REBOOT WITH MyRU TAILOR YOUR LEARNING PAGE 22
THE RE/MAX MAGAZINE SUMMER 2013 REMAX.COM/ABOVE
MYTH BUSTER Colorado top producer Nicki Thompson
THE
PAGE 17
RIGHT STUFF RE/MAX Associates have – and do – what it takes to stay on top
PLUS DYNAMIC MARKETING
20
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GREAT OFFICE 38
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INSPIRATIONAL AGENTS 42
OPENING REMARKS
You Set the Bar for All Agents Gail Liniger, Vice Chair and Co-Founder of RE/MAX, represents the heart of the organization better than anyone – not only in her fiery dedication to day-today leadership, but also in her respect, kindness and generosity.
ABOUT THIS COLUMN Opening Remarks features the thoughts of top RE/MAX leaders, speaking on major themes within ABOVE.
I
T’S STRANGE TO IMAGINE WHAT the real estate industry might look like today if the first RE/MAX Sales Associates hadn’t taken a chance on the RE/MAX model all those years ago. Some of us might still be burning the candle at both ends for 60/40 splits, bumping up against ceilings placed on our potential, and finding ourselves surrounded by agents who don’t put as much into their careers as we do. But the early RE/MAX pioneers did make the leap – and they changed the industry. You’re a RE/MAX agent because you believe in yourself, your dreams, the importance of being the best agent for your clients, and being around agents who think and work more like you. You also believe in the value of a trusted brand, and you’ve turned RE/MAX into the No. 1 name in real estate because of that.
Your goal is to deliver the best service and results to your clients. That makes a big difference. It matters. In fact, all the little (and big) things you do for your clients matter. The support you offer to other agents and the amazing things you do for your community matter. You matter – and you’re the reason RE/MAX is the destination network for top producers. You set the bar, and that’s why we attract people who aim high. Dave and I are grateful every day to those first RE/MAX agents who paved the way – and to each and every one of you who followed their lead. It’s hard to find the words to express it, but my hope is that this edition of ABOVE shows why “Outstanding Agents. Outstanding Results.” is one of the most important RE/MAX slogans. It represents exactly who you are and exactly what you strive for – every day.
REMA X .COM/ABOVE • SUMMER 2013
1
features
26 CONTENTS
30 It sounds simple, but if you make friends with the dogs and the kids, you’re in. – PATRICK STRACUZZI
2
ABOVE THE RE/MA X MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2013
26 30
POSITIVELY CHARGED Persistence and positive thinking helped Sharon Soltanian of Ontario become the No. 3 individual RE/MAX agent in Canada – and the No. 4 individual worldwide in 2012. She’s not about to stop there.
STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART Top 100 Team Leader Patrick Stracuzzi has found tremendous success by being passionate and embracing the lessons he’s learned from other top producers. The Florida star is helping other agents do it, too.
ABOVE ONLINE View this and past editions of ABOVE at
remax.com/above. Enhanced with videos, ABOVE Extra online exclusives and additional resources, the ABOVE website is a fun, interactive way to experience and share the magazine.
ON THE COVER: NICKI THOMPSON, SALES ASSOCIATE WITH RE/MAX ALLIANCE IN ARVADA, COLO., AT RE/MAX WORLD HEADQUARTERS IN DENVER. PHOTO BY MARC PISCOTTY.
RE/MAX Premier
RE/MAX Premier
departments ABOVE
IN EVERY ISSUE:
01 OPENING REMARKS 48 JUST FOR FUN
20
®
SUMMER 2013, VOL. 3, NO. 3 ABOVE, a quarterly publication (January, April, July, October), is the official magazine of RE/MAX, LLC, the international real estate franchisor serving the industry’s most productive sales network. RE/MAX World Headquarters 5075 S. Syracuse St. Denver, CO 80237-2712 PO Box 3907 Englewood, CO 80155
remax.com
®
RE/MAX, LLC
34
42
CHAIRMAN & CO-FOUNDER Dave Liniger VICE CHAIR & CO-FOUNDER Gail Liniger CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Margaret Kelly PRESIDENT Vinnie Tracey EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS AND BRANDING Mike Ryan
ABOVE
FULL SPECTRUM
34 SELLING LUXURY INSIDE STORY
COMMUNICATIONS George White CREATIVE SERVICES DIRECTOR Collin Meek MANAGING EDITOR Amanda Derengowski SENIOR EDITOR Deborah Ball Kearns EDITOR Dorota Wright-O’Neill
7 YOU ARE MAX ENOUGH
36 ALL THINGS COMMERCIAL
A salute to RE/MAX Associates – the heart and soul of the RE/MAX network.
Two top-selling RE/MAX Commercial Practitioners share their insights.
To reach the editors of ABOVE, call 303.796.3339 or email above@remax.com.
8 SNAPSHOTS
38 WEAVING A GRAND STRAND
Revving up for Long Drive; coming attractions; RE/MAX on top; tips to protect your online reputation; and more!
RE/MAX Southern Shores creates unity along South Carolina’s Grand Strand coastline – and captures top market share in the process.
To order additional copies, visit the Shop RE/MAX website at shop.remax.net.
17 MYTH BUSTER A Colorado top producer who left Coldwell Banker discovers rumors don’t match the reality of RE/MAX.
20 ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH The Duncan Duo Team dominates the Tampa Bay area with comprehensive marketing and a weekly radio show.
BUILDING BLOCKS
ABOVE & BEYOND
42 THEY NEVER, EVER QUIT Meet two inspirational agents who persevered against long odds with grace, gumption and grit.
RE/MAX, LLC, is not responsible for the content of advertisements and assumes no liability for any claims arising therefrom. RE/MAX, LLC, is an Equal Opportunity Employer and supports the Fair Housing Act. Each RE/MAX office is independently owned and operated. ®
During RE/MAX Month of Miracles in August, thousands of yard signs will let consumers know that every home can be a Miracle Home.
46 GIRL POWER
Thousands of Associates have logged on to the new MyRU interactive eLearning platform since it launched last fall. One Wisconsin Associate shares his experiences.
With the help of agent Amy Klock, a group of girls in Rapid City, S.D., learns a lesson in teamwork while customizing a Harley-Davidson.
24 LUXURY AT THEIR FINGERTIPS
New Jersey agent Drew Robustelli gains satisfaction in real estate, raising his daughter and riding waves.
ABOVE THE RE/MA X MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2013
Copyright © 2013 RE/MAX, LLC. All rights reserved. ABOVE is a registered trademark of RE/MAX, LLC. The material herein may not be duplicated, copied or reproduced – in whole or in part – in any way without written permission. ABOVE magazine is provided to RE/MAX Affiliates as one of many benefits. The opinions of guest contributors and interviewed guests are their own and not necessarily those of RE/MAX, LLC, or its Affiliates, or any of its owners, officers, employees or agents.
45 A SIGN OF MIRACLES
22 REBOOT WITH MyRU
The new, stand-alone website, theremaxcollection.com, provides unparalleled exposure for The RE/MAX Collection listings.
4
Cecelia DeFreitas of Ontario, a top marketer of high-end homes, shares her tips for appealing to affluent clients.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CORPORATE
47 FINDING BALANCE
www.hungryeyemedia.com 800.852.0857 PRESIDENT Brendan Harrington EDITOR Tom Wilmes ART DIRECTOR Lindsay Burke PROJECT MANAGER Susan Humphrey NATIONAL AD SALES
Susan Wist 303.378.1626 susanwist @hungryeyemedia.com
When people love your marketing this much, your business grows!
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D I G I TA L E D I T I O N
ABOVE Online FIND EVERYTHING YOU SEE IN PRINT, PLUS BONUS TIPS, INSIGHTS, FEATURES, ONLINE EXCLUSIVES, VIDEOS AND MORE AT REMAX.COM/ABOVE
®
The news doesn’t sleep between quarterly printed editions of ABOVE. When you a see a story labeled “ABOVE Extra” on the ABOVE website, in the RE/MAX Weekly emails and in the magazine, you’ll know there’s additional content available online that you won’t find in the print edition.
TRENDING NOW
TOP 5 ONLINE EXCLUSIVES 1
NO CONTEST! WINNING A COMPETITIVE LISTING
2
48 C21 AGENTS SWITCH TO RE/MAX
3
A CAREER AND A MARKET GROW TOGETHER
4
NOT JUST SELLING HOMES – SELLING LIFESTYLES
5
GOING TO BAT FOR A COMMERCIAL LISTING
DIGITAL FLIPBOOK
Get the feel of thumbing through ABOVE on your computer or tablet! With the flipbook version, you can: + Download PDFs of any and all pages in the magazine + Share links to specific pages in the flipbook + Watch short videos about some of your favorite articles
SCRAMBLE ANSWERS (FROM PAGE 48) RIDDLE NO. 1 CLUE WORDS: 1. TRACK 2. ESTEEM 3. SALUTE 4. BEWARE. RIDDLE NO. 1 SOLUTION: WHEN SALVADOR DALÍ TRIED TO SELL REAL ESTATE, HE GOT INVOLVED IN SURREAL ESTATE. RIDDLE NO. 2 CLUE WORDS: 1. DRAFT 2. MOTOR 3. EFFORT 4. ROBBER. RIDDLE NO. 2 SOLUTION: WITH ALL HIS FAILED EXPERIMENTS, THE INVENTOR NEEDED A HOME WITH ROOM FOR ERROR.
6
ABOVE THE RE/MA X MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2013
USE THE CONTENT. Like what you’re reading? Let everyone know by posting comments, and using the Twitter, Google+ and Facebook icons to share and like your favorite articles.
CONTACT THE EDITORS Send comments, inquiries and story ideas to above@remax.com.
A P P R E C I AT I O N
INSIDE STORY
You Are A SALUTE TO RE/MAX SALES ASSOCIATES – THE HEART AND SOUL OF THE NETWORK Some words of thanks for RE/MAX agents from their Broker/Owners and Managers:
I’ve never worked with a more professional and supportive group of individuals. I’m amazed at how well you pull together and support each other. There’s a spirit of camaraderie, and you help celebrate each other’s accomplishments. You’ve united as a family, and you welcome new members as longlost friends. I feel truly blessed to be associated with each and every one of you.
Saying thank you barely expresses my full appreciation. You make me proud to be part of your lives and to share in the rewards that you create – often at great personal expense. I love being a Broker/Owner of such a positive, vibrant and professional office. I have the best agents in the world! – RICK CAMPOS, RE/MAX FIRST, CALGARY, ALBERTA
– SHELLY FARLEY, RE/MAX INFINITY, CHANDLER, ARIZ.
You’re the lifeblood of RE/MAX Optima. Without you, there wouldn’t be an office. I appreciate your professionalism, intelligence and hard work – and the fun each one of you brings in your own unique way. – CRAIG KESLER, RE/MAX OPTIMA, OVIEDO, FLA.
The agents at RE/MAX First are very special to me. You’re part of my extended family, and I always enjoy seeing you succeed. It’s my true pleasure to help you set goals and then watch you exceed them. You definitely set the bar high in our market. Thank you for being part of the RE/MAX First family.
I’m very proud of all the accolades RE/MAX Metro receives for production and success. What I’m most proud of is you. You’re such special people – helpful, caring, professional, honest and fun. We’re family, and you’re the reason I love my job! – BONNIE DAVIS, RE/MAX METRO, ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.
– BILL BURNS, RE/MAX FIRST, JEFFERSONVILLE, IND., AND LOUISVILLE, KY.
REMA X .COM/ABOVE • SUMMER 2013
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INSIDE STORY
SNAPSHOTS
The Network Digest WELCOME!
