are you going to Target for?” Their response? “We don’t need anything; we just like to shop there. We like to look at what’s on sale, buy toothpaste and anything else that may be a bargain.” Well, I looked at them like they were speaking a different language and had to get to the bottom of this strong customer loyalty that Target had created in this Millennial Generation. Next question: “Why Target? Why not the other mega retail stores?” Now they were looking at me like I had two heads. “Aunt Jana, we don’t go there.” I won’t convey their reasoning but if you have ever searched the mega retailers by name on YouTube for visual entertainment, you will understand their sentiment.

At this point, it was their turn to question me, the one sitting on the fence between the baby boomer generation and generation X. “So Aunt Jana, where do you buy your toothpaste and deodorant?” My response, of course, was the grocery store. Okay, I got the two headed look again**. In a final attempt to understand this fascination with Target, I inquired again, “What is so special about Target?” My nephew responded, “Aunt Jana, when we all started college and had to furnish our dorm rooms, Target had packaged together everything we needed: a comforter and sheets, a tall mirror, dorm approved microwave and other stuff. It was so convenient and the stores are clean.”

Yes, they used this word and being a clean store was important to them. Add to that Target’s convenient locations near most major universities in Florida (and probably nationwide) and their extended hours and you have a winner as far as college students are concerned. It seems that Target has effectively captured the attention of the freshman college student, managed to keep their attention throughout the student’s college career and secured a loyal following with this generation as they enter their first job/apartment/house.

How can this information be used to develop a customer base for real estate companies? Can effective marketing and delivery of multiple services (real estate, mortgage, title, insurance, home warranty) neatly bundled together to the Millennial Generation be the competitive edge needed to capture and retain this generation of first time home buyers? Is there something else unique that real estate companies located in college towns do to cultivate these same college students with the goal of turning them into loyal customers once they get that first job/apartment/house? If it takes on average of five years (average time to get college degree) for Target to create these dedicated customers, how does this translate for the average real estate broker and their customer outreach program?

The tastes and preferences of the Millennial Generation will most likely change once significant wealth accumulates, and only time will tell if this steadfast faithfulness to Target will fade. In the meantime, Target will continue to enjoy the strong loyalty and purchasing power of the Millennial Generation, or at least the allegiance of those in my family!

*(Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT; © 2010 Target.com. All rights reserved. The Bullseye Design and Target are registered trademarks of Target Brands, Inc.)

**Apparently, my nieces and nephews don’t shop for groceries at a grocery store – they go to the gourmet market which offers primarily food items. Their food buying/consuming habits are a customer loyalty story for another day!

Posted By: Jana Coleman