Creating a Memorable Experience for Agents, Buyers, and Sellers
Many of the best performing brokerage firms had a particular “specialness” that played a role in their success.
Retailers of goods and services are told that they need to build a shopping experience to attract and retain customers. It’s not just about the products and services that one offers; it’s what the merchant does that makes the experience memorable that matters as much as the quality of the goods or services.
How Creating an Experience Relates to Brokerage
Thinking about this facet of modern-day residential brokerage caused us to think about great brokerage companies and national realty organizations. Which of them has achieved superior success over the past 30 years? Was there a part of that success that was due to specialness? Is there something to be learned from the past that points one way forward for brokerage firms or, for that matter, individual agents or teams?
The answer is yes. Many of the best-performing brokerage firms and national realty firms had that certain distinctive quality that played a significant role in their growth and success. Here are some of the attributes that we think mattered:
- Leadership. There was a passionate, involved leader who communicated the purpose, mission, and values of the organization regularly and consistently.
- Marketing. There were specific attributes that the firm highlighted that made them different from their competitors. These may have been commission plans, but more frequently, they were business model differences, technology tools, marketing platforms, and educational offerings.
- Communication. The leadership also communicated not only how the above attributes benefited the participants in the organization but also how it made them different from others. That helped the participants feel they were part of a special organization.
- Relationships. The leadership at all levels worked diligently to build relationships among the participants and the leadership team.
- Storytelling. The leadership built stories about the people and achievements, and that reinforced a sense that the organization was exceptional in some way.
Organizations must have financial discipline and operational structure. The specialness won’t matter when a firm can’t manage its business well. But without a distinctive difference built on the characteristics listed above, an organization will be challenged to achieve above-average results—and average results in tough competitive markets won’t
work well.
Bright Future
We believe that brokerage has a bright future, regardless of today’s challenges. There are new local, regional, and national realty firms being born every day. Some will achieve a level of success beyond what most might think probable or possible. We believe that building specialness is what will separate those that succeed and all the others.