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Words of Wisdom
By Mercedes Santiago, MoxiWorks Marketing Coordinator
We’ve read countless articles on tips to work from home, and plenty of webinars on the adapting state of our world: How to set up your home office, how the industry is changing, and what’s to come… Each are just as important as the next, but with the immense amount of content being pushed out to you virtually, it’s easy to miss the valuable words from industry leaders.
We’ve compiled some of the valuable quotes and conversations all in one spot for you. It’s time to focus on the future and recovery, and these industry leaders quoted below bring just that.
MoxiWorks’ CEO, York Baur, brought together four industry leaders in our space to talk about that state of the industry, what they’re doing and what they’ll continue to do moving forward. You can listen to the full conversation right here. In the video, CEO of Ebby Halliday, Chris Kelly, gives his two cents on what he’s learned through this pandemic.
“Definitive communication has been key for us and will continue to be moving forward. Covid-19 has allowed people to dive back into deep connections with one another. When we get to the back side of this health crisis, all of our spears are going to be sharpened as to how we understand the importance of relationships. Just focus on being a helper right now.”
– Chris Kelly, CEO, Ebby Halliday
We can all agree in our personal lives along with business, communication has increased in unorthodox ways. The unexpected result of virtual communication has improved relationships, productivity, and business cultures. Kelly stated how he rarely was able to take part in sales meetings with the role of CEO, but virtually, he now attends 3 a morning and is able to drop in virtually with ease. Going forward, communication isn’t going to return to what is was, and frankly we don’t want it to.
We had the opportunity to talk with Dan Forsman of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties recently. He said,
“The law of inertia: an object at rest stays at rest, until it meets a CEO who is passionate about their agents going to the next level.”
– Dan Forsman, BHHS Georgia Properties
We love the passion behind Forsman’s take on Newtown’s First Law. He believes strongly in not only running a successful brokerage, but in helping his agents continue to push forward and move up in their careers. Forsman takes training and coaching very seriously to ensure that his agents. Managers, and even himself do not stay at rest and are constantly evolving and growing. You can listen to their full conversation here (tag the video).
Our podcast REAL with MoxiWorks had Hoby Hanna, President of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services as a guest this past week, which you can give a listen to right here. York and Hanna discussed how we can turn fear into action, covid-19 related and non covid-19 related.
“I’m a believer that leaders need to emerge and say, ‘let’s take advantage of what we’ve learned.’ We may be doing virtual showings for the rest of our lives… people might prefer narrowing down their search virtually to 2 or 3 houses before they step outside and view them. Things have changed, and people need to get out of their shell and adjust to the new normal.”
– Howard W. “Hoby” Hanna, IV, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services
We applaud Hanna in understanding the realistic view of how things simply won’t go back to how they were. Like always, the future doesn’t look exactly like the past, and this situation is no different. Instead of mourning in our past business-norm, let’s get excited and motivated about the opportunities that are now arising.
On an earlier podcast, we interviewed Jeff Detwiler on the topic “Leading Through the Cycle of a Crisis”. Both Baur and Detwiler have experienced multiple downturns thanks to being a long-time member of the industry, and have advice that remains prevalent for past downturns, current, and one’s going forward. Detwiler says,
“You must stay connected and keep your agents focused to avoid fatigue. You do that by trying to diminish the fear that all of us have during a crisis. The medical, the financial, the personal… We need to eliminate uncertainty and build their confidence up in doing so. It’s all about attitude and staying connected.”
– Jeff Detwiler, Long and Foster
It’s important as leaders to instill calm and security in your agents, and Detwiler is doing just that. Not only does this help during a crisis, but during recovery… Instead of feeling like rock bottom, agents have a strong base to build back up and continue on.
This situation is new for everyone, whether your brand new in the industry or a veteran. We’ve been affected at a personal level, business level, and emotional level. While this situation is unlike any before, it doesn’t mean we can’t learn from the past and get motivated by other leaders who have valuable words to share.
