Broker Marketing/Management: Sales is Tactical, but Strategy Matters

by Harper Thorpe | 0 comments | Posted Tue, 2012-02-21 11:00

Articulating what you want in your real estate brokerage is pretty straight-forward.

… sales associates who are dedicated and productive;
… managers who lead and develop people;
… top producers who are role models to others and support your brand.

But how do you take your goals and marry them to behaviors that will produce desired results? Here’s a quick example of a strategy virtually all brokers share:

Strategy: Present our company and agents in the best possible light so buyers and sellers want to work with us.

Goal: Have a compelling Real Estate marketing website that’s intuitive to navigate and has valuable, up-to-date information to help consumers make home buying/selling decisions.

Tactic: Provide a consumer with accurate information about our company and our agents on our website.  Here’s where a website powered by a first-rate Real Estate technology infrastructure shines.  Edits and updates can be handled by anyone.

Little known fact - About 90% of all broker websites have an incorrect or inaccurate roster of agents on their website (pictures missing, etc.). Ouch!  (Here’s where a website powered by a first-rate Real Estate technology infrastructure shines.  Edits and updates can be handled internally by staff rather than IT.)

Yes, this is a tactical item but important strategically. If this is your issue, you need it fixed in 24 hours - 48 hours at the most. Successful organizations hold company members accountable, but more importantly, everyone in the organization should understand (and care about) how this reflects on the brokerage.

Strategic thinking occurs when employees begin to look beyond the here-and-now and consider how today’s tasks and activities impact the future of the organization. Agents still must attend to the day-to-day tasks that fall within their scope of responsibilities. However, it’s also important that they anticipate opportunities and threats or they (and you) will miss business opportunities.

In the past, strategy has generally been considered the responsibility of the real estate broker or the company leadership. In today’s markets, everyone in the brokerage needs to understand and embrace the strategy – which means they need to be part of the strategic conversation.   

Warning: If your people on the front line are not included in the strategic conversation, they will not share a sense of common purpose - community – team, and you will fall short of your goals.

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