Leverage Contractor Referrals to Engage Sellers
Do you have a network of contractors, appraisers, and more that you can readily refer clients to when needed? If not, you may be missing out on a critical opportunity to engage with sellers. A recent consumer research survey by consulting firm WAV Group revealed that consumers are increasingly expecting these referrals from their real estate professional. In fact, an agent is the first resource they turn to to ask about needed repairs before listing their home. 58% of sellers consult their agent about repairs rather than contractors (12%), home inspectors or appraisers (both 2%). The agent is expected to be the doorway to these recommendations. Hunt Real Estate has taken a proactive approach to meeting this need. They offer an online directory called the Realty Club that lists vendors for flooring, roofing, house cleaning, moving, and beyond. Hunt clients gain lifetime access to the Club. When they need a specific service like, say, plumbing, they can request information and Hunt will provide a list of list of third-party vendors in that category. It's an effective part of Hunt's customer-for-life strategy.

Everything You Need To Know About ISAs (Part 2 - Training/Compensation)
This post comes to us from the BoomTown blog: Thanks for joining us for Part Two of our "Everything You Need to Know About ISAs" series. In Part One of our series, we discussed the differences between licensed and unlicensed ISAs. We will continue this series by addressing some questions regarding training, compensation, and virtual assistants. How Do You Pay Them? Mike Grbic, the guest speaker in a BoomTown U webinar series "Ignite Your ISA Model," discussed his pay structure, among other things. He found it problematic to have a commission-based salary for the ISA. First of all, some agents expressed negativity over having to split their hard-earned commission. Secondly, the ISA's role is not only to contact but also to nurture leads. The average lead spends approximately eight months in the database searching for homes before an agent can close a deal with them. A commission-based worker is less likely to take the time and focus to incubate those leads. Mike found that ISAs who were hired on a consistent wage were better at long-term nurturing compared to commission-based agents who focus on, and cherry-pick the "now" buyers. Though there are a few brokers who do prefer to pay their ISAs based on a percentage of commission, more brokers are starting to employ a pay structure that is based on an hourly rate, plus a flat dollar amount per pre-qualified appointment (for example, $15/hour plus $50 per pre-qualified appointment). This is a good pay structure because it rewards the ISA for something they themselves can control, as opposed to the closing of a deal which depends more on the agent.

Want to Secure Your Website for Under $500?
I had no idea how much there was to know about website protection. Most of what we hear about is the information “security” side of the coin, which is making sure that hackers can’t intrude into your system and your malware/ virus protections are current. This gets most of the press and is definitely important. There is an entirely different side to the coin of information security- that’s the legal side, which includes “privacy,” “intellectual property”, and “liability” matters. And the coin of this realm in the real estate industry is minted with the image of the Privacy Guru®, Darity Wesley.  

New MLS Consultant Partnership Formed!
Brian Larson and Kevin McQueen are very excited to introduce a new program. We call it Effective MLS Market Solutions or EMMS for short. The Effective MLS Market Solutions program will help MLS organizations by providing them with objective market analysis and identifying options for them to deliver more effective services to their brokers. At the conclusion of the EMMS program, you’ll meet with their independent consultants and receive an MLS Market Report laying out the results. This is a fresh new approach to addressing the challenges that many MLSs and their customers face in their markets. They will gather and measure data provided by the MLSs and survey and interview brokers to understand their business objectives and identify “pain points” in the current environment. They sought funding from NAR for the program to eliminate one common obstacle to progress, namely the cost of engaging skilled advisers. With NAR’s sponsorship, we can reach more MLSs that want to make a difference and achieve measurable improvements much more quickly. NAR is not seeking active involvement in the program. Larson and McQueen have a limited number of program/MLS groups and are actively seeking out only 6 ready markets at this time. Each market will likely consist of 3 or more MLSs. The MLSs will be required to share agreed upon information with them, commit to the process and pay a portion of the shared travel expenses for on-site visits by Brian or Kevin. If you are interested in learning more about EMMS, please read the overview and contact Brian Larson [email protected] (612) 442-8661 or Kevin McQueen [email protected] (248) 374-1045 for more details. Organizational Integrity Survive and Then Thrive Four Questions That Matter

Need Legal or Consulting Services?
Larson/Sobotka is a consulting firm and a law firm specializing in offering services to the real estate industry. Specifically they focus their service offerings on technology vendors to the real estate industry, MLS service providers, Associations of REALTORS® (State, Local, National), and real estate brokers. Their legal practices focus on a variety of dimensions throughout the real estate industry including ecommerce, databases, Web branding issues, and rule-making for online communities. Larson/Sobotka supported RE Technology in the development of many of its business documents. Legal services also extend to providing copyright, trademark, Internet/computer and technology licensing counsel.

What are Your Plans for Recruiting in 2010?
Since the beginning of time in the real estate industry, there has been a focus on the need to recruit. As you begin the new decade of 2010, what are your plans for recruiting solid, producing agents into your brokerage? Are you doing the same things that you have been doing the past 30 years for recruiting? If so, is it working for you? If not, I encourage you to implement one, or more, of the following recruiting strategies. Create a strong value proposition that you and your team can confidently tell others about. What is unique about your brokerage? How will an experienced real estate professional benefit by joining your firm? What are your key retention tools? Are you talking about them? Is it technology, market share, coaching support? Why do people join your firm and why do they stay?