You can find more thought leadership under the links above, or simply head to our covid-19 recovery page at moxiworks.com.
10 Brick-and-Mortar Brokerage Culture-building Activities That Can Be Done Virtually
1. Turn Conference-Room Sales Meetings into Interactive Webinars
- Schedule and host a live webinar during the normal meeting time for consistency.
- Change presenters/speakers and share your screen just like an in-person presentations
- Use online tools or webinar software features to have participants ‘raise their hand’ to ask a question, answer a poll, take a vote and more. This way you can replicate the interactive portions of your meeting.
2. Buyer Networking
“During our meetings, we take a moment for agents to share info about a buyer they’re working with in hopes that another agent may have something soon-to-be-listed.”
- Create a special chat room using Yammer or Facebook Groups to share your information.
- Think of it like posting a personal ad in the classifieds – “buyer seeking lake-front 4bed4bath, but willing to compromise. Call me 555-5555.”
3. Pocket-Listings and Listings Coming Soon
“Our company dedicates a short portion of our sales meetings for agents to share information about their listings that haven’t gone live on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) yet.”
- With firm guidelines in place to protect your agents and their clients around local and national regulations, your agents could also use a forum or chat style webpage to share the info (remember, no identifying addresses or features, just beds/baths/zip code/estimated readiness.)
4. Manager-Agent Performance Reviews
- Managers and agents can use 1-to-1 video conferencing!
- A key part of a confidential conversation is being able to read and interpret each other’s body language. These non-verbal cues prevent misinterpretation and confusion.
- At the end of the call, if you have paperwork to sign, consider using an e-signature service to sign and receive a document.
5. Mentorship
- Does your brokerage have a mentorship program in place? Keep them communicating and collaborating virtually.
- Organize video calls with members of the group to have regular, consistent check-ins.
- Encourage mentors to include their mentees on calls to clients, partners, or prospects.
- Have mentors and mentees hold each other accountable throughout the week to achieve weekly goals.
6. Training
- Now is an awesome opportunity to promote learning.
- Build out a video library of pre-recorded webinars, how-to videos, and other resources on your ‘HUB’ (an intranet or resource website for your agents to access from anywhere).
- Consider getting a group of agents together to complete online NAR (National Association of Realtors) certifications together.
7. IT Assistance
“We employ a Help Desk to assist agents with their devices, sometimes troubleshooting needs to be done in person. How do we manage?”
- Video chat saves the day again!
- Participants can share their screens and your IT guru can guide them through the problem.
8. Partner Events
“What about brokerage partner services like mortgage lenders, title, and insurance — how can they engage with my agents if they can’t hold events in the office?”
- Try out a “Bring-Your-Own-Lunch & Learn.”
- Schedule a video conference around lunch and invite your agents to listen while they eat at home.
9. Water Cooler Talk and Camaraderie
“My company’s culture depends a lot on the ability for agents to socialize in the space. We have coffee and snacks, comfy lounge areas, places for people to have good conversations.”
- You may not be able to replicate the snacks and coffee, but you can encourage agents to take part in a group discussion using social media.
- Facebook groups are a great platform for internal conversation threads that can be easily shared with other members of your company.
- Set the group to private and invite your agents and staff to join! (This also cuts down on too many company-wide e-mails).
10. Charity and Community Action
“This is normally a time where my brokerage gives back to the community with a day of service. What can I do now?”
- A trending event that different local communities are organizing are car parades. Individuals decorate their cars or make signs and then drive together in a ‘parade’ and wave to others outside their homes. Teachers parade past student’s houses, friends parade and cheer past clinics and hospitals.
- Get clients involved too! Organize a drive-by tour of homes or neighborhoods.
- Partner with a local organization that needs monetary donations and invite your agents to donate online.
Episode 13: Turning Fear Into Action w/ Hoby Hanna
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Good Investments Prepare You for Disruption
Hoby Hanna, President of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, brings his passion and insights to the REAL with MoxiWorks podcast discussing how we can turn fear into action. This episode highlights the value of investing in your technology stack to be prepared for any sort of disruption (not just COVID-19), and why it’s important to streamline processes in a legacy industry and at a legacy company.
Gear Up! Every Brokerage is a Virtual Brokerage
April 17, 2020
Every industry is being driven into tech-adoption en masse at rapid speed to balance social-distancing and quarantine with continued business. Real estate is no exception — as an agents’ essentialness remains debated in every state. However, while you may hear some companies claim their ‘virtual-ness’ and absence of a brick-and-mortar location as a competitive advantage during the COVID-19 pandemic, the reality is that every single real estate brokerage has the ability to pivot and continue business virtually. Every brokerage is a virtual brokerage.
I had the pleasure of wrapping up the LeadingRE Annual Conference in Las Vegas last month with a presentation on why every real estate brokerage is a tech-enabled brokerage — a statement that some companies are trying to use as differentiation to compete for talent. But you, as a human, are tech-enabled and therefore so is your business. If you’re a tech-enabled brokerage, you’re also a virtual brokerage. Perhaps you won’t want to operate as a virtual brokerage forever, but you are capable of pivoting temporarily to best serve your agents and their clients.
LIVE: “Don’t fear the technology, make it work for you.” – York Baur, CEO of MoxiWorks pic.twitter.com/HCAUrGYmPn
— MoxiWorks (@MoxiWorks) March 12, 2020
Going Virtual Brings Us Together
In critical situations, it’s impossible for a leader to over-communicate with their team. Honesty, transparency, authenticity — no one has all the answers, but openly talking through our shared experience is cathartic and productive for everyone.
Encourage your staff and agents to communicate using video. All smartphones these days offer front facing cameras and most laptops have a built-in camera, too. We can absorb both verbal and non-verbal cues in conversation and have more productive and fulfilling chats. We can hold each other accountable to the conversation when we’re visible, rather than a phone call where we can get distracted just listening.
It’s Time to Gear Up – Virtually
So, here’s what you do. Brokers, managers, office admins — take a second to think about all the traditional tasks you do during the day that ‘require’ face-to-face interactions or on-site access. Now, brainstorm a new, virtual way to achieve that goal. Is it a group video chat? Perhaps it’s e-signatures on forms instead of wet ink.
The MoxiWorks suite of products and services has always been here to help future-proof the way you work and our cloud, along with over 50 integrated partners, will help our clients thrive during this unique time. We’re right there with you — Seattle being one of the first and hardest hit hot-spots of the crisis, our staff have all been rising to the challenge of working from home and continuing to provide stellar service. We even continue to have our regular releases of feature updates right on schedule. I personally was excited about 2020 being the year MoxiWorks moved into a new office downtown, but 2020 is now the year that MoxiWorks transcended physical location to keep doing what we do: getting shit done.
Competition, fresh players, technology — every disruptor you’ve faced before has trained you for this whether you knew it or not. The pandemic is another kind of disruptor. Your response will drive your future success. Business has always been about inertia: an object in motion stays in motion. Now is the time to stay in motion.
Let’s do this together,
York Baur
CEO, MoxiWorks
Episode 12: Leading Through the Cycle of a Crisis w/ Jeff Detwiler
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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5 MoxiCloud Partners That Make Virtual Real Estate Business Easy
Krista Thomsen, Partner Manager, MoxiCloud Partnerships & Integrations
We’re in this together. Each of us is having to face unusual circumstances — but we’re not facing it alone. A wise story-teller succinctly reminds us that we can face any challenge with teamwork.
“In union, there is strength.” – Aesop
The same is true for your technology. The MoxiCloud contains some pretty fantastic and adaptable products, but it also partners with more than 50 other industry-leading integrated technologies. Like peanut butter and jelly, these partners make the MoxiCloud suite of products even better. While staying home and staying safe, we want to highlight a few of our partner tools that can help your business thrive virtually.