These countries are now part of the RE/MAX network, increasing the brand’s global presence to more than 90 countries.
‘MY NEXT STEP’ A BEST SELLER The RE/MAX Chairman and Co-Founder has a new title; now he’s also referred to as New York Times Best Selling Author Dave Liniger. His book My Next Step: An Incredible Journey of Healing and Hope, released in April, hit the hardcover nonfiction Best Seller list May 12 and spent two weeks there. The book made it all the way to No. 5. The inspirational account of Liniger’s recovery from a terrible, paralyzing illness in 2012 offers encouragement to anyone facing life challenges.
ORDER YOUR COPIES AT AMAZON.COM.
Revving Up for Long Drive THERE’S GOING TO BE A CHANGE OF PACE AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR Speedway in October, when the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship takes over the famed racetrack. There will still be plenty of adrenaline and the roar of an amped-up crowd, but it’s all going to be for golf’s hardest-hitting contest. And you don’t have to miss a minute of the action; the finals will be broadcast live Oct. 30 on the Golf Channel. NBC also will air a 60-minute recap in December, marking the championship’s debut on network TV.
ARMENIA
LEBANON
BELARUS
QATAR
GEORGIA
SRI LANKA
KENYA
SWAZILAND
KUWAIT
UGANDA
➥ For details, visit the Long Drive page on Mainstreet via the “Marketing” tab. COMING ATTRACTIONS
RE/MAX COMMERCIAL WORLD SYMPOSIUM Commercial and investment experts will network and find deals at the 2013 RE/MAX Commercial World Symposium, Sept. 18-20, in Denver. Each year, the symposium brings together the best and most productive commercial practitioners in the RE/MAX network.
The BOC
September 18-20 • Denver, CO
Connecting Market Specialists
The RE/MAX Broker Owner Conference has a new name: The BOC. RE/MAX brokerage leaders from around the world will be in Ottawa, Ontario, for three days in August with one main goal in mind: to achieve maximum results in their offices. ➥ Find more details and register on Mainstreet.
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ABOVE THE RE/MA X MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2013
RE/MAX: The No. 1 Name in Real Estate
RE/MAX Century 21 Coldwell Banker Prudential Keller Williams Long & Foster ERA Windermere Sotheby’s Better Homes & Gardens Real Living
25.2% 22.2% 14.7% 7.1% 4.6% 2.2% 1.3% 1.1% 1.0% 1.0% 0.4%
CANADA
UNITED STATES
“When you think of real estate brands, which ones come to mind?”* RE/MAX Royal LePage Century 21 Sutton Coldwell Banker Prudential Proprio Direct HomeLife Via Capitale Keller Williams Better Homes & Gardens Sotheby’s
UNAIDED*. AWARENESS.
AIDED**. AWARENESS.
25.2%
90%
51.8% 22.9% 22.8% 8.1% 5.3% 1.8% 1.8% 1.6% 1.3% 1.3%
Percentage of U.S. participants who named RE/MAX when asked what real estate brands “come to mind”
Percentage of U.S. respondents who recognized RE/MAX from a list of real estate brands
0.3% 0.2%
51.8%
97%
Percentage of Canadian respondents who named RE/MAX when asked the same question
Percentage of Canadian participants who recognized RE/MAX from a list of real estate brands
MAKE THE CLAIM Source: MMR Strategy Group brand awareness study among buyers, sellers, and those planning to buy or sell, conducted remax_ad_061913_B.pdf 1 6/28/13 11:55 AM between November 2012 and March 2013. *Measure of unaided awareness. **Measure of total (aided plus unaided) awareness.
Find approved, ready-to-use RE/MAX marketing statements under the “Marketing” tab on Mainstreet.
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
REMA X .COM/ABOVE • SUMMER 2013
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INSIDE STORY
SNAPSHOTS
You Crushed the REAL Trends Surveys
RE/MAX agents averaged more than twice as many transaction sides as the average of all other agents.
The RE/MAX average sales volume was 60 percent higher than the average of all other agents.
Ranked by transaction sides, RE/MAX qualified more brokerages for the top 500 – with 118 – than any other real estate brand.
On average, RE/MAX agents closed 13 percent more transaction sides in 2012 than in 2011 (17.1 compared to 15.1).
Average sales volume per RE/MAX agent rose 12 percent from 2011 to 2012 ($3.0 million to $3.4 million). Source: The 2013 REAL Trends 500 report consists of the top 500 U.S. brokerages based on total 2012 transaction sides, and an “Up and Comers” category that lists 837 participating brokerages with at least 500 sides. Per-agent averages include all 1,337 brokerages.
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ABOVE THE RE/MA X MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2013
2013 REAL Trends 500 RE/MAX VS. COMPETITORS
Top 50* Brokerages by Transaction Sides Per Agent
Brokerages Qualifying for Top 500
Average Transaction Sides Per Agent
17.1
118
40
Realty Executives
12.4
5
0
ERA
9.5
15
0
Coldwell Banker/NRT
8.5
53
2
Century 21
8.2
31
1
Prudential Real Estate
8.1
31
0
Keller Williams
7.3
111
1
Better Homes & Gardens
6.8
9
0
Real Living
6.2
6
0
Sotheby’s
5.7
11
0
Source: 2013 REAL Trends 500 survey containing 2012 data provided by participating U.S. brokerages. Sides-per-agent averages include all brokerages with at least 500 transaction sides. *Six of the top 50 brokerages by transaction sides per agent are not national franchises and are not listed here. Prudential and Real Living do not include HomeServices of America. ©2013 RE/MAX, LLC. All rights reserved. Each RE/MAX office is independently owned and operated.
U.S. HIGHLIGHTS
Sales Associates from RE/MAX brokerages that qualified for the 2013 REAL Trends 500 and REAL Trends Canadian 250 surveys outsold the competition again in 2012. These charts capture all the highlights. Download them on Mainstreet.
2013 REAL Trends Canadian 250 RE/MAX VS. COMPETITORS
Number of Brokerages in Top 25 by Transaction Ends Per Agent
Source: 2013 REAL Trends Canadian 250 survey containing 2012 data provided by participating brokerages. Average transaction ends per agent were calculated using data from brokerages that reported agent counts. Nine of the top 250 are not affiliated with a national franchise. © 2013 RE/MAX, LLC. Each office independently owned and operated.
Number of Brokerages in Survey
Average Transaction Ends Per Agent
24
159
16.7
0
7
14.0
EXIT Realty
0
25
11.8
Royal LePage
0
9
11
0
4
10.5
Realty Executives
1
20
10.1
Coldwell Banker
Century 21
0
1
9.5
Prudential Real Estate
0
11
9.1
Keller Williams
0
4
8.4
Sutton
0
1
7.8
HomeLife
CANADA HIGHLIGHTS RE/MAX claimed 159 of the top 250 rankings and all three “Up-and-Comers” rankings, encompassing a total of 162 different brokerages.
RE/MAX agents closed 60 percent of the 485,000 transaction ends in the survey, and 56 percent of the $181 billion sales volume.
RE/MAX agents averaged 80 percent more transaction ends, compared to the average of all other agents.
Among the top 25 brokerages in ends per agent, 24 were RE/MAX.
The average transaction ends per RE/MAX agent in the survey increased from 15.8 to 16.7 – an increase of nearly 6 percent. Source: 2013 REAL Trends 250 survey containing 2012 data provided by participating brokerages. Average transaction ends per agent were calculated using data from brokerages that reported agent counts.
REMA X .COM/ABOVE • SUMMER 2013
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INSIDE STORY
SNAPSHOTS
A Page Turner A CANADIAN AWARD WINNER COMPILES HIS ‘SECRETS OF SUCCESS’ INTO A NEW BOOK FOR AGENTS WHO WANT TO BECOME TOP PRODUCERS BY DOROTA WRIGHT-O’NEILL
OF KEN’S 5
1
K
EN EDDY IS A SELFdescribed “student of the industry,” and he’s intrigued by the qualities and strategies of top performers. “I’ve always wanted to know what makes the powerhouse agents tick,” says Eddy, a Chairman’s Club member with RE/MAX Real Estate Central in Calgary, Alberta. He’s earned the RE/MAX Lifetime Achievement Award, and was honored earlier this year with the Robert H. Cherot Award from the RE/MAX of Western Canada Region. Here, Eddy shares some of his observations and own experiences from his strategy-filled book, Secrets of Success: 10 Reasons Why 10% of Realtors Control 90% of the Business. ®
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KNOW ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT YOU DON’T KNOW Learning about your field is a career-long challenge. Get into the habit of engaging with top agents and constantly sharpening your skills.
For more of Ken Eddy’s success secrets, visit remax.com/above.
ABOVE THE RE/MA X MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2013
2
USE YOUR STRENGTHS Do what you do best, and seek the help of others to balance your weaknesses. Your strengths will ultimately generate the income, so free up your time to really use them.
10 SUCCESS SECRETS
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PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Successful agents have common traits, including a positive attitude, communication and organizational skills, resilience, discipline and motivation. Make it a goal to develop these characteristics in yourself.
4
BUILD YOUR NETWORK Stay in regular contact with clients, industry leaders, mentors and anyone who has the ability to make new connections. They all could be influential in expanding your customer base.
5
HAVE A WRITTEN BUSINESS PLAN Not having a written business plan is like starting a trip without a map. Include the standard components (expenses, estimated profits, etc.), but don’t forget a vision and mission statement, plus achievements and future opportunities.
SNAPSHOTS
INSIDE STORY
Judy Klassen
4x4
VALUED SERVICE
Four real estate leaders answer four questions about participating in industry groups and associations.
Why is industry involvement or recognition important? Judy: You learn a lot, you meet a lot of people and, in the end, you become a better Realtor because of it. Steve: I think my Realtor of the Year award is recognition of how much time I’ve devoted to committees at my local association. That, and the fact that I’m not afraid to voice my opinion. Feedback is important. RoseMarie: Industry involvement is crucial. Being involved lets you know what’s going on, and allows you to have a voice.
James: At RE/MAX, we’re passionate about the business – it’s a lifestyle for us. If we don’t participate in molding the industry, then we risk having decision-makers who don’t know the business as well as we do.
RE/MAX Country, Princeton, British Columbia (President, South Okanagan Real Estate Board)
Steve Wigand RE/MAX Realty Plus, Jasper, Ind. (Realtor of the Year, Southwest Indiana Association of Realtors)
RoseMarie Longmire RE/MAX Whatcom County, Bellingham, Wash. (Realtor of the Year, Skagit County, North Puget Sound Association of Realtors)
James Wanzeck RE/MAX Masters, Greenwood Village, Colo. (Realtor of the Year, South Metro Denver Realtor Association)
How has RE/MAX helped or inspired you to be a leader? Judy: The enthusiasm from RE/MAX World Headquarters is infectious – and I also get a lot of inspiration from RE/MAX events.
Steve: Being associated with RE/MAX carries clout, because RE/MAX is a leader. I help coordinate a hot-air balloon race, and the RE/MAX Balloon always ends up out in front there, too! RoseMarie: I’m inspired by the overall RE/MAX philosophy. It’s all about collaboration and camaraderie, which I respond to. James: The strength of the brand puts you on the map. We would never have gained the superb agents we have without a company behind us that garners instant respect. RE/MAX helps you sell yourself, your company and the brand.
How does your industry involvement or recognition enhance your business? Judy: I travel more as president and have responsibilities that can pull me away from the office, but past presidents have told me that, in the end, it’s worth the extra effort in terms of exposure and new contacts. Steve: It’s brought me greater recognition and generated awareness that we’re a player in our area. I plan to put “Realtor of the Year” on my business cards and in all of my ads. RoseMarie: It’s a huge piece of the puzzle in my business and gives me a broader frame of reference. If you want to know what the association does for us, you have to be involved. James: RE/MAX agents are often seen as very passionate, assertive and smart. Sometimes there’s this attitude that “RE/MAX will eat you for lunch.” When I first got involved locally and at the MLS, people got to know me as a person – as an individual who cares about the same things they do.
What’s the best way for agents to get involved with their board or other industry groups? Judy: Give yourself a year or two at a committee level, where you can learn and get to know people. When you’re ready to accept more responsibility, consider running for director.
Steve: Local boards are always looking for committee people. I think of the involvement as a huge networking opportunity.
RoseMarie: Start on the local level. If you have ideas – any ideas, even a complaint – take them to the committee. You can grow from there and work your way up higher. James: I always tell new agents that taking some classes doesn’t put you in business, it only gives you a license. You need to learn to surround yourself with the best people and seek the best advice.
REMA X .COM/ABOVE • SUMMER 2013
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INSIDE STORY
SNAPSHOTS
TAKE CHARGE of Your Online Reputation HOW TO PROTECT – AND PROMOTE – YOUR IMAGE ON THE WEB BY GINGER WILCOX
I
F YOU’VE BEEN IN THE REAL estate business for some time, you know it can take years to build a strong track record and a solid reputation. New findings from Herbert Research indicate that it’s vital to carry your offline track record into a strong online presence. The survey revealed that 50 percent of consumers research and select an agent in one day and interview only one agent during their selection process. This shows just how important it is for consumers to find accurate, positive information about you when they’re doing online research.
5 SIMPLE TIPS: 1 DON’T LET FEAR KEEP YOU OFFLINE Be visible. If you’re a reputable, qualified agent, the hazards of not being found are far greater than someone finding negative information about you. Make sure you have complete, robust profiles everywhere consumers might be searching for you. On Trulia, agents with 100-percent complete profiles get 20 times more views than those with incomplete profiles.
2 DON’T POST ANYTHING YOU’LL REGRET Just because you delete a post or an errant tweet doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. Be sure your posts represent what you want prospective customers to read about you. You can – and should – set your privacy settings on social networks, but don’t assume that’s enough. You never know what will be shared.
3 GET YOUR CLIENTS TALKING ABOUT YOU Nothing beats a neutral, third-party recommendation. According to the 2012 Bazaarvoice Social Trends Report, more than half of consumers age 18 to 34 say they trust online opinions over those of friends and family. Ask for a recommendation at the beginning of your business relationship. Trulia, LinkedIn and Yelp are all great places to get third-party recommendations and build your referral base.
4 DEMONSTRATE YOUR EXPERTISE Trulia is a RE/MAX Approved Supplier and your smart partner, helping you maximize your exposure and accelerate your success. To learn more, visit www.trulia.com/remax.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ginger Wilcox is Director of Industry Marketing at Trulia.
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ABOVE THE RE/MA X MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2013
Anyone can say they’re an expert; today’s consumer is researching you to make sure you can prove it. Your online profiles are a great place to highlight your knowledge, skills, sold listings and awards. Blogs, tweets and some Facebook posts (depending on privacy settings) show up in online searches, as does your participation in forums on sites like Quora, Trulia Voices and LinkedIn. Take the time to answer questions and share content relevant to your target customer – and let your expertise speak for itself.
5 DELIVER EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE One of the best ways to build an online reputation is to build a great offline reputation first. If you’ve delivered exceptional service to your clients, it’s easy to carry that story to online channels and spread the word.
Let us help you build your business Here’s to our continued commitment to success in 2013. Let’s build on our long-standing relationship and create an even stronger one. We can accomplish this together through: • A variety of strategic alliances that can help you manage and grow your business • Short Sale outreach programs, a dedicated escalation web tool and online education at the Bank of America Agent Resource Center • Bank of America Merchant Services electronic payment processing solutions that can help Broker Owners streamline office operations • Bank of America at Work® program for RE/MAX affiliates* If you’d like to learn more about how we can work together to build your business, please contact Shay Shearer, National Relationship Executive, at 1.502.287.2675 or shay.shearer@bankofamerica.com. Visit the Bank of America Agent Resource Center at bankofamerica.com/agentresources for tools and information to help you manage and grow your business.
* Eligibility for the Bank of America at Work® program terminates when (a) you terminate your relationship with the sponsoring company or organization or (b) the sponsoring company’s or organization’s Bank of America at Work® program plan is terminated by either the company or organization or Bank of America, at which time rates and fees will revert to the current rates and fees as stated in the Personal Schedule of Fees. Equal Housing Lender. ©2013 Bank of America Corporation. Credit and THIS INFORMATION IS NOT INTENDED OR AUTHORIZED FOR CONSUMER DISTRIBUTION. Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC. collateral are subject to approval. Terms and conditions apply. This is not a commitment to lend. Programs, rates, terms and conditions are subject to change without notice. All trademarks are the property of Bank of America Corporation or their respective owners. Bank of America and other advertised companies are separate entities; each is independently responsible for its products, services and incentives. AD-03-13-0338 03-2013 AR2C830D
Step into my office To sign up today, visit att.com/wireless/REMAX Or, to find the nearest AT&T store, visit att.com/find-a-store Please have proof of eligibility (employee badge, pay stub or business card) Mention FAN: 22541
* IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Available only to RE/MAX. Other conditions and restrictions apply. See contract and rate plan brochure for details. Subscriber must live and have a mailing address within AT&T’s owned wireless network coverage area. Equipment price and availability may vary by market and may not be available from independent retailers. Purchase of additional equipment, services or features may be required. Not all features available on all devices or in all areas. A $36 activation fee may apply. See your AT&T Representative for more information. Š2012 AT&T Intellectual Property. All Rights Reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property. Printed in the U.S.A.
T H E R E / M A X A DVA N TAG E
INSIDE STORY
Myth
BUSTER A COLORADO TOP PRODUCER DISCOVERS THAT RUMORS DON’T MATCH THE REALITY OF RE/MAX BY KEITH MILLER
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PHOTOS BY MARC PISCOTTY
ICKI THOMPSON SUMS UP her decision to join RE/MAX with one word: harmony. “I’ve found harmony in my life at RE/MAX,” says the top-producing agent with RE/MAX Alliance in Arvada, Colo., near Denver. “I’m in a very good place. I’m content, but never complacent.” A former Coldwell Banker agent, Thompson says her career has blossomed since joining RE/MAX in 2008. Last year, she reached Platinum Club status after two years in the 100 Percent Club. At the same time, she has more time to spend with her family and get involved in the community. Thompson is an active member of her local chamber of commerce and has chaired the Arvada Young Professionals group. She’s even found more time for her favorite activities: swimming, competing in triathlons and having fun with her three children.
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INSIDE STORY
T H E R E / M A X A DVA N TAG E
It wasn’t always this way. At Coldwell Banker for six years, Thompson began feeling like she had reached her peak. She worked long hours, and although she was a top producer in her office, she felt constrained. “I was a big fish in a little pond,” Thompson says. “I reached a place in my career where I wanted to be challenged.” Thompson often sat across from RE/MAX agents at the closing table. They appeared happy and very productive. She began considering RE/MAX herself. Then the voices of doubt would come, as she recalled the cautionary tales she heard around the office: “RE/MAX doesn’t offer any support,” “You’re on your own at RE/MAX,” and “So long to education.” So what ultimately tipped the scales? How did Thompson know RE/MAX was the right choice? She researched and ultimately debunked the RE/MAX myths.
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MYTH ONE
MYTH TWO
MYTH THREE
There’s no education.
You’ll be on your own.
The fees are prohibitive.
After she made the switch, Thompson discovered a world of education. She regularly takes advantage of RE/MAX University programming and earned the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation right after joining the network. “The reality turned out to be much different than what I had thought,” she says. “The amount of available education was one of the biggest surprises for me.”
“My concern that I was leaving a family atmosphere and would be by myself ended up being completely unwarranted,” she says. “Once I joined RE/MAX, I was amazed at the support and culture of teamwork and mentorship.” Now, as a more experienced agent, Thompson thoroughly enjoys sharing her own wisdom with others. “It’s not just a receiving relationship; you have to give as well,” she says. “I know numbers and analytics, and enjoy sharing that expertise. It creates a very collaborative and empowering work environment for everyone.”
This myth was crushed with a spreadsheet. As a numbers and statistics enthusiast, Thompson tallied her potential income with RE/MAX and saw the stark difference for herself. “This one was easy,” she says. “The numbers made sense from the get-go. It was overcoming the other concerns that initially made me more hesitant to change.”
ABOVE THE RE/MA X MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2013
MORE GOOD MOVES These experienced Associates can definitely relate to Nicki Thompson’s journey. Here’s why they recently joined RE/MAX. BRAND CHAMPION NICKI THOMPSON, A FORMER COLDWELL BANKER AGENT, SPEAKS ABOUT HER SWITCH TO RE/MAX AT RE/MAX WORLD HEADQUARTERS IN DENVER.
I wanted to be part of a highly recognizable, global brand with a local presence. The office I joined is centrally located in an up-and-coming resort town, and the brand presence of RE/MAX provides a huge advantage. My Broker/Owners and the office staff provide everything I need to be more effective. – MARY BETH BUCKLES, RE/MAX SIGNATURE SERVICES, DANA POINT, CALIF. (JOINED 2013)
The RE/MAX brand is powerful. There’s a sense of pride and name recognition that was absent when I worked for smaller companies. After 20 years in real estate, I was very confident in my knowledge, but I’ve been blown away by all that I’ve learned through RE/MAX courses and education – and particularly how much is offered through RE/MAX University. – DARLIN GUTTERIDGE, RE/MAX MOSAIC PROPERTIES, GILBERT, ARIZ. (JOINED 2012)
I’ve been very impressed with the strategic, administrative and transactional support. I’ve also been surprised by the corporate support. In one instance, I called asking for materials for The RE/MAX Collection. They delivered a package the next day, and I was able to use everything in a presentation. I ended up getting the listing. I should have joined RE/MAX sooner! – NATALIE VIZIR, RE/MAX SIGNATURE SERVICES, DANA POINT, CALIF. (JOINED 2013)
MYTH FOUR
There will be no time for yourself. When Thompson worked with RE/MAX agents at closings, she got the sense this was far from true. Her RE/MAX Broker/Manager, Phil Shell, made a statement that ultimately tipped the scales for her to join. He told her, “Don’t let your business run you; you run your business.” With RE/MAX, Thompson found the work-life balance she was looking for. “When I walk in the house, my phone is off and my attention is on my family,” she says. “I’m able to leave my business at the office.”
My Broker/Owner’s marketing expertise and real estate knowledge are incredible assets. I love that I can truly be an independent contractor in charge of my own destiny and success. I can achieve this with the support and opportunities for growth through REMAX University and Mainstreet. The RE/MAX Design Center gives me countless ways to make my listings stand out and wow clients. There’s no other real estate company that offers anything close. – NANCY BENARD, RE/MAX ULTIMATE PROFESSIONALS, SHOREWOOD, ILL. (JOINED 2012)
We wanted to take full advantage of the recovering market and evaluated several companies. By joining RE/MAX, we affiliated with the strongest horse in the race. RE/MAX has proven to be the most powerful and easily recognizable brand in real estate – and the most dominant in our local market. When we told our clients about our move to RE/MAX, they were very pleased, and liked knowing how much more exposure their listings would receive. ®
– GERRY FRASER AND GEORGE PATRIDGE, RE/MAX KELOWNA, KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA (JOINED 2013)
Share your story about joining RE/MAX at remax.com/above.
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INSIDE STORY
T E A M S T R AT E G Y
THE DUNCAN DUO & ASSOCIATES TEAM DOMINATES THE TAMPA BAY MARKET WITH CREATIVE MARKETING AND A WEEKLY RADIO SHOW BY DINAH WISENBERG BRIN
On the same
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ADIO HAS BEEN VERY GOOD TO Andrew and Angela Duncan, husband-and-wife leaders of The Duncan Duo & Associates, a successful real estate team in Tampa, Fla., that has garnered endorsements from national broadcasters Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, and local personality Jack Harris. In tandem with radio commercials featuring the celebrity endorsers, the Duncan Duo Team, as the group is known, also reaches a wide audience through “The Duncan Duo Real Estate Show,” a live, one-hour call-in program that airs Sunday mornings on 970AM WFLA.
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“If you listen to talk radio in Tampa, you know who I am,” says Andrew Duncan, a Chairman’s Club member and Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Dynamic. On the show, Duncan discusses the real estate market, provides statistics, hosts guest experts such as home inspectors and mortgage lenders, and talks about his team’s listings. Even RE/MAX Chairman and Co-Founder Dave Liniger has been a call-in guest. The exposure, combined with reinforcing marketing strategies and the team’s service-oriented systems
for following up on leads, translates into a recipe for a strong real estate business. In fact, the Duncan Duo Team roughly tripled its sales volume to $53 million in 2012 from $18 million four years earlier, when it was aligned with Keller Williams. This year, the agents have already surpassed their 2012 total. Here are The Duncan Duo Team’s top tips for creating a dynamic marketing strategy that translates into a robust stream of warm leads, referrals and recurring business.
Andrew & Angela Duncan CREATE A MULTI-PRONGED SALES STRATEGY In addition to its radio presence, website, video testimonials from customers, high-end commercials for luxury properties, social media marketing and yard signs, the Duncan Duo Team also offers a guaranteedsale program, which in essence promises that a home will sell or the team will buy it. Agents also monitor a live-chat feature on the office’s website during business hours in order to immediately respond to inquiries.
USE THE TOOLS AT YOUR DISPOSAL The group uses RE/MAX tools, such as The RE/MAX Collection and global.remax.com, to market its listings and services. They’ve produced eight, three- to five-minute videos for properties listed for more than $800,000 and have contracted or sold all of those properties. The sales generated additional transactions totaling roughly $10 million in volume, Duncan says.
Team: The Duncan Duo & Associates at RE/MAX Dynamic Market: Tampa, Fla. Winning strategy: Invest in long-term success with a winning team and organic, creative growth
team members as experts in local real estate. It translates to higher-end sales, he says. The team is on pace for approximately 500 closed transactions this year, 200 of which will come directly from radio, Duncan says.
BE CONSISTENT AND FOLLOW THROUGH Duncan has also developed scripts and forms for his agents to use. The agents – who are either listing or sales agents exclusively – receive training on how best to communicate
We have a standard operating procedure for just about every step in a transaction; there’s an action plan assigned to every lead. with prospective clients. All leads that come into the office receive a response within an hour. “We have a standard operating procedure for just about every step in a transaction,” Duncan says. “There’s an action plan assigned to every lead.” Agents mark actions on their calendars and check them off when they’re completed. The team also has customized Outlook, BoomTown and Top Producer software to support agent activities.
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Listen to podcasts of “The Duncan Duo Real Estate Show” at remax.com/above.
PHOTOS BY JAY CARLSON
REACH THE RIGHT AUDIENCE Although the Duncan Duo Team – which includes 13 agents and four assistants – covers only three of the seven counties in the radio station’s market, Duncan notes that listeners in other areas could buy in the team’s market, and the show helps position
FACING PAGE ANDREW DUNCAN RECORDS THE DUNCAN DUO REAL ESTATE SHOW AT TAMPA’S 970AM WFLA. RIGHT DUNCAN (CENTER) WITH MEMBERS OF THE RE/MAX DYNAMIC SALES TEAM.
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BUILDING BLOCKS
RE/MAX UNIVERSITY
Reboot With MyRU A WISCONSIN ASSOCIATE EXPLAINS HOW MyRU HELPS HIM BECOME BETTER
T SAVAGE
HOUSANDS OF ASSOCIATES HAVE LOGGED ON TO THE NEW MyRU interactive eLearning platform since it launched last fall. Jesse Savage, with RE/MAX Preferred in DeForest, Wis., is a regular user. He joined RE/MAX in 2012 and jumped right into education, taking courses on distressed properties, prospecting and LeadStreet. “MyRU just makes sense for any committed professional looking to learn more,” he says. “When you take these courses, you become better at what you do, and you have more confidence and happier clients.” Here’s more of what Savage has to say about his MyRU experience:
THE EXPECTATION
“After researching a lot of companies, I found RE/MAX was the only one that offered the right kind of education, done the right way. Education is very important to me, and I felt that RE/MAX University would help me achieve my goals.”
THE INTERACTION
“This isn’t passive learning. The courses require you to pay attention, and they keep you on your toes. The learning process and interaction is fun and interesting, which helps the information stick in your mind.”
THE CONVENIENCE
“You can take courses at your own pace, with no pressure. I’m busy with work and in the community, and I’ve been able to take courses according to my schedule. Some of the coursework can be done while you’re waiting at a doctor’s office or between appointments. It’s easy to pick up right where you left off.”
THE RESULTS
“MyRU has given me more confidence in areas where I needed it most. In one lesson on prospecting, the program asked me specifically what areas I felt I needed to improve on. It then gave me additional tips and instruction, and even some printouts, to help me set goals, along with strategies for achieving them.”
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MyRU BY THE NUMBERS
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INTERACTIVE eLEARNING TRACKS
70,000 designation and certification courses RE/MAX agents have earned credit toward via RU
1,200 VIDEO TITLES
22 designation and certification courses offered
Q&A
NO BETTER TIME TO EARN THE ABR With increased buyer demand in many markets, you might benefit from learning the strategies that help Accredited Buyer’s Representatives close more sales. RU carries an all-new ABR: Buyer Agency course that offers the most current and effective strategies for working with buyers. You can view it on TV (via a Roku box) or online through the ABR eLearning track. Instructor Lynn Madison highlights the key topics and benefits of the course: Q Why is the ABR important? A Today’s buyers are savvier than ever, with easy access to tons of information. An agent with the ABR is better positioned to help buyers turn all that information into knowledge, which ultimately leads to successful home purchases. Also, agents often spend too much time with buyers who don’t buy – or who end up buying from someone else. Earning the ABR helps agents hone their qualifying skills to separate prospects, suspects and rejects. Q How was the course improved? A The new course moves away from the paperwork and regulations, and focuses on areas that agents feel are most important to their businesses. Here are some areas that receive more attention: + Getting buyer agreements signed + Encouraging buyer loyalty and repeat business + Developing a negotiation strategy + Writing and negotiating contracts + Moving deals to the closing table, while providing clients the best possible service Q What can agents expect? A Confidence. Agents who complete the course will be well prepared to help buyers, and they’ll have the confidence that they’re doing things correctly. They also can expect more successful transactions and more long-term relationships and referrals.
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BUILDING BLOCKS
THE RE/MAX COLLECTION
LUXURY at their FINGERTIPS HIGH-END HOME SEARCHES BEGIN WITH THE RE/MAX COLLECTION WEBSITE
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T’S CLASSY, SOPHISTICATED and clean, and it provides the ultimate search experience for affluent clients. It’s theremaxcollection.com. If you specialize in luxury listings, this new, stand-alone website gives your star properties unparalleled exposure. It’s a property search site for U.S. luxury listings that qualify to be promoted as part of The RE/MAX Collection. The site complements your own high-end marketing materials by giving visitors a one-stop destination to search for
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that next amazing home. All properties within The RE/MAX Collection are displayed beautifully (at no additional cost to you) on the specially branded site. The site also gains extra exposure for the listing agents, and gives visitors access to competitors’ listings via ListHub. This is a huge competitive advantage for agents who specialize in luxury properties, and it’s another point of distinction for RE/MAX.
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RAVE REVIEWS
Here’s what agents are saying about the new site: For listings to appear on The RE/MAX Collection website, they must be: At least twice the average local listing price – OR – Approved by the Broker/Owner
Other brokerages we compete with don’t have a dedicated site for luxury listings. This is huge for us, and it makes it fun for homebuyers to dream about these amazing homes. – RON HUBER, RE/MAX REAL ESTATE GROUP, ERIE, PA.
When buyers and sellers are looking for someone who specializes in The RE/MAX Collection, they’re able to find an agent who meets their high expectations. – JUDY SMITH, RE/MAX PROFESSIONALS, OMAHA, NEB.
ONLINE NETWORKING
A SOCIAL
NETWORK
BUILDING BLOCKS
STAYING CONNECTED JAY O’BRIEN ACHIEVES RESULTS THROUGH A STRONG SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE.
eNETWORKING PRO SHARES FIVE SIMPLE WAYS TO GET MORE MILEAGE OUT OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY DINAH WISENBERG BRIN
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AY O’BRIEN ENDED HIS FIRST YEAR IN REAL ESTATE WITH 14 CLOSED transactions at more than $4 million in total sales volume. To be more precise – he accomplished it all in just nine months after joining RE/MAX Prestige in Anaheim Hills, Calif., in March 2012. What’s the new 100 Percent Club member’s secret to his early success? “Social media is my bread and butter,” O’Brien says. He recently gave a presentation to his office on how to use social media effectively as a marketing tool, and he’s also mentoring new agents. He’s already seen success with the first agent he coached, who closed three transactions in one month. Here are his tips for turning social media into a surefire source of leads:
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PHOTO BY JOE GUNAWAN
KEEP IT REAL While most real estate professionals use social media in some capacity, O’Brien employs a subtly assertive approach to online interactions – especially on Facebook – rather than hard sell his real estate business. O’Brien uses his personal Facebook account for all of his postings, rather than a separate professional page, and the majority of his posts aren’t directly related to real estate at all.
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STRIKE UP A CONVERSATION
MAKE AN IMPRESSION
EXPLORE OTHER CHANNELS
Client testimonials, just-sold announcements and other real estaterelated content account for just one in every four of his social media posts, O’Brien says. He spends most of his time online (about an hour a day) posting personal messages and birthday greetings to his more than 1,200 Facebook friends, along with posts about popular culture and anything else that interests him.
Multiple daily impressions reach a wide swath of O’Brien’s friends and friends-offriends – even friends of those friends – many times each day with content that’s of interest to them. It also reminds them that O’Brien can help them with their real estate needs. “It’s like he’s at a cocktail party interacting with people, but he’s reaching thousands of people at a time,” says RE/MAX Prestige Broker/Owner Sammer Mudawar.
O’Brien posts short, educational videos to his YouTube channel that also generate leads, and he contributes frequently to the real estate forum activerain.com, where he refers to himself as an “antiRealtor” because of his soft-sell approach.
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Visit remax.com/above to see how O’Brien turned an online lead into a client.
FOLLOW THROUGH WITH EXCELLENT SERVICE Most of O’Brien’s clients are first-time homebuyers between 24 and 35 years old. To better assist them, O’Brien offers counseling sessions to go over market conditions and helps coach them through the homebuying process. When it’s time for them to purchase a home, or when a friend asks for a referral, O’Brien is top of mind.
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PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST ASSOCIATE SHARON SOLTANIAN AT HER TORONTO HOME, WITH CANVASES SHE PAINTED OF HER FAMILY.
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POSITIVELY
charged Persistence and positive thinking helped Sharon Soltanian become the No. 3 individual in Canada – and No. 4 worldwide
“I WANT TO TELL YOU A STORY,” SHARON SOLTANIAN SAYS. She sits behind her desk, dressed in an ivory silk blouse, black pants and red suede pumps. It’s hard to believe that she’s just spent the past few hours staging a client’s house that is about to be listed. “It was a mess,” she says. Behind her, lined up on a dark wood filing cabinet, are a halfdozen or so trophies signifying her achievements during her 10-year career with RE/MAX Realtron Realty in Toronto. There are more trophies on her windowsill and still more tucked in a corner of her L-shaped desk. Her walls feature dozens of congratulatory letters for her monthly sales, and she routinely receives gifts and thank-you notes from satisfied clients. But it wasn’t always so, which is what Soltanian wants others to know. She leans forward in her chair, wraps her fingers around her teacup and begins to tell her story.
‘I’ve come a long way’
It was early in her real estate career, and Soltanian was praying for a sale. Money was tight. She was recently divorced with two children. Her English wasn’t great. A client, also of Iranian descent like BY LESLIE GARRETT she is, had listed his home – asking $2.5 million – and then returned PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEREK SHAPTON to Iran, leaving Soltanian with power of attorney. She was thrilled when she got a call from a potential buyer, but Soltanian was forced to turn down the buyer after she learned he had intentions that would force her to compromise her professional and personal integrity. She resolved then and there to run her business in a manner that would let her rest easy every night, confident that she had acted in the best interests of her clients and herself. That mindset, along with her strong work ethic and drive, has guided Soltanian to the No. 1 spot among individual agents in her RE/MAX office in Toronto's Willowdale area, the No. 3 spot among individuals in Canada and the No. 4 ranking of individual RE/MAX agents worldwide in 2012. “I’ve come a long way,” she says.
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‘I wanted to be successful’ Growing up in Iran, Soltanian was given two career options by her father: Become a doctor or an engineer. But the headstrong teenager had ideas of her own. She was a born artist, she says. Her father refused to support an art career, so Soltanian chose interior design. At just 17, however, she fell in love and married. Soon after, she gave birth to a son and, six years later, a daughter. During the Iranian Revolution, unable to work, she taught painting in her basement. She also exhibited and sold her work and became an artist delegate to UNESCO. But Soltanian felt unfulfilled. She was educated, smart and independent-minded. She wanted freedom, she says, especially for her nearly teenage daughter. She emigrated from Iran to Canada with her kids in 1997. Soltanian got a job her first week in Toronto, working as an art instructor for $7 an hour. It was difficult, particularly for someone who’d never held a job. Although the position required lots of physical labor, she showed up in heels and a nice outfit, proud to be working. “I wanted to be successful,” she says. She left to work at a furniture store, beginning with sales and then moving into interior design. She soon began gaining clients of her own, including one whose husband hired her as an interior designer in his engineering office. In the meantime, her husband, an architect, had joined her in Canada and urged her to get her real estate license so she could sell his buildings. She earned her license and went to work.
Everything material in this life comes and goes. The only thing that remains is relationships. I work in relationships, not commissions.
‘I challenged myself ’ Soon after joining RE/MAX, Soltanian met with Richard Pilarski, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Realtron Realty. She scheduled a goal-setting meeting with him. That first year she set the mark at $150,000 in commissions. Pilarski advised her to keep her expectations realistic and not push herself too hard in her first year. She not only
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STRONG BOND SOLTANIAN CRADLES A PHOTOGRAPH OF HER PARENTS, WHO STILL LIVE IN IRAN.
met that goal, but she hit $250,000 the next year, then $350,000 the next and $500,000 the year after. She joined the Diamond Award Club in 2009, and she's been there ever since. It’s obvious that Soltanian delights in defying expectations, especially her own. “At first, I was a woman with no experience and facing a language barrier,” she says. “But I challenged myself to attend as many classes as I could.” Her hunger for learning is insatiable. She never misses the RE/MAX R4 convention and has a reputation for always asking questions. “Whatever Sharon sets her mind to, she does,” says Barbara Raber, Broker/Manager of the Willowdale RE/MAX office where Soltanian’s business is based. Soltanian is also confident in her ability to sell. So confident that she refuses to bow to pressure to reduce her commission or offer incentives. “I give them better than that,” she says. “I sell their home, and I give them peace of mind.” She mentions a recent listing from a couple who hired her based on a glowing referral. “Referrals and leads will come if you put yourself in your sellers’ shoes and do your best to sell their home,” she says. Part of doing her best includes marketing like mad. She spends roughly a quarter of her income on marketing her listings and herself in local papers and door-to-door fliers. She sighs when asked for the secret of her success. “New agents are always asking me that question, and they don’t believe me when I tell them: Work from your heart.
WORDS TO LIVE BY An avid reader, Sharon Soltanian credits books for much of her success. Here are a few of her favorites: THE POWER. OF NOW. by Eckhart Tolle All suffering lies in dwelling in the past or the future, rather than simply living in the “now.” YOU'LL SEE. IT.WHEN YOU. BELIEVE IT. by Wayne Dyer Soltanian read this book in Farsi while living in Iran and envisioned a brighter future. THINK AND. GROW RICH. by Napoleon Hill Desire, faith and persistence can take you wherever you want to go.
FIVE SECONDS. AT A TIME. by Denis Shackel Tackling big problems in small, manageable bits is the key to success.
“People are at the heart of this business,” she says. “Everything material in this life comes and goes. The only thing that remains is relationships. I work in relationships, not commissions.”
‘When you help people, the universe helps you’ Raber says Soltanian’s clients are very loyal, in large part because she puts forth her best effort in every transaction. To Soltanian, it’s simply karma. “When you help people, the universe helps you,” she says. “When you have an honest, helpful and positive outlook, then good things will follow. I really believe in that.” The money that comes with success has offered a different sort of satisfaction. Soltanian helps support two families in Iran, and she keeps portraits of them nearby in her office. “Nothing makes me happier than being in a position to help,” she says. Also on Soltanian’s shelf is a photo from the most recent RE/MAX awards ceremony in Las Vegas. She’s wearing a flowing navy gown, with her long blond hair pulled up, a radiant smile on her face and a trophy in her hands. “This is happiness,” she says. Not content with being No. 3, Soltanian’s new goal is to be the No. 1 individual agent in Canada. “I know it’s difficult,” she says. “But I believe it’s achievable.” And as she’s demonstrated time and time again, a positive outlook and the power of belief create an unstoppable combination.
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straight from the
heart
TOP 100 TEAM LEADER PATRICK STRACUZZI HAS FOUND TREMENDOUS SUCCESS BY BEING PASSIONATE AND EMBRACING LESSONS HE’S LEARNED FROM OTHER TOP AGENTS BY AMY REININK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT HOLLAND
BUDDIES PATRICK STRACUZZI, LEADER OF THE PATRICK STRACUZZI REAL ESTATE TEAM AT RE/MAX OF STUART, IN STUART, FLA., AT HOME WITH GUINNESS, HIS GERMAN SHEPHERD, AND LOLA, A GOLDEN RETRIEVER.
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OT LONG AFTER PATRICK STRACUZZI
joined RE/MAX as a young agent more than 20 years ago, he attended his first RE/MAX Convention in Orlando. At the convention, beloved real estate coach and motivational speaker Howard Brinton spoke about the secrets to his success. He also shared tips he had gleaned from top agents who shared their own secrets through RE/MAX seminars and through Star Power, Brinton’s coaching company. Stracuzzi recalls being blown away by the fact that pros at the top of their game would reveal the tricks of their trade. “I ended up going to Howard’s class three times,” says Stracuzzi, now 49, leader of the Patrick Stracuzzi Real Estate Team at RE/MAX of Stuart, in Stuart, Fla. “I couldn’t leave. That seminar changed my life.” Two decades later, Stracuzzi is a Circle of Legends member and a perennial Diamond Award Club member. In 2012, his team ranked No. 1 in the RE/MAX Florida region, No. 28 in the U.S. and No. 50 worldwide. And now he’s opening up about how he got there.
Keep learning
Stracuzzi started his real estate career 24 years ago working at a smaller company. Within his first year, he sold 52 properties without help – mostly double- and single-wide mobile homes. When he made the switch to RE/MAX a few years later, he found that he not only had a chance to sell higher-profile properties, but that he also had access to a wide variety of continuing-education resources, such as RE/MAX conventions and the RE/MAX Satellite Network, the groundbreaking precursor to RE/MAX University. “RE/MAX has a lot of educational opportunities, so if you need or want additional training, there’s no excuse not to get it,” Stracuzzi says. He also took advantage of the RE/MAX global network by shadowing top agents in Chicago, Atlanta and Canada to find
out how they managed their teams and spent their time. “I learned by surrounding myself with successful people, who I found to be more than willing to share and teach,” Stracuzzi says. From Susan Coveny, a RE/MAX Luminary of Distinction member and Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Prestige in Long Grove, Ill., Stracuzzi learned how to delegate effectively to buyer agents. From Circle of Legends member Bill Renaud of RE/MAX Metro-City Realty in Ottawa, Ontario, Stracuzzi learned to carry two things in his briefcase: dog biscuits and coloring books. Both items are emblazoned with the message, “Every member of the family is important to the Patrick Stracuzzi Real Estate Team.” “It sounds simple, but if you make friends with the dogs and the kids, you’re in,” Stracuzzi says. Stracuzzi learned from sources outside RE/MAX as well. From Brinton, whom Stracuzzi describes as his mentor, he learned how to communicate with clients, team members and others in his life. Jennifer Atkisson-Lovett, Co-Broker/Owner of RE/MAX of Stuart, says even after decades in the business, Stracuzzi still shadows other top agents to keep his business practices fresh. “For someone whose gross income is more than $1 million per year, that’s really commendable,” she says.
Innovate and create
Stracuzzi first got into real estate after a serious car accident almost 30 years ago left him physically unable to continue doing construction work. Ever since then, he has prided himself on his willingness to take risks and make wholesale changes to his life and business when necessary. “We all go to the conventions and get great ideas, but he’ll actually come back and implement all the ideas he’s excited about,” Atkisson-Lovett says. “His team knows that when he comes back from a RE/MAX convention, hold onto your britches, because everything’s changing.” For example, Atkisson-Lovett says Stracuzzi was the first agent in the Stuart market to employ buyer agents, and she says he introduced that business model with great success. Cindy Simpson, Marketing Manager for the Patrick Stracuzzi Real Estate Team, says she’s become accustomed to getting text messages from Stracuzzi at 3 a.m. saying, “I have an idea. Can’t wait to talk to you about it tomorrow.” In one recent example, she says, a 3 a.m. brainstorming session led him to suggest producing an in-house magazine to market the team’s listings. “He came in the next day and said, ‘We can do this, can’t we?’” Simpson recalls. “He made the decision to do it overnight, we put it together in a few weeks, and we sent out the first issue via direct mail a few weeks later. People love it.” Atkisson-Lovett says it’s nearly impossible to tell Stracuzzi no when he’s excited about a new idea. “He dreams on a big scale, and he’s willing to do what it takes to achieve those dreams,” she says.
