The last several years, a confluence of social and technological events have altered our industry in ways we could never have imagined.

Consumers today have access to a huge repository of data made available by sources outside of a conventional real estate destination. These entities have accessed our knowledge base, acquired our service position and offered it to our customers in ways we have never imagined.

As a result, each of us, from brokerage business owners and management to individual sales associates, have had to take stock of our surroundings in order to shift with the times and position our businesses to survive and thrive. Actions taken to position a business to grow are the mark of vigilance and vision. The time has come for brokerage companies and agents to reset their business and personal models to persevere. This will speak volumes about the people we are and our commitment to our clients and our brands.

As we consider where we’ve come from as a brokerage and now, most importantly, where we are going, we need to take steps to position our brands as the brokerages of choice in our respective markets.

I believe the path forward is, and should be, foremost rooted in our past – the history in the communities we serve, progressiveness, along with the reputation and the respectability we have earned. This is where we come from. Where we go will be culled from that very essence and applied to the changes we understand are happening around us.

I believe with many real estate companies today there is a prevailing tendency to remain complacent, avoid change and wish things were different. That sensibility cannot, and should not apply to us.

The events that have impacted our industry are calling those whose eyes are on the future to action. With this in mind, while others find comfort in reminiscing about the past, those of us who are here for the long term need to be tenacious about embracing the future.

To this end each of us needs a full-scale rediscovery of what our brand is and how we must express it to the world going forward. With a different kind of real estate brokerage we must ensure that those differences are clearly understood by everyone who touches our brand.

We can be a traditional type real estate brokerage, yet fueled by progress. We can have a rich history yet not be old fashioned. We can be experienced, yet not out of touch. When it comes to the Web, we cannot rely on conventional technology used by everyone else. We must build our own. Our legacy may have been built working with boomers but our future resides with their children and grandchildren.

To achieve these goals every leading brokerage needs a website that will deliver state of the art in design and usability. We need to create original content (video and blogs) to broadcast our message through social networks, creating an entirely new channel of marketing that will eventually replace newspapers, post cards, flyers – mediums that longer hold the value they once did for us or your customers. We should design our marketing content to distill a universally coherent meaning around our brand. We should build our text and mobile applications to enable the consumer to access information in a timely and non threatening manner. This entire process should be designed to engage the consumer in a collaborative approach offering the resources of both company and sales associate. All actions should have the ultimate goal of expanding market share, increasing business and positioning each of our firms as the leader in the marketplace.

Yes, the market remains in flux. The economy is beginning to recover but is still not completely healthy. Now may be the perfect time to invest in ourselves, connect with our marketplace and let them know that our investment in our companies is also an investment in the consumer’s real estate future.

Ask questions, be open to great ideas. It’s a great future out there for us. To learn more about Avery-Hess, Realtors, visit: www.averyhess.com.

Posted by: S. Scott Avery, President, Avery-Hess, Realtors