RE/MAX Excalibur

 

Last week, we hosted a panel discussion with some of the top individual agents and team leaders in all of RE/MAX Excalibur.  The topic?  How do you keep your business thriving during a time where listings are so scarce?  We broadcasted this event over our live video training channel and we had a full room of attendees as well.  These amazing pannelists shared over TWO HOURS worth of ideas and content for all of our associates to use.
The focus of the discussion was on what it takes to get listings.  Here are some of the highlights.

1. Get back to the BASICS (door knocking, calling expireds, calling FSBOs, etc)

2. Let your clients know that you CARE about them and their needs

3. Be CONSISTENT in your lead generation activities. Focus on the sources that provide results.

4. LEAVE any negativity at the door.  Keep a positive attitude at all times.

5. Dress PROFESSIONALLY.  Your attorney doesn’t meet you in shorts and sandals.  As a REALTOR, you are handling one of the largest financial decisions a person or couple will ever make.  Act the part.

6. Use the TIME you spend in your car as a learning center.  Listen to audio books to build yourself and your business.

7. Be INVOLVED in your community.  Acts of selflessness will naturally attract business opportunities.  Good natured people want to surround themselves with other good natured people.

8. Don’t be a SECRET agent.  Wear the RE/MAX badge with pride.  With over 6,400 offices in over 90 countries, EVERYONE knows the RE/MAX brand.

9. There is more power in WE than there is in I.  Don’t make your conversations with clients all about you.

These are just the highlights!

This class was just one example of the market relevant training we continually create for our associates.  And with our LIVE broadcasting technologies, all of our associates can tune in, no matter where they are.

Why does RE/MAX sell more real estate than any other company?

Is it BRAND recognition (don’t let anyone try to tell you that a brand name does not matter)?

Is it that RE/MAX has a dominant market share in 85 of the top 100 markets in the US?

Is it because of our training?

Could it be because we have given our agents close to 11 million referral fee free leads since 2006 directly from our TV and radio marketing campaigns?

Maybe it is because we are operating in 86 countries (see global.remax.com)?

Could it be that RE/MAX has not lost momentum like so many of our competitors because we have been led by the same leaders from the beginning?

The answer is YES!

How does your company stack up?

We can all agree that we have gone through one of the most trying and challenging real estate times that anyone can remember.  Unfortunately, in some cases, agents have been left to fend for themselves and discover by trial and error ways to re-position themselves as the market changed.

Taking a minute to reflect on the past market, I can recall 3 major “shifts” in the market.

My question to you is: Was your company leading you AHEAD or falling BEHIND these shifts?

Shift One

In July, 2008, most agents in Arizona had never heard of a Short Sale.  There were NO CLASSES offered by ARMLS, NAR, AAR or anyone else.  The only class available was CDPE.   It was observed that the market for short sales was going to “explode”.  However, the process and training of how agents could deal with the challenge and opportunity simply did not exist.

In September of 2008, the President of RE/MAX Excalibur, Howard Lein, led six Excalibur sales associates to the first CDPE class given in the Western United States.  Lein became one of two of the first real estate brokers of ANY brand west of the Mississippi to embrace and achieve the CDPE designation.  Today, over 165 Excalibur associates have the designation.  Because of “Leadership”, RE/MAX International recognized the success of our associates, embraced CDPE, and today over 14,000 RE/MAX associates nationwide have the designation.  RE/MAX has been responsible for more successful closed short sale transactions than any other real estate company in America.  Several other education sources have emerged to help provide agents with short sale tools.  Most came to the market a year AFTER Excalibur agents had already attacked the market.

The result:  While other brokers were warning their agents to “stay away from short sales”, our associates were shifting their business and surviving in a difficult market.

Shift Two

The emergence of the Real Estate Investor.  The arrival of the hoard of investors was unexpected.  However, this investor was much more sophisticated.  The conventional real estate professional in 2010 was unfamiliar with the goals of the new investor profile.  Terms like: ROI, ROE, Cap Rate etc. were totally unfamiliar, however the new investor promised to provide incredible sales opportunities to the astute Realtor.
RE/MAX Excalibur embraced the CIAS (Certified Investor Agent Specialist) designation and highly encouraged our interested associates to capture the knowledge and designation as fast as possible.  The first classes were provided in January, 2011.  Consequently over 60 Excalibur associates achieved the designation and attacked the new market with knowledge and confidence.  2011 was an incredible year for closed investor transactions with world-wide clients, predominately from Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and India.  Excalibur agents were once again able to shift their business based on knowledge and solutions.

Shift Three

The disappearance of Inventory.  During the past three years, very few people were envisioning a time when inventory would be in short supply.  The market had been flooded with bank owned properties and short sales and the idea of multiple offers and appreciation were a concept that many had forgotten.

Excalibur formed a focus group in June 2011 to address “how will we recapture our traditional and luxury market”.   Plans were put into place to retain our leading market share in what had always been a traditional, but beat up, market.  Education was provided to help them transition into a market that would be driven by great listings and much more traditional buyers and sellers.