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Delegate wisely to agents who care
As a dedicated team leader, Stracuzzi takes care to focus on developing each team member’s skills and talents, and tailoring their continuing education to suit their knowledge and experience levels. Newer agents shadow him. Agents who’ve been with the team for a while go to seminars off-site, presented by SOURCES OF companies such as Star Power. All agents are tasked with making INSPIRATION Identifying the “dream boards,” and meeting onethings in life on-one with Stracuzzi to develop that nurture and plans for achieving those dreams. motivate our desire is an important Michael Ponte, an agent who exercise. Here’s has been part of Stracuzzi’s team what keeps Patrick for four years, says Stracuzzi Stracuzzi going: leads by example, in terms of his positive attitude, his goal-oriented work ethic and his willingness to “Attending the continue to develop his own skills RE/MAX Convenas an agent. tion changed my “He keeps us motivated by life,” Stracuzzi says. “That’s where I constantly improving himself, and first met Howard by sharing what he’s tried, what’s Brinton.” Mentors like working and what isn’t working,” Brinton, a real estate sales motivational Ponte says. speaker who passed Stracuzzi built his business by away in December carefully deciding which tasks were 2012, can inspire and motivate with important for him to do himself and critical feedback and where his time is best spent. creative solutions “My genius is in negotiating and to help you reach your goals. in meeting with people,” Stracuzzi says. “So early on, I made face-toface meetings with buyers and sellers my primary goal, and delegated Books are another almost everything else.” source of endless His team members take care of inspiration. Some of Stracuzzi’s recently preparing market reports, computread favorites: ing and paying taxes, and handling The Magic by Rhonda closings – as many as 30 or more Byrne and The Ultimate Gift by Jim a month. Stovall. Download audiobooks for listening on the go.
Stracuzzi has a passion for coaching his son’s Little League team and advises that all coaches – sports, business or otherwise – read The Twelfth Angel by Og Mandino.
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What matters
Stracuzzi says the hard times he’s experienced in his life – the car accident left him and his wife, Susan, almost broke, and led to a host of serious medical problems – not only resulted in a career change, but also guided his beliefs about what it takes to build and manage a successful team. “I hire people for their heart,” Stracuzzi says. “If someone comes
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in for an interview and says, ‘I want to work on your team; these are my numbers,’ that’s not enough for me. I have to find out what drives a person to know if they’ll be a good fit.” Stracuzzi says he strives to find agents who possess a sense of sympathy and empathy, and who will dig deep to find out what’s motivating their clients. “Howard Brinton used to say to go ‘three deep,’ meaning that you need to probe deeper and deeper to get to the heart of a question,” Stracuzzi says. “That’s when you really start to understand which of your clients wants a home with a cul-desac and a strong Parent Teacher Association, and which of your clients is interested in the golf course, the status or the social aspects of a neighborhood. “Only then can you help them find just the right property.” Stracuzzi says an agent’s emotional intelligence and sense of compassion are especially important in Florida, where many homeowners continue to suffer in the wake of the housing market crash. “There are a lot of reasons you might be selling your home,” Stracuzzi says. “In some cases, a Realtor has to be more than a Realtor, and has to be able to cry with someone over a loss, or has to be able to explain to someone, ‘It’s going to be OK. The only things that are really important in this house are the family photos on the refrigerator.’”
STAYING ON COURSE PATRICK STRACUZZI WITH TEAM MEMBERS MICHAEL PONTE (LEFT), SON PATRICK SEAN STRACUZZI AND DAUGHTER LAUREN STRACUZZI.
I learned by surrounding myself with successful people, who I found more than willing to share and teach.
RE/MAX of Stuart Office Manager Betty Cipra says Stracuzzi demonstrates the same compassion himself, whether it’s through one of his many community service projects or simply giving a client his full attention. “He’s the most caring person I’ve ever met,” says Cipra, who has known Stracuzzi for 25 years. “He becomes personally involved with every client he works with. He’s the same way with our team; he makes it a really pleasant place to come to work every day.” In one of many examples of Stracuzzi’s generosity, he organized a benefit seminar in 2010 for former RE/MAX agent Rob Gangi, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in December 2009. Atkisson-Lovett says Stracuzzi surprised her by booking nationally known speakers and raising more than $30,000 for Gangi’s family. “I was thinking he’d get some people from South Florida, but he convinced some high-profile speakers from across the country to come to the benefit,” she says. “He gets pumped up about paying it forward.” Stracuzzi’s oldest son, Patrick Sean, 27, and his oldest daughter, Lauren, 25, both work with him. Stracuzzi says he prioritizes time spent with the rest of his family – he and Susan have four kids – by scheduling time with them in the same way that he’d schedule an appointment with an important client.
“I coach my 10-year-old son’s Little League games, and his games are written into my schedule,” Stracuzzi says. “When conflicts come up, I just tell people that I have an appointment and can meet with them at another time.”
The fundamentals
For all of Stracuzzi’s risk-taking and innovation, he says he still generates most of his leads the old-fashioned way: by going door-to-door handing out fliers and making introductions. “In these days of technology and emails, and Facebook and LinkedIn, you’re still never going to do any business unless you get face-to-face with potential clients,” Stracuzzi says. “When I think back, I can trace hundreds of thousands of dollars to a single day of knocking on doors, or to one time when I gave my card to some people I overheard talking about real estate in a restaurant. It’s important to think about not only selling one person’s home, but also about building lifelong relationships with people who will refer you to their friends and family.” He applies the same principle to his colleagues, and takes care to spend time with new agents, allowing them to shadow him the way he once shadowed others. “You would think that for an agent doing the volume he’s doing, he would be too busy for office meetings and functions,” Atkisson-Lovett says. “But he comes to weekly sales meetings and to weekly Board of Realtors meetings. He attends company social events. He’s willing to support and help others, and he truly believes there’s enough business for everyone.” Soon, Stracuzzi hopes to share his sales secrets and perspectives on a larger scale by publishing a book he’s written about overcoming the trials and tribulations he experienced at the start of his career. “I can look back now and see how many times, when I felt like I was ready to quit, I was really just one knock away from someone saying ‘yes.’”
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MARKETING
Luxury
S E L L I N G
AN EXPERT IN MARKETING HIGH-END HOMES OFFERS HER TIPS FOR REALIZING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF LUXURY SALES BY DINAH WISENBERG BRIN
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H E L UX URIO US ONTARIO HOME DESERVED A special introduction to the high-end market, says listing agent Cecilia DeFreitas. So she decided to think inside the box – an elegant, black, necklace-style box wrapped with a black satin ribbon. Rather than mailing out a just-listed card for the opulent home, which went on the market for $6.2 million CAN, the Broker with RE/MAX Premier in Woodbridge, Ontario, sent the box to all 40 homes in the neighborhood. Inside was a key, a letter
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of introduction and, under the letter, more than a dozen professional photos of rooms that DeFreitas wanted to highlight, with detailed shots of moldings and finishes. “It was a beautiful presentation,” she says. The personalized letters introduced DeFreitas and
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the property, and invited recipients to view an equally well-produced video tour of the listing posted online. “You have to appeal to a person’s senses and to their lifestyle – help them picture themselves in the property,” says DeFreitas, who also produced a 28-page brochure for the home and sought out an international audience by posting the listing on WorldProperties.com. In addition, she also generated a quarterly marketing report to let the
sellers know all she was doing to sell their property and to provide website analytics. “In the end, I was heavily invested in the listing,” DeFreitas says. “But such a spectacular house deserves a spectacular effort.” DeFreitas has built her real estate career around marketing and selling high-end homes. The RE/MAX Hall of Fame and Platinum Club member’s listings typically range from $800,000 to $3 million CAN, although she has sold
CUSTOM APPEAL CECILIA DEFREITAS HIRED A PHOTOGRAPHER TO CAPTURE THE LUXURIOUS DISTINCTION OF THIS $6.2 MILLION LISTING IN ONTARIO.
even higher-priced homes. These fine homes are often unique properties that appeal to a very specific buyer, and DeFreitas tailors her efforts for each home to attract the right prospects. It has paid off. In fact, she received the 2012 Best Property Marketing Award from the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, the organization that administers the Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist (CLHMS) designation. With impressive credentials and more than 28 years of real estate experience – including about a dozen with RE/MAX and six focused on high-end properties – DeFreitas has plenty of knowledge to share. Here are some of her award-winning marketing ideas:
DEVELOP YOUR BRAND. DeFreitas’ slogan is “Focusing on What Matters Most.” She uses 12 complementary messages that reinforce her slogan, such as “focused on the details,” “proven professional” and “bringing it all together,” in her personalpromotion materials. DeFreitas worked for a year with a marketing company to get the details right, taking care to choose the right fonts, colors (black, red and taupe) and logo, and spending more than $1,000 on personal photos that exude luxury. “My branding helps me differentiate myself,” she says.
ADVERTISE TO THE. RIGHT AUDIENCE.
SPECIALIZING IN LUXURY
The CLHMS designation course is offered through RE/MAX University. To sign up, visit remaxuniversity.com.
DeFreitas advertises her business in a local real estate magazine, targeted to Greater Toronto’s wealthier neighborhoods. She also uses direct mail and email, and markets her listings using The RE/MAX Collection branding, which is tailored for high-end buyers. Her ads, like her other marketing materials, convey upscale luxury through their elegant simplicity. “The
more cluttered your ads are, the less luxurious they look,” DeFreitas says. “Less is more.”
OFFER MORE VALUE. WHEREVER POSSIBLE. DeFreitas is primarily a listing agent, and she creates a customized website for each of her listings. “Cookiecutter sites and templates won’t cut it,” she says. “The site must be very sleek and clean.” She follows the lead of high-end websites such as Tiffany & Co. Her own website, CeciliaDeFreitas.com, was designed by the company that also manages her SEO and blogging. She also maintains a branded YouTube channel for her property videos.
INVEST IN YOUR. BUSINESS. Every aspect of her business is systematized, and DeFreitas is developing a customized property-search app that she’ll distribute to her clients. She holds the International Real Estate Specialist (I.R.E.S.) certification, and markets most of her properties internationally through resources such as
WorldProperties.com. Her properties also appear on global.remax.com, which displays listings in more than 60 countries and territories.
NETWORK. DeFreitas recommends joining organizations and attending events that will help you make worthwhile connections and promote your listings. She attends two luxury-agent conventions a year, and she plans to join a regional builders organization as a way to become better known and possibly win more listings.
BE PASSIONATE. “Above all, you need to be passionate about luxury homes – you have to live it and breathe it to be good at it,” DeFreitas says. “Passion is what fuels your focus.” Because of her love of the finer things and her study of architectural styles, DeFreitas says she can describe homes in ways that appeal to wealthy buyers. “You have to create the vision so they'll want to buy it,” she says. “You’re selling them a lifestyle.”
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M A R K E T S AV V Y
All Things Commercial TWO TOP-SELLING RE/MAX COMMERCIAL PRACTITIONERS SHARE THEIR INSIGHTS
SMITH
KOCAILIK
BY DEBORAH BALL KEARNS
Q&A DAVE SMITH IS doing big commercial deals in America’s heartland, and business is brisk as the economy and consumer confidence rev up after a tough downturn. In addition to being a seasoned Commercial Practitioner, Smith, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Commercial Midwest in Omaha, Neb., also sits on the RE/MAX Commercial Advisory Board. On the other side of the world in Turkey, ULVI KOCAILIK’S name has become synonymous with success in a bustling commercial market that attracts European investors and Turkish business conglomerates alike. The Chairman’s Club member and Lifetime Achievement Award winner with RE/MAX Yildiz in Istanbul consistently ranks among the RE/MAX network’s top commercial producers year after year. These superstars have two very different sales approaches in two very distinct markets, but both have keen insights on best practices for commercial success. They reveal a few of their insights in this Q&A:
First off, share details about your commercial markets. What sales trends are you seeing? SMITH:
Business is definitely picking up. There’s an increased confidence in the economy, and investors are more secure about their buying power, so they’re willing to take more risks. We have a lot of lease space available for retail, because big boxes are packing up and leaving town, and being replaced by small-business owners looking for more amenities in smaller spaces. Overall, inventory is generally low throughout our commercial market, and prices are up.
