Relocation Directors: Why doesn't your Broker Owner understand Relocation?

Because it’s not straightforward. It’s not a support service like marketing, legal, or finance. It’s also not a branch office. It is a hybrid that provides service, but as a company entity with employees that are expected to generate profit. It doesn’t fit in with their preconceived notions. But there is one other big reason.

I have had many discussions with Relocation Directors over the years who struggle with how to help their leadership better understand what they do. And frankly, the last thing they need to know is the day-to-day minutia of the relocation staff activities. It sounds boring to them and has no meaning because they have no context to compare it to. They don’t need to know how we do things, but they do need to know why at the big picture level. They need to understand the end game.

Create a different perspective

We have to approach it at a much higher level. 30,000 feet level. The key to explaining the value of what the Relocation department brings is much bigger than at a granular level where we work. It starts with explaining the value of what we do for the corporation who we assist in meeting their hiring goals. Since there is a war for talent, every employee and candidate matters now more than ever as many people evaluate their current careers and companies fight to hire and retain great employees. That corporation contributes to the local and national economy and if they don’t have the right people in the right positions, they cannot function at the highest output. That output is critical to a healthy economy and contributes to the critical goods and services we depend on daily.

Lately, we have also helped great numbers of people realize the American dream of living anywhere they want while working remotely. We help bring new consumers to our city and new customers to our company. Connecting people with local experts helps them move to their community of choice quickly and to begin to contribute to the local economy even if they don’t work in that city. They still eat at restaurants, shop for goods and own or rent housing and spend that paycheck locally.

Why what we do matters

We act as ambassadors to help people realize that dream with skilled expertise. We help our new residents acclimate and help eliminate some of the stress that occurs during their move. For those leaving the area, we make sure they get their home sold quickly at the highest price while remaining tax compliant, so they can move on to their new role in another city.

Help your leaders understand that relocation is not just about real estate. It is a wide web is services that include specialized movers, temporary housing, travel, tax and immigration people, relocation companies, and mobility professionals who contribute many millions to the worldwide economy and employ hundreds of thousands of people to facilitate it. Not to mention the agents and our branch offices who benefit from the new customers we deliver and the revenue that comes with it. Relocation is business development. We are the critical hub that supports all of the moving parts of a relocation. Without successfully placing families in housing, there is no relocation.

So when speaking to your leadership group, try and stay away from the mundane discussion of outgoing referral goals and the details that they cannot change or are even interested in. Don’t let them try and fit you into a box that doesn’t fit what we do. Talk to them at a high level. Remind them that you are a key factor in moving the economy along.

“Just because you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it isn’t so.” ~ Lemony Snicket, pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler.