Leaning into a Crisis

Winston Churchill famously said as he was working to form the United Nations after WWII, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” We can stick our heads in the sand and wait until the pandemic passes, or we can step up and focus on change management. I have observed brokers and real estate agents completely pivot to ensure business continuation and even thrive during this crisis. It’s not being tone deaf, it’s evolving to survive and meeting the needs of their customers. We must make the message and the action match and respect the situation.

In the mobility and relocation world, we are not likely to see our business return to the way it was any time soon……or maybe ever. International relocations have pretty much ceased for the time being and some corporate relocations are either on hold or cancelled. Some markets are recovering quicker than others and it’s easy to be distracted and disheartened with all that is going on around us. So we need to focus on the activity that is happening right now and adapt to the new world of relocation and real estate as it continues to evolve. It gives us a chance to do good and ensure our business thrives. We have always been a service oriented business, maybe now it’s time to step it up a notch and flip the script.

People are looking for change. They want out of their apartment or they want a bonus room or an office or a yard. The shift from urban to suburban and rural. The home has become the focal point of our lives. This trend is not likely to change soon. Corporations are going to offer their employees the opportunity to live wherever they want to for remote work, which means a relocation. It may or may not mean a corporate sponsored relocation, but a relocation nonetheless.

Now is the time to remind your real estate agents and consumers your services are readily available to anyone considering a move. How can you be an invaluable resource for these unprecedented times?

Here are some strategies to survive and thrive and to make a difference to those around you:

1.      Relaunch your Referral Services, keeping in mind the sensitivity needed around the reason why this activity is occurring. Remind everyone in your company (agents, office staff, leadership, affiliated service providers), the Relocation Division is here to handle their referral placements with expertise as their trusted referral coordinator.

2.      Are you and your staff nimble, easy to reach and highly responsive to your agents? Can they call, text, email or place referrals through an online portal? Speed and ease is the key, think about how easy it is to order something on Amazon, that’s how easy it should be for an agent to place an out of area referral.

3.      Identify a local charity that is assisting those affected by recent events and offer to make a donation from your company to that charity in their name for every out of area referral that is sent by one of your agents.  

4.      Ask your branch managers if you can pop into their weekly video conference office meeting for five minutes to remind agents of your Referral Services. Now that meetings are mostly virtual, you are probably reaching a much higher number of agents than previously attended the live meetings.

5.      Make a video of yourself offering those Referral Services that branch managers can play during their Zoom or in person office meeting if you can’t attend. Don’t like to see yourself on video? I have a newsflash, you look exactly the same on video as you do in person. You can reach a much higher audience via video.

6.      Do some local marketing or tap into the company’s existing reach (print, online and social media) to connect directly to the consumer to let them know about your company’s complimentary Referral Services outside of your marketplace.

7.      If you service any second home/retirement markets, amp up your promotion of those markets to brokers and consumers outside of your area so you are the ‘go to’ broker for a second home purchase. Provide market data on the number of available homes in that market and general pros of buying in the community.

8.      Hold a virtual happy hour for your agents to talk about the process of referring and how you select the brokers you refer to, how you follow up and the payment process to them. You could feature a broker in your network. Do a drawing for a gift card at the end for those that attended.

9.      Consider offering your Referral Services to outside real estate agents and companies that are in peripheral areas to your company. They may not have a solid referral network to tap into. You can take a small upcharge to pay for the service and it’s a good way to generate some incoming referrals from them while you are at it.

10.   Reach out any of your agents or clients that you may be aware of who have been personally affected by COVID through illness or a loss of a friend or family member. Drop off or have delivered a sanitized care package from the Relocation Division on their front doorstep to help them through this difficult time. Make sure you let them know it’s coming.

11.   Do some marketing to the brokers in your network to let them know you are ready with the best technology and virtual services and safety precautions to handle their referrals into your market.

12.   Position yourself as a subject matter expert in your company. Make sure your company intranet has information on your department and your experience, credentials, certifications and services offered. Remind your company that no one in the company knows more about the relocation and mobility industry or has more broker connections than you do. 

13.   Ensure the brokers in your network are offering the most up to date resources in virtual showings and digital closing services and CDC guidelines compliance. If they aren’t, move on to the next broker or agent with your referral. You are an extension of your agent, and your agent’s clients deserve the best there is to offer.

So until the Relocation industry settles into it’s new normal, zero in on the opportunities that are right before you.

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ~ Winston Churchill