Spacio
You probably know Spacio as the sleekest and easiest way to capture leads at an open house – but you can use this form for digital content as well! The lead collection link lets interested parties sign-up to get more info on a listing, triggering your MoxiPresent presentation to be sent to them. Build out a virtual open house using MoxiPresent, invite people to access it through the Spacio link and you’ve effectively created an on-demand open house.
MoveEasy
MoveEasy is a comprehensive agent branded post-transaction concierge service. Agents can help their clients with all their pre and post moving tasks through a combination of online, human and Alexa automated concierge while staying top of mind. Your clients just closed, and you’d normally check-in with a physical pop-by or help them pack boxes, but it just isn’t safe to visit right now. Instead, offer them the benefit of the MoveEasy concierge service.
Happy Monday from @moveeasy 🏡 your personalized moving concierge is still here to help no matter the request 🐦 pic.twitter.com/j940pKIfiW
— MoveEasy (@moveeasy) March 30, 2020
Home Actions
HomeActions provides tailored print and email newsletters for your sphere. Connecting your MoxiEngage contact list allows HomeActions to research and develop content around your sphere’s actual consumer analytics (think search histories, consumer profiles, etc). Bonus tip – follow HomeActions on Twitter for daily real estate news clippings! During this time, it’s more important than ever to be keeping in touch with your sphere of influence. If you haven’t already taken the time to build out your content plans for your list of contacts, HomeActions can help you create relevant materials.
REveo
In most areas you can no longer give tours in person, but REveo is a great tool that helps you create virtual showings so you can continue moving your business forward in a safe way. REveo makes it easy for you to connect buyers virtually to showings in a single click with no apps or additional technology required for buyers. You can share virtual showings with buyers from any screen – live or on-demand. The broadcast is branded with your brokerage and agent information keeping you front-and-center when sharing videos.
Show Real Estate listings 🏡 in 1 click w/o corona virus 🚫🦠 from any screen 🖥 💻 📱 📺 in your Real Estate buyer’s lifestyle – no apps, no tech for buyers. Sell healthy and keep closing strong ✍️💵💵💵 #realestate #realestatebroker #proptech #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/7920FvUy95
— RE video Showings made Easy 🍰 & Corona Free 🚫🦠 (@REveoApp) March 16, 2020
SocialBoost
SocialBoost (previously iTourMedia) gives you the ability to record and share your open house videos to Facebook business pages. The content will automatically play and will also auto-boost to your selected audiences, making it easier than ever before to use social media advertising. Simplifying techy processes is a great way collaborative technology will help you succeed as business interactions are moved to the digital space.
The entire tribe of humanity is faced with recognizing and adapting to this global pandemic. However, those of us in more populated cities may be having to change in different ways than those of us in rural communities. Real estate best practices are much like how we respond to pandemics — a little different in different communities. Each brokerage and each agent needs a way to communicate with their sphere and efficiently process transactions, but the tech-stack we use varies. That’s why, we at MoxiWorks, devote our innovation to an open-platofrm allowing other adaptable visionaries to partner and collaborate with our tech to create the best solution for each and every brokerage and agent.
In times like this, it is more important than ever to find ways to collaborate and stay motivated to keep your business moving. What tools are you using to help streamline your remote business? What new ways are you adapting and collaborating? We will all get through this, virtually, together.
3 Social-Distancing Friendly Alternatives to Your Typical Day in Real Estate
We’re in this together — separately. Real Estate has always been a relationship-first type of industry, and during this situation, many agents and brokerages have gotten creative in pivoting to social-distancing friendly alternatives to their typical day in real estate. We’ve put our heads together to come up with 3 new ways to conduct your typical flow of business.
Number One – Buyer Seminars
Brokerages Holding Buyer Q&As or First-Time Homebuyer Seminars
You know the drill: an agent looking to drum-up buyer business partners up with a loan officer, orders a bunch of pizzas, and walks a group of neighbors and friends through all the ins and outs of home ownership. Those clients leave feeling less afraid of buying their first home and ready to evaluate their buying power. But, if we shouldn’t have people gathering in groups – especially in public spaces and sharing food – how do we recreate that atmosphere?
Instead?
Host a Facebook Live Happy Hour to answer questions live for your sphere.
Agents for their sphere, or Brokerages for your entire company — start up a regular cadence of providing this kind of information virtually. Recreate the laid-back mood of pizza in a lounge by setting up a time that you’ll be Live on Facebook to answer questions and share info. Invite your friends and followers to ‘BYOS’ (bring your own snacks) and submit their questions through the comments section.
Number Two – The Pop-By
Dropping off ‘Pop-by’ Gifts for Your A-list Clients
A thematic pun, a thoughtful gift — this classic sales tactic perseveres because honestly, who doesn’t enjoy giving and receiving presents? However, now is not the time to be out and about, ringing doorbells or knocking on doors. We need to respect that some homes have residents whose immune systems need to be protected at all costs.
Instead?
Send a digital gift card to your typical pop-by recipients.
Many large brands, but also a lot of small businesses, offer digital purchase and delivery of gift certificates. What are your clients probably looking for right now: Groceries? Entertainment? Send them a gift card for grocery delivery or to download a new eBook or movie!
Number Three – SOI Groups
Staying Top-of-mind by Staying in Sight
If your communication strategy depends on regularly scheduled meetings, you may have to pivot how you stay in touch with those individuals. Perhaps your business revolves around a community that you regularly meet with — outside of real estate. Many agents have spheres of business that involve their religious congregation, a work-out group, children’s sports team, or other gathering that is now on hiatus due to distancing orders.
Instead?
Same Sphere, New Routine
Bring those groups together virtually, and be the shepherd that facilitates camaraderie and communication. Maybe your weekend bike-ride buddies can’t come out, so jump on a video chat and reminisce about some of the best trips you’ve taken. Got a group that normally goes to yoga? Ask your yogi to host a personal live video class for you and your crew!
What do I do now?
Just because we’ve had to change the ways we communicate and engage, doesn’t mean you need to fundamentally change the way you do real estate business. Here’s an exercise. Get a motivating beverage, sit in a comfy chair and do the following.
- Get out a sheet of paper and pen (or the doodle app on your smart device, whatever) and make a rough itinerary of a typical day-in-the-life of your business. Or – even better – what do you wish a typical day was like?
- Then, look at each activity and think about a creative way to engage your sphere virtually or digitally.
- Third step? Do it.
Now is the best time to try something new. We’re all more forgiving and understanding during the current crisis. We all enjoy something outside the mundane when we’re getting itchy waiting for this ‘storm’ to pass.
Did it succeed? Share your story! Did it flop? Learning opportunity.
BONUS TIP:
Consider investing in the human element of your business. We’re all in this together, and for many that means ‘paycheck-to-paycheck’ isn’t even an option. Were you working with first-time homebuyers that may now need rent assistance? Find all of your community resources and be an advocate for your eventual-client to stay solvent so that when the time is right, they will qualify for their mortgage. You are their expert in real estate, their guide, and you can do that before and after a transaction – not just during.
Looking for more guidance? Explore MoxiWorks resources specifically around productivity, education, and positivity during the COVID-19 situation.
April 2, 2020 | June Laves, Sr. Marketing Manager
4 Ways for Brokers to Support Their Local Communities
Mercedes Santiago, Marketing Coordinator at MoxiWorks | March 24, 2020
It’s a time of global uncertainty, due to COVID-19, the epidemic that has disrupted the world. We’ve seen the anxiety-inducing statistics on job uncertainty, food scarcity, deaths, and more. The combination of it all is showing us the true magnitude of the current state of our world. While we’re not sure of what’s to come for certain, we know as a community we must jump in and help where we can.
“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.”
– Coretta Scott King
Real estate brokers are an integral part of their communities and experts in the residents, businesses, and structures that make a neighborhood ‘home.’ As such, brokers and their agents are poised to be great community leaders and supporters during this time. We’ve put together a list of recommendations and want to hear from you as well!
1. Support local restaurants
Seattle streets are much quieter these days for obvious reasons, with one of them being the empty tables in restaurants — a trend fast occurring across the country. We know we can’t dine-in, but don’t forget that many restaurants are offering take out, and it’s essential to their survival. Support your community by ordering takeout.
Fun idea: Virtually cater for your agents! Let all agents order lunch on you for company moral! Share your support on social media to encourage others to follow in your footsteps! Not only can you promote positivity and camaraderie amongst your company, you continue to support your market’s economy.
2. Check in with your neighbors
These times are difficult for many, physically and mentally. You could be struggling personally to care for someone who’s been infected with COVID-19. Or, perhaps you’ve upended your day-to-day routine and are now working from home. Especially difficult, maybe you’re self-isolating due to a pre-existing condition and feel uncertain about your safety. While we shouldn’t be physically close to each other, with technology we have the ability to all stay connected. Even from miles away, what you post online has the ability to shift someone’s mindset on the situation. Let’s keep content optimistic, light-hearted, and inspiring to keep our mental states up high.
Fun idea: check-in with your partner businesses like mortgage lenders, moving companies, or home repair persons and share each other’s stories.
3. Reach out to nonprofits
Many nonprofits around your city are constantly providing shelter, food, and support for members of your community — even during pandemics that close other public places. Call around to local nonprofits and decide who needs what most. In our current situation, these groups are running out of food to distribute. Feeding our community and staying healthy is important for us to move past this.
4. Help seniors who are most at risk
It’s a fact that older people and people with pre-existing health conditions are most vulnerable to COVID-19. There are multiple things we can do to keep this group of people healthy and safe.
- Grab groceries for those who are at risk or those that are shut-in. Drop the groceries off at their door to keep your distance.
- Facetime self-quarantined individuals to keep them socialized and less lonely
- No tech? Start a letter-writing campaign to individuals in nursing facilities who can’t visit their friends and loved-ones face to face currently.
Now is the time to think outside your office walls and see how you can help your community.
Together we can accomplish so much more than we can alone.
Understand more. Fear less: Real Estate and the Coronavirus
Real estate leaders, what do we do now?
It’s a wave we have to ride out, but we don’t have to do it alone. Every industry is being driven into mass-tech-adoption at a rapid speed due to social distancing and isolation. Real estate is no exception, but the key difference is we’re already able to handle this.
I had the pleasure of wrapping up the LeadingRE Annual Conference in Las Vegas last week with a presentation on why every real estate brokerage is a tech-enabled brokerage — a claim that some companies are trying to use as differentiation and value-position to compete for talent. But honestly, do you have a cell phone, perhaps you’re even reading this article on your phone right now? You, as a human, are tech-enabled and therefore so is your business.
And if you’re tech-enabled, you’re also a virtual brokerage. Perhaps you won’t want to operate as a virtual brokerage forever, but you are capable of pivoting temporarily to best serve your agents and their clients. Fear in the face of disruption can cause us to fall back into old habits, ruts of non-productivity, or drive us to seek control in the minutia around us.
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.
Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less.”
– Marie Curie
A strong woman with wise words, Marie Curie’s quote can remind us that by focusing on the truth we will get through this and recover. As I always say, data tells the truth and data sets you free. In this article, I want to focus on a quick look at our industry’s economic history, what industry leaders need to be doing right now, and my 3 B’s for the time-being: Be Optimistic, Be Supportive, Be Productive.
Going Virtual Brings Us Together
On a ship over rough water, a captain can’t stay silent. At no point during this situation is it possible for brokers to over-communicate with their agents. No one has all the answers but talking it through always helps build confidence and trust.
Everyone is leaning into video communication. We still get to see each other’s smiling faces while preserving our goal of safety. Brokers, leaders, reach out to your sphere with one-on-one video calls. It’s 2020, we’re all capable of having a video chat, and it bridges one more gap that a standard phone call can’t provide. We’re telling agents to keep in contact with their clients, their sphere, their community. Practice what you preach, right? Call your agents, call your staff, call your partners.
Remote work employees have been facing the hurdle of building camaraderie without physical closeness in the workplace for years. At MoxiWorks, we have moxians and partners across the country bridging the gap. Now, we all have gotten a taste of that world — sitting in your house trying to have a meeting as the dog howls at a bird or your children forget their inside voices. The silver lining is this gives us all an opportunity to be sympathetic and supportive of each other.
We’re living this at MoxiWorks for several weeks now, with the entire company working remotely without any service interruption. We have the obvious advantage of being a technology company which helps, but we face the same cultural challenges that you. That’s why I’m saying that over-communication is so important. It’s human nature to fill in a void with the worst possible scenario and without communication, that’s exactly what your stakeholders will do. Don’t let there be a communication void – fill it with honest, transparent, supportive but optimistic communication. It’s not about having all the answers because none of us have them right now, it’s about being present as a leader.
Real Estate’s Response in Bear Markets
While the United States hasn’t entered a bear market due to viral outbreak before, it can be comforting to look at how we’ve bounced back from drops in the past. The good news? Event-driven drops (like our current situation around COVID-19) in the market are typically acute and recover much faster than structural drops (think 2007 Great Recession).
Goldman Sachs sent out a report on looking at severe declines, length in a down market, and time to recover/stabilize.
Make no mistake, this is an unprecedented time in history for everyone, but this is a storm we can weather in the real estate industry. MoxiWorks is proud to work with the strongest partners and clients, companies that survived through the housing bubble bursting and are going to pivot, survive and thrive again.
Real Estate Leaders, here’s what we do.
With that said, this isn’t a time to sit still. This is the time to link arms and lift each other up. In our MoxiWorks Town Hall we held virtually this week, I told all of our moxians: Be Optimistic, Be Supportive, and Be Productive. I’ll give you that very same advice.
- Be optimistic that local markets will bounce back, that your pipeline clients will still be ready when bans and restrictions lift. Be optimistic that your agents are solvent and with time, will help your business flourish again.
- Be supportive of each other, we are all humans in this together. Everyone needs time to reflect, to understand, to acclimate — but the speed we are moving at is going to be fast, so we need to help each other. This is a great time for fostering collaboration.
- Be productive no matter what. Give yourself a few seconds to catch your breath, then get back to work. Work on your sphere, evaluate your data, clean up your business and keep moving forward. We’ve got this. We’ve got moxie.
Competition, new players, technology — every disruptor you’ve faced before has trained you for this whether you knew it or not. Don’t let fear bring you to a crushing halt. Business has always been about inertia: an object in motion stays in motion. Like Marie Curie said, now is the time to learn more so we can fear less.
Let’s do this together,
York Baur
CEO, MoxiWorks
P.S. On that note, at Moxi we’re going to go above-and-beyond to bring continued content for our clients and the industry. We’re kicking this content release off with a guide on how to host an ‘open house’ virtually using our MoxiPresent / M Present product. Check it out.
Stop Using Disruptors as a Benchmark for Your Success
By York Baur | March 9, 2020
Mike DelPrete put it best at ICNY 2020: “The industry is moving very slow, but it’s never moved this fast.”
Franchisors are building their own technology at record rates. New proptech companies are popping up everywhere. Acquisitions and consolidations are becoming more common. There’s an electricity in our industry that’s been simmering for the last few years.
And, it’s exciting.
But it’s also been a time of uncertainty and, quite frankly, fear. Especially for the brokerages and agents all of this surrounds. I know there has been frustration, agents shuffling, lots of money changing hands, among other concerns. But, the best piece of advice I have during this age of transformative innovation and perceived disruption is simple:
Stop using the disruptors as a benchmark for your success.
Sure, they’re flashy. Sure, they’re mainstays in the news and claiming data that may or may not be true. But comparing your brokerage to their definition of success isn’t the way to measure your success.
Every brokerage is a tech-enabled brokerage
It’s true. Every brokerage is a tech-enabled brokerage, whether you build your own technology or not. And brokerages, both traditional and new, who are leveraging data and embracing the fact that they’re tech-enabled are seeing the benefits. We took a deeper dive into our data by looking at 10 of our largest client brokerages representing over 50,000 agents. We found that, on average, agents with a high usage of MoxiEngage CRM increased their transactions by 85.3% from 2018 to 2019. Even agents with a lower usage of MoxiEngage still increased their transaction count by 41.2% during the same time period. And while we believe our products are best in class, the reality is using whatever tools you have will make you better whether they’re from MoxiWorks or not.
Everything you need to be a “tech-enabled brokerage” already exists in the marketplace and agents at any brokerage with leading technology will see an impact on their business, even if your brokerage isn’t one of the “disruptors.”
A case for the mistaken market share
Market share is of course another way to reflect on your brokerages’ success, but make sure the data you are comparing it to is apples to apples and not apples to grapefruits.
For example, it’s easy to claim impressive market share to scare the competition when the sample size of that share is disproportionate. Compass made claims at the end of 2019 towards their 20/20 by 2020 vision that a number of their markets are close to 20%. But, 21.3% market share of Malibu, CA is certainly not the same as only 6.6% of LA county. And 33% in the concentrated D.C. market is not the same as only 7.3% in the DC metro area, just like 17.8% in Downtown Dallas is not the same as only 2.9% in the Dallas metro area.
While a lofty goal, there is still more than enough market share being held by other brokerages and to that we say keep it going. Instead of letting the disruptors distract you, focus on things that truly reflect success in your business. Focus on your team and your success.
The pomp and flash won’t last. Just remember, the data doesn’t lie. Big signing bonuses and other carrots being dangled in front of agents are sometimes tough to combat, but you should really be more concerned with yours and their retention rates, instead of recruitment rates.
Why? Because agents who left Compass in 2019 were only there for an average of 295 days, so less than one year. In the 2019 National Association of REALTORS® Member Profile report, they found that the median tenure for REALTORS® with their current firm was four years.
So focus on what you’re doing to recruit and retain your agents. If the industry average is indeed four years of tenure at a company, take a look at your data and see how long your agents are sticking around to determine whether you might need to make some adjustments to continue to have your agents remain at your brokerage. And remember that using technology to increase agent productivity can solve your recruiting and retention problems: productive agents are happy agents who stay at your brokerage and recruit others to it.
The road ahead
The quote written above my office from Marshall Goldsmith is a reminder to us every day and it should also be a reminder to you:
“What got you here won’t get you there.”
While I believe you have everything you need at your fingertips, I also believe you need to be proactive and provide an environment of ‘Training + Systems + Coaching’ to retain your agents and help them continue to succeed through the age of disruption.
And look, we have to give Compass credit. They set a lofty goal, and good on them for doing that. Every company should. Creating that mission, that rallying cry is a great way to not only motivate their teams but gives them something to measure.
So, instead of letting them distract you from your goals, take it to heart instead. What are your goals?
Their goal doesn’t say anything about anyone else, so think deeply about your brokerages’ goals for the company and for your agents and use that goal to measure your success.
And don’t stop there. Announce it to the team, bring it up in meetings with your team and with your stakeholders. Develop leading indicators of your progress and measure them routinely with a scorecard. Hold yourself accountable for the goals you set and what you are trying to achieve. We do this at MoxiWorks and I promise you that you will see better results by doing so as well.
There will always be disruptors. Don’t let them derail your focus. Instead, stay lasered in on your success metrics and your goals and continue to help your agents thrive with your brokerage as their home.