KOCAILIK: We get a lot of business from European 36
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investors, particularly businesses and marketing firms that are opening offices, renting depots, and buying or renting factories in Turkey due to our low growth ratios. On the other hand, Turkey’s economy has been growing steadily, which is positive for our developing commercial market.
What’s the most powerful RE/MAX Commercial tool that you use?
SMITH: Without a doubt, remaxcommercial.com is a game-changer. Commercial Practitioners need to remind their clients that it exists, and it should be the first stop they make in their commercial-property search. KOCAILIK: The education. I have the Accredited Commercial Professional (ACP) certification, and I’m working on the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation. Commercial agents need to pick a sector and geographic area to specialize in, and then pursue training that will help them become the expert in that area.
When you’re up against other big-name commercial brokerages, how do you convince potential clients that you stand out from the crowd?
SMITH:
When I get in front of people, I can rely on the backing of more than 90,000 RE/MAX agents around the world; there’s always someone who knows someone else who can help me find buyers for my commercial listings. What sets RE/MAX Commercial apart from other commercial brands is the service-oriented mindset of RE/MAX agents. Clients know that when they work with me they’re getting the power of the brand, plus outstanding service.
KOCAILIK: RE/MAX is very well known in the small to mid-range markets, but we have a great opportunity to work with larger international outfits. We have some work to do, but I believe we’re headed in the right direction. In my business, I focus on developing relationships with potential clients by visiting up to eight firms every day that might have potential listings for me. Most of the decision-makers end up choosing me, because they see I’m committed to the deal. Commercial investors in large markets like mine are typically powerful, wealthy people. They want a commercial broker who is hardworking and dependable; they’ll pay good money to get exactly what they want. What’s the most effective thing you’ve done to win more business?
SMITH: I sent letters to every RE/MAX residential broker
in Nebraska explaining that I have the means (and contacts) to advertise their commercial properties and give them exposure. Several brokers responded and comarketed their listings with me. Residential brokers are a great source of business, but you have to reach out to them. They don’t know what questions to ask, and they aren’t educated on the complexities of a commercial transaction. Tell them, “You don’t have to mess with this. Let’s make money out of this deal. I’ll handle the marketing and negotiation, and you’ll get your referral fee.” If you’re in an office with a Commercial Division, offer to buy treats for the weekly sales meeting and do a short presentation about residential-commercial lead exchanges.
KOCAILIK: That’s great advice! Here in Turkey, marketing is important in order to be successful. I was the first person to use signboards with photos on them, which is rare in commercial real estate. I also put large signboards in front of my listings. Perhaps the best tool for me has been mailings. It started with 250 in my first year of business about eight years ago. Now, it’s up to 20,000! All of my marketing materials have an aim and a message. They connect my name with specialized commercial expertise to keep my personal brand at the forefront of consumers’ minds. Don’t be afraid to promote yourself, your skills
and your knowledge. Commercial real estate is highly competitive, and you have to be consistent in your marketing to stay top of mind.
What’s the most common challenge or pitfall commercial agents should be aware of?
SMITH: Securing funding and eliminating surprises, particularly when you’re trying to meet contingencies. It’s critical that you get full disclosures and ask the right questions from the beginning of a deal – think environmental studies, boundary/zoning issues, etc. Make a checklist of every piece of the puzzle for a transaction so you exercise full due diligence. When it comes to funding,
the question you must ask buyers is who will fund the deal. Unless you’re working with all-cash investors, that part of the equation is a huge challenge in today’s tight lending climate.
KOCAILIK: For me, it’s the pace of things. In commercial real estate, you’re juggling a lot of different tasks and deals at once. You have to put in a lot of work and be consistent at doing the same things year after year until you reach a certain level of success. It’s not overnight; you have to work hard, market everywhere and focus on the relationships if you want to build your business. Above all, you can’t give up.
THINK BIG HERE'S A LISTING THAT SHOWCASES ONE OF THE MANY LARGER-THANLIFE COMMERCIAL SIGNS ULVI KOCAILIK DISPLAYS AROUND ISTANBUL.
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Weaving a GRAND Strand
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ESPITE A BUSTLE of energetic activity, the receptionist at the North Myrtle Beach office of RE/MAX Southern Shores wastes no time singling out visitors and offering a warm greeting. An emphasis on superior service and agent satisfaction is paramount at all three RE/MAX Southern Shores offices, located along South Carolina’s Grand Strand
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coastline. Frontline office support personnel hold the title of Creator of First Impressions. Broker/Owner Mandy Becker, aka Head Cheerleader and Chief Executive Optimist, opened her first brokerage, RE/MAX Southern Lifestyles, in 2007. Historically, RE/MAX offices in the area were owned and operated individually, with 12 different ownership groups
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at one point. Becker changed that in 2010 when she acquired the longest-standing RE/MAX brokerage on the Grand Strand, RE/MAX Southern Shores in North Myrtle Beach. She took on the Southern Shores name for her growing enterprise, and has since acquired and merged two additional RE/MAX offices in the area. Today, Becker leads the growing business and its three
offices with Broker/Manager Tad Fulford, aka Director of Corporate Evolution. A poster touting the brokerage’s recent ascent to the No. 1 spot in market share is proudly displayed in each of the RE/MAX Southern Shores offices, and the achievement speaks volumes to how far Becker and her team of Sales Associates have come in such a short time. To Becker, the secret to
PHOTOS BY SCOTT SMALLIN
RE/MAX SOUTHERN SHORES CREATES UNITY ALONG SOUTH CAROLINA’S GRAND STRAND COASTLINE – AND CAPTURES TOP MARKET SHARE IN THE PROCESS BY MARGO MILLURE
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS ABOVE: ASSOCIATES AT RE/MAX SOUTHERN SHORES MEET FOR THEIR MONTHLY SALES RALLY. RIGHT: BROKER/OWNER MANDY BECKER (LEFT), BROKER/MANAGER TAD FULFORD AND HARMONY BELLAMY, DIRECTOR OF HAPPINESS.
success lies in strong office support, empowered agents and a prevalent entrepreneurial spirit. “We say to our agents, ‘You’re our client, and if we’re not serving you properly, let us know what we can do to
help you grow your business,’” Becker says. “That’s our No. 1 goal, and everything revolves around it.”
AGENT-FIRST ATTITUDE Becker and Fulford support more than 90 agents,
who cover 60 miles of coastline from Pawleys Island, S.C., in the south to Little River, S.C., and just over the North Carolina border. The sales force works with all types of properties in the popular resort area, including second homes, condominiums, luxury oceanfront properties and primary residences. “Our agents are business owners,” Fulford says. “We spend as much time as we can to help them run their businesses effectively and efficiently.” This includes an emphasis on training to make the most of RE/MAX tools and services. For example, Fulford held a training session for Associates on how to use the iPad listing presentation from the RE/MAX Design Center. All agents can access and download it onto an iPad and adapt it for their own use to wow clients. “They don’t have to create the content; they just need to personalize it,” Fulford says. Becker and Fulford have also implemented a Preferred Partner program, an idea gleaned from Jimmy Dulin, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Ability Plus offices in central Indiana. Top service providers are invited to meet and mingle
with agents. The events are designed to foster relationships between agents and vendors, and in turn Associates become more comfortable recommending certain vendors to their customers – delivering an added service.
CULTURE CONVERGENCE One of the biggest challenges of bringing the offices together was merging their cultures. Becker explains that among the offices there were many successful agents working primarily from home, and others who preferred working together on site. Today, monthly sales rallies provide an opportunity to bring together all agents to interact and share achievements and ideas. Held at different venues throughout the Myrtle Beach area, such as Ripley’s Aquarium and Legends in Concert, these events are one part party and one part education. Sales Associates Lori Harper of the Myrtle Beach office and Eileen Henriksen of the North Myrtle Beach location say the rallies help them feel supported. “They’re really fun, and it’s the one time everyone gets to see each other,” Harper says. “It helps make us proud to be part of RE/MAX Southern Shores.” Agents are also given passes to popular area attractions that they, in turn, can pass on to clients. “It’s great to be able to give them to clients who are just moving to the area,” Henriksen says.
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Becker and Fulford have also added think tanks to the mix of monthly events. These meetings give agents the opportunity to exchange information and drill down into ideas and training, such as short sales and technology, on an office-by-office basis. The brokerage also maintains an active Facebook page where all staff members are administrators and encouraged to share information. In turn, there’s the added benefit of content being created that agents can share on their own pages. Understanding that many agents are most comfortable working from a plan, Becker and Fulford even develop individual social media strategies for their agents.
GREAT SUPPORT Office infrastructure is another key component in supporting Sales Associates and helping to capture the market share that RE/MAX Southern Shores has achieved. Office Manager Emily McLaughlin, for example, is a whiz at technology and assists agents in making the most of the wide array of technological tools the brokerage offers, such as the extensive Agent Care Center, Paperless Pipeline, and lead generators Market Leader and Voice Pad. Public relations liaison Harmony Bellamy, aka Director of Happiness, is charged with boosting
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morale. She’s also responsible for conducting new agent orientations and takes extra steps to ensure that new agents’ inductions are both beneficial and fun. For example, in addition to receiving a thorough rundown of available tools and services, new agents also get a bucket of popcorn and a bouquet of balloons. Bellamy is also known for leaving notes around agents’ offices wishing them happy birthday, and offering words of encouragement and congratulations on matters both personal and professional. “They acknowledge and share successes big and small,” Henriksen says. “‘How can we help you?’ is a question that’s asked a lot,” she says. “I always feel that Mandy and Tad are one step ahead, asking what they can do for us – and we know they really mean it.” The sentiment that RE/MAX Southern Shores is a great place to work is echoed across the offices. “The support is great, giving us every tool we could possibly need, so we can focus on serving clients,” Harper says. “Tad and Mandy are particularly good at fostering the unique entrepreneurial spirit of individual agents.” Henriksen appreciates the moral support, too. “At our last think tank, everyone threw their ideas out on the table; no one was afraid to share,” she says. “Everybody has a voice.”
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RYAN KORROS
MEET THE ‘KING OF THE PALACE’ A SINGLE AGENT SELLING 100 UNITS AT THE SAME resort condominium doesn’t just happen by chance. RE/MAX Southern Shores Sales Associate and 100 Percent Club member Ryan Korros achieved this feat at the Palace Resort condominiums in Myrtle Beach through a mix of tenacity, expertise and timing. “Ryan always steps up to the plate to get the listing,” Broker/Manager Tad Fulford says. “He doesn’t miss a networking opportunity; he nurtures relationships. He’s upbeat and persistent, and really just a hard worker.” Korros earned his real estate license in 2004 and sold seven condo units in his first year. He sold 73 units the next year, 27 of which were located in the Palace. A mentor stressed the importance of “owning the neighborhood,” and Korros capitalized on his momentum to solidify himself as the go-to agent for the community. How did he do it? Here are his top strategies:
1. Personally call all owners. Let them know you’re the expert, and make yourself available to answer any questions and meet their real estate needs.
