Liz and Bill Spears started blogging in June and had their first feature in July... already 2 or 3 more since then. I'd say they're off to a really good start on Activerain!
I celebrated my 100th feature last week by offering to re-blog the first featured post of anyone who sent me the link, and they were among the first to do so.
They have a concern that you may share, so read this post and the many comments...
Do you lose business because of your brokerage?
It's a question we ask ourselves periodically. Don't get us wrong, we love being associated with RE/MAX and the discretion we have, but in our niche, sometimes we think it could actually be a hindrance! We specialize in Expireds, so we're often mailing sellers that were listed with another RE/MAX franchise.
We DON'T mail listings that were with someone else from our own RE/MAX office. From the broker's perspective, it's probably great to keep the listing in house, but from our fellow agent's perspective, not so great! There's more than enough fish in the sea that we don't need to go there.
We've heard the pros and cons of small vs large brokerages, and ultimately it SHOULD be about the agent's ability, but sometimes the sellers want the Big Brokerage Name on the yard sign no matter what! And sometimes they need to have at least heard of your brokerage just to be willing to talk to you about listing their home.
The negative side of belonging to the big brokerage is that the average consumer doesn't differentiate us! We're all independent contractors and we each offer a different marketing philosophy and basket of skills, so we SHOULD be viewed on our individual merits. However, we believe that this may be a case of one bad apple (and maybe not even bad, just didn't meet the seller's expectations) spoiling the whole basket. The seller's viewpoint may be that we tried RE/MAX the first time, so let's try someone else.
What's your experience?The Liz Spear Team
Elizabeth & William Spear
RE/MAX Elite, Mason, OH
Direct: 513-265-3004 Toll Free Fax 866-302-8418
MailTo: Liz@LizSpear.com Visit: www.LizTour.com
Copyright 2006-12. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER: Information contained in this post is deemed reliable on the date of publication, but it is not guaranteed and it is subject to change without notice.
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Margaret Woda, REALTOR and Associate Broker
Direct: (301)346-2923 or click on EMAIL
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Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., 2191 Defense Hwy., Crofton, MD 21114 (410) 721-1500
Hi Margaret, so you specialize in Miltary relocation? Do you do anything in Frederick Md?
I'd think that with all the construction @ Ft Detrick there would be an influx of Military service people and supporting service people moving into Frederick Maryland.
I just joined your company Facebook page, looking forward to learning more about what you offer.
As a Local SEO and web designer I like the youtube you embedded in your Facebook business page
Margaret,
Thanks again for the extra publicity!
Margaret - an interesting take on the issue of who one should work for ..... We are all individuals and in todays real estate world we are for the most part independent contractors ..... getting that message out could help Liz and Bill to some degree.
David, I'm almost 2 hours from Frederick, closer to Fort George G. Meade... also within a half hour of Andrews AFB, Naval Station Annapolis, and the U.S. Naval Academy.
Lis and Bill - Love your style!
Kathy - I worked for RE/MACX back in the day when no one ever heard of it. I guarantee it was easier 25 years when everybody HAD heard of it. In the end, however, it's always up to us - the individual agent.
In general, people are hiring US not our agency and I think individual agents need to be confident in their abilities and be able to overcome this objection when it comes up. We have received business because of our brokerage and lost some as well, but not because of who we are with, but because we were not able to effectively overcome the clients' "brokerage" objection. If we don't get a listing, I blame ourselves, not our brokerage, that's just a crutch, in my opinion. Thanks for re-blogging this post.
Dan and Amy - I tend to agree with you, but I do understand their concern.
Margaret,
Going from small to medium sized brokerages recently, I'm finding that size doesn't matter it's what you offer.
I agree, Linda - I think it all boils down to whether the consumer feels like they know, like and trust the agent, and the company has very little to do with it. HOWEVER, an agent can capitalize on being with the #3 company in the country (L&F) or the market leader (that's RE/MAX in many areas of the country ) or with the small one-office local company that "really cares."