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The Bridge

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The Bridge

Do you want to amp up your company generated business game? The Bridge is where the real estate, relocation and mobility industry can discover how taking a new path doesn’t have to be scary. Teresa R. Howe is an expert in her field with years of successful program and services development and management. She has a passion for helping companies be the best they can be. Do you want more revenue, more customers and better experience management? Get tips on how to compete more effectively in a world of constant change and disruption. You might also come across some random thoughts that just pop into her head.

Thinking Outside of the Day to Day

I was recently going through a bunch of old notes. I don’t know what year or which conferences or webinars they were from, but there was some good stuff that is applicable today. I have also added a few of my own ideas. Most of these thoughts do not fall under the day-to-day activity of answering emails and checking portals, but they will enrich your company and those who work with you. We often become conditioned to just react. Stop reacting and become proactive. Carve out some time to get outside of that daily grind.

For Your Leadership:

  • Be your leader’s wingman (person). We become powerful leaders by being powerful followers. If they know you have their back, they will have yours. Open and frequent communication is key.

  • Offer to help recruit new agents. Consider attending a college fair on behalf of the company. Or offer an internship to attendees of a local university that offer a real estate business degree.

For the Agent Relocation Team:

  • Don’t just trust that your listing team has a strong listing presentation. Ask them to present to you as if you were a transferee. You can make sure they are using the most up-to-date materials and resources that are professional and compelling.

  • Ask your listing team to do a sample BMA on the new WERC BMA form. It is a great way to get them used to it and to compare them side by side. Consider using your own personal home as the subject property.

  • Explain how referral fees work and where the money goes. They may still grumble about them, but at least there won’t be any secrets. Pull back the veil of secrecy.

  • Help your agents learn how to sell the community to out-of-towners. Give them an example road map so each transferee has a similar tour experience that can then be customized based on their wants and needs.

  • Teams of agents are becoming more prevalent in every brokerage. Require all members of that real estate team to attend relocation training if any team member is going to work with a transferee.

  • Create an FAQ or scripts that your agents can provide when speaking with transferees who are buying and selling to address misnomers in today’s real estate market. That way you can control the narrative and ensure they are giving up-to-date information. Ensure they are giving market data that is correct and is from a company-endorsed source. 

  • Create a document or customize one from your affiliated services to outline how the closing process works in your state. Make sure your agents provide it to each incoming transferee. Processes can vary greatly from state to state.  

External Marketing:

  • Data security is of the utmost importance to your corporate and relocation management company clients. Work with your IT person to outline all of the measures your company takes to protect PII and confidential information and share them with your sources of business. Do you allow your agents to use personal emails? How do you control email security in that instance?

  • Sustainability is also a big buzzword. Work with your leadership to outline how your company is practicing methods to help the environment.  You may uncover some things you are not doing that can be easily implemented.

  • Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion are of high priority with corporations. What is your company doing to diversify your staff and agent pool? How can you help create a more inclusive organization? Are there resources available to those who might not fit the profile of what an average agent or staffer currently is in your company? How can you seek out candidates for jobs that might not typically apply? It takes work to diversify and to make all people feel included, but every company benefits from a variety of perspectives.

As business is shifting, it is time that the person in charge of Relocation or Client Services also looks around to see how we might enhance and improve what we and our company are doing on a daily basis. You may already be doing many of these initiatives, kudos. We owe it to our customers, agents, and our leadership to keep moving and improving.

“Instead of thinking outside the box, get rid of the box.” ~Deepak Chopra, an Indian-American author, and alternative medicine advocate. 

Teresa Howe