2. Invest in direct-mail updates. Korros sends updates to all owners about sales in the building and current real estate trends.
3. Earn word-of-mouth endorsements. The referrals they bring are invaluable, especially in a geographically compact community. Give your all to each transaction and follow through. This responsiveness will pay dividends.
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They Never, Ever Quit MEET TWO INSPIRATIONAL AGENTS WHO PERSEVERED AGAINST LONG ODDS WITH GRACE, GUMPTION AND GRIT BY SHAR A RUTBERG
SHE BEAT CANCER BY REFUSING TO LET IT BEAT HER
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USANNE WOLTER told her client she had stage two breast cancer. The seller of the $1.25 million property looked at Wolter, with whom she’d been working for months, with sympathy. Then she fired her. “You’re not going to look like a million-dollar agent,” said the woman, who’d called Wolter into the living room of her five-acre California horse property to deliver the news. “You’re going to lose your hair. You’re going to lose your eyebrows. You’ll be bald and sickly,” she told Wolter. “No one’s going to want to buy from you. I hate to tell you that, but it’s just how it is. I feel sorry for you.” But Wolter didn’t feel sorry for herself. The next day, she returned. “You know me. You know how hard I work,” she told the woman. “If I don’t have eyebrows, I’ll paint them on. If I
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BETTER TOGETHER ABOVE: SUSANNE WOLTER AND HER SON, JAKE, SPORT MATCHING HAIRCUTS IN A SHOW OF SOLIDARITY. LEFT: AGENT JEFF KAUT (LEFT) AND DANA HOOPER SUPPORT WOLTER DURING A CHEMOTHERAPY SESSION.
don’t have hair, I’ll get a wig.“ The seller hemmed and hawed. She gazed out the window at her acreage. Finally, she agreed to let Wolter continue as her agent. Three weeks after a double mastectomy, Wolter was touring the property with potential buyers.
LOVE PREVAILS It started Thanksgiving Day 2012. Wolter came home after meeting with a friend who had just been diagnosed with cancer. Wolter was in
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the best shape of her life, running, doing CrossFit and yoga, and keeping up with her then-9-year-old son, Jake. She had a successful career in real estate. She had 32 people coming over for Thanksgiving dinner. With her friend in mind, and for the first time in her 42 years, Wolter did a breast self-exam while bathing. She found a lump. The surgery was brutal. But the post-op test results were worse. The cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. She rallied her strength. She
rallied the people she loved. And she made them T-shirts. Wolter spelled out her motivation with white letters on black cotton. Her son was “PURPOSE.” Her mother “COMFORT,” her husband “BRAVE” and her best friend “TRUST.” Agent Jeff Kaut, her colleague at RE/MAX Gold, in El Dorado Hills, Calif., was “LAUGHTER.” The next surgery removed Wolter’s lymph nodes. Facing a brutal regimen of chemotherapy, she worried about
HE WORKED THROUGH PAIN TO STAY PRODUCTIVE the toll the toxic drugs would take on her body. But she worried more about the impact on her son. She wanted him to see she was taking control. So, in the same driven way she’d planned open houses and home tours, she planned a party to shave off her long, curly hair. “We’re going to take my hair before chemo does,” she told her son. With AC/DC pumping “Back in Black” on the sound system of the barbershop, a bottle of chardonnay in one hand and dark shades hiding her tears, Wolter nodded. Her son and friends gathered around. As clumps of hair fell away, so did her fear. “I looked around and saw so many loving faces,” she says. “I was witnessing a room full of love and support. It was one of the most powerful moments of my life.”
hair, no breasts, hooked up to a machine; you know she’s not feeling good, and she still had a smile that lit up half the United States,” says Kaut, who joined Wolter during chemo appointments to discuss properties and search the MLS. Between treatments, Wolter continued showing the horse property. She lost her eyebrows. She painted them on. She lost her hair. She didn’t buy one wig – she bought five. “I kept my promise to that client,” she says. “I never once looked like a cancer patient.” Her manager, Steve Davies, who’d lost his mom to breast cancer, encouraged her; administrative assistant Jill Fry sent her cards almost daily. Finally, two promising offers came in on the horse property. Wolter talked through the offers with her client during a chemotherapy session; the client signed and the sale went into escrow that afternoon. In a year during which she had two surgeries and months of chemo, Wolter closed $4 million in sales. Today, she’s in remission. And the client who fired her? She’s become Wolter’s biggest fan and a great source of referrals.
I was witnessing a room full of love and support. It was one of the most powerful moments of my life.
SHOW OF STRENGTH Wolter used that power to face a more frightening seat – the one in the chemotherapy center. The cord to Wolter’s laptop intermingled with cords to IV drips and blood pressure monitors, and while tubes dripped medicine into her veins, she worked. “She’s sitting there, no
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HE ONLY THING THAT stood between Jeff Clark and a sudden, painful death was a turkey sandwich. Or a slice of pizza. Or something as outwardly benign as a piece of toast. But Clark, an agent with RE/MAX Advantage in Colorado Springs, Colo., didn’t know it. In excruciating pain, mentally and physically exhausted after a year of medication that failed to soothe the torment of a gut being torn apart by ulcerative colitis, Clark was at the end of his rope. Teeth gritted, he called the gastrointestinal surgeon he’d consulted previously at Rose Medical Center in Denver. The one who’d scared him away when she suggested a series of drastic surgeries that came with a very real risk of not surviving. The one with a stellar national reputation and a waiting list for surgeries, which she performed only two days each month. She said “Come. Now.” Clark drove himself to the hospital and was rushed into emergency surgery.
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ABOVE & BEYOND
I N S P I R AT I O N
“If I’d eaten one more thing, my intestine would have exploded,” Clark says. “I could have died on the spot.” His colon was that thin and shredded. “I was lucky,” says Clark, 29, who was 27 at the time. During an hourslong surgery, the surgeon removed and then reconstructed most of his digestive system. Fortunately, Clark’s metaphorical guts were much stronger than the ones that were removed.
FINDING A SOLUTION Today, it’s hard to imagine how drastically the energetic, 6-foot-3-inch, 210-pound, former college basketball player’s life was gutted by his illness, literally and figuratively. But not only did Clark make it through his medical ordeal, he also managed to hone his real estate skills and increase his production during it. Clark joined his father, Hall of Famer Jerry Clark, in his office in 2007. Jerry says real estate was a natural choice for his super-social son. “Jeff’s extremely charismatic,” he says. Jeff Clark loved helping clients, loved setting his own schedule and loved learning that the harder he worked, the more he got out of it. He was living with his highschool sweetheart, Kristin, and the couple were expecting their first child.
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SURREAL EXPERIENCE AGENT JEFF CLARK, WHO NEARLY LOST HIS LIFE TO A SEVERE DIGESTIVE ILLNESS, FILMS AN EPISODE OF TLC’S “SURREAL ESTATE” AT THE “PYRAMID HOUSE” NEAR COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.
One morning in 2008, he woke up with a stomachache that was eventually diagnosed as severe ulcerative colitis, a chronic, inflammatory gastrointestinal disease. His doctor immediately put him on medication. Ultimately, Clark had to choke down 40 to 50 pills a day, but his condition kept getting worse. “It felt like I was eating glass and drinking acid every day,” he says. Trapped in the house and in near-constant pain, Clark was scared. A new course of infusion treatments began shutting down his immune system. It developed into colon cancer. “I went from being active, working and playing basketball every day to losing 53 pounds in a few months,” he says. “I looked like a ghost and felt like my life was slipping away.” After his emergency surgery and between the subsequent three that
ABOVE THE RE/MA X MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2013
reconstructed his intestines and colon (removed with the cancer), Clark had a colostomy bag, as well as 100 staples across his belly. “It was a living nightmare,” he says. But Clark continued working. “His clients never knew anything was wrong,” his father says. Loose clothes hid the bag. Determination hid the pain.
His clients never knew anything was wrong. He simply did not let it get him down. “He simply did not let it get him down.” When Clark’s condition kept him confined to a hospital bed, he’d crank up his work online via Facebook and his website; he’d also write contracts. When he couldn’t leave his bed, his father showed properties for him and handled closings.
HELPING OTHERS Clark’s positive attitude in the hospital prompted doctors to ask him to speak with other patients undergoing the same series of surgeries. This led to extensive work with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. He talks to patients and the public about the disease, and helps organize events, including a fundraising walk at the Denver Zoo. “It’s great to be able to help people, and it lets me use my loud mouth,” he jokes. Connections in the TV industry led to Clark appearing in an episode of HGTV’s “House Hunters: Dream Homes.” He also recently appeared in an episode of “Surreal Estate,” a new TLC series. Clark’s trying not to let his TV work go to his head. Truthfully, he’s just grateful his health has improved, and he’s happy to be able to focus on his business — and just about anything else but being sick.
CITIZENSHIP
ABOVE & BEYOND
A Sign of Miracles THOUSANDS OF YARD SIGNS WILL SHOW THAT EVERY HOME CAN BE A MIRACLE HOME DURING RE/MAX MONTH OF MIRACLES IN AUGUST BY CLINT CURRY
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EIGHBORHOODS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES and Canada will see many more balloons this August. And they won’t necessarily signal birthdays and block parties. The Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Miracle Balloon – a symbol of hope, healing and support for local kids – will appear on more and more RE/MAX yard sign riders, as RE/MAX Associates and offices show their support during the second annual RE/MAX Month of Miracles. Additionally, more than 15,000 listings in the U.S. will be labeled as Miracle Homes on remax.com, as Miracle Agents show consumers that they’re all in with the Miracle Home program. family by your Miracle Home listing. Email it to above@remax.com, post it at facebook.com/ remax or tag @remax #MiracleHome or #MiracleProperty on Twitter and Instagram.
WHAT ARE MIRACLE HOMES AND MIRACLE PROPERTIES?
+ Use the Month of Miracles
HELP KIDS. IN AUGUST AND. BEYOND. Here are some ways you can maximize the RE/MAX Month of Miracles and the longtime RE/MAX support of CMN Hospitals in your market:
+ Order and display the newest co-branded Miracle Home and Miracle Property sign riders. Visit shop.remax.net and type “sign riders” in the Approved Supplier search box.
+ Snap a photo of yourself, your customers or your
promotional materials (including media templates and various ads and fliers) available on Mainstreet to get the word out about your efforts. Just click the CMN Hospitals logo on the home page.
+ Submit your donations online through the Miracle System donation management portal for RE/MAX Miracle Agents and Miracle Offices. Access it through Mainstreet. + U.S. agents should make sure all current and future listings on remax.com feature the Miracle Home balloon logo. Log in to LeadStreet and label them via the listing details page.
They’re listings that RE/MAX residential agents and Commercial Practitioners market in support of their local CMN Hospital. After the properties sell, agents make a donation that will help local kids. RE/MAX Associates have donated approximately $123 million to the 170 CMN Hospitals through the Miracle Home and Miracle Property programs since 1992.
FOR SUPPORT
If you want to know more about RE/MAX Month of Miracles, become a Miracle Agent or Office, or tour your local hospital, contact Rod Hamson in the U.S. at rhamson@cmnhospitals.org, or Jay Shapansky in Canada at jshapansky@childrensmiraclenetwork.ca.
REMA X .COM/ABOVE • SUMMER 2013
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ABOVE & BEYOND
MORE THAN AN AGENT
GIRL
POWER A
T FIRST GLANCE, a motorcycle build and pre-teen girls may not seem like an obvious match, but Amy Klock was excited about the project the moment she heard about it. Her