The goal has been to attack the opportunity ahead of the competition.  Industry wide, the emergence of a “lack of inventory” began in January, 2012.

We made the discovery of the most effective outbound marketing program we have seen in years.  Our first meetings providing the solution to our agents began in September, 2011.  Our first mailings began in January, 2012.  Our first listing appointments began in January 2012.   As of March, 2012, Excalibur associates are mailing over 15,000 quality lead generating pieces.  By June that number will increase to over 25,000 pieces.

Question:

When you are looking back at your past 3 years:  Did you Lead or Follow?

Were you ahead of the market, or following the ideas of others?

What role did your broker play in your ability to recognize the opportunity changes that have occurred?

At the recent R4 convention at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV, RE/MAX Chief Executive Officer, Margaret Kelly made some big announcements regarding the health of RE/MAX and real estate and also presented the NEW services available to both consumers and RE/MAX associates.  ”RE/MAX truly is THE global brand in real estate. Nobody comes close,” Kelly told more than 4,000 Affiliates, including attendees from over 50 countries. “No one is better positioned to take advantage of the growing global marketplace.”

In her address, Kelly thanked Associates around the world for helping RE/MAX become the No. 1 brand in real estate. She noted that RE/MAX Associates, always able to adapt, have thrived in strong markets as well as more challenging ones. In many cases, that translates into growth and high production.

In Canada, for instance, where RE/MAX has been No. 1 since 1987, the network increased in every key metric last year – agent count, office count, transactions and sales volume. The Canadian force now tops 18,500 Sales Associates and has a widespread reputation as the country’s premier real estate brand.

Similar achievement is happening all around the world. Associates in RE/MAX Europe, where conditions vary greatly from country to country, reached an all-time high in transactions last year. More than 11,700 Sales Associates now work across the continent, with market share and/or agent count growing significantly in nations such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Turkey.

 

REACHING THE GLOBAL CONSUMER
One competitive resource connecting the network of nearly 90,000 agents is the global.remax.com website, which debuted in late 2011. The site, which features 32 languages, has already generated more than 1 million listing views originating from over 150 countries.

International real estate investment has increased significantly in recent years, and Kelly said the investor segment in the U.S. – made up of domestic as well as global buyers – is something every Associate should understand. Investor purchases, often in cash, account for about 24 percent of the U.S. market, Kelly said.

 

 

TOUCHING THE MOBILE CONSUMER

RE/MAX unveiled the brand-new RE/MAX Mobile App.

To download the free app, which features U.S. listings and much more, visit getmobile.remax.com or download it directly from iTunes or the Android  Market by searching for “RE/MAX”. The iPhone app wows on the iPad, too. And rest assured, an iPad app is coming soon!

RE/MAX CEO Margaret Kelly announced the exciting new tool, developed in partnership with Homes Media Solutions, to a cheering R4 Opening General Session crowd of more than 4,000 RE/MAX Affiliates in Las Vegas.

“Your clients and prospects can get details of homes right in front of them, across town or across the country,” Kelly said. “When they see something of interest, they tap a button and a RE/MAX agent gets the lead, with, as always, no referral fee.”

 

A REAL ESTATE FIRST

Google does it all, and now the Internet giant is making it possible for RE/MAX offices and agents to do it all, too – in the cloud. RE/MAX is the first national real estate company to provide Google Apps for Business at discounted pricing to all associates.

“The ability to work from anywhere – that’s what Google Apps for Business can offer,” said Kelly.   “I don’t have to tell you that working as efficiently on the move – as if you’re in front of all your files and computer programs in the office – is priceless in this industry.”

Google Apps for Business syncs all of Google’s powerful communication and collaboration tools, including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Talk and Sites. RE/MAX agents and brokers can combine all capabilities into one powerful, low-cost and easily accessible platform.

 

NO. 1 IN ENERGY

In his portion of the opening session, RE/MAX President Vinnie Tracey retraced many of the network’s highlights of the past year and also congratulated Affiliates for making RE/MAX No. 1 in “virtually everything.”

“We’re No. 1 in experience, No. 1 in agent productivity, No. 1 in brand name awareness, No. 1 in advertising, No. 1 in professional designations and education, No. 1 in global presence and No. 1 in sales,” Tracey said. “That’s the sort of brand power that brings business to RE/MAX Sales Associates. And when they add their talents and service, they create customers for life.”

Of special note were the two awards earned from J.D. Power and Associates for “Highest Overall Satisfaction for Home Sellers and Home Buyers.” That recognition adds greatly to the “800 pound gorilla” of brand power that backs every RE/MAX Affiliate, he said.

“Put it to work for you,” he urged.

RE/MAX CEO Margaret Kelly talks about what’s ahead for the 2012 housing market. Visit http://www.ExcaliburRealEstate.com to find an experienced real estate agent to help you navigate the market in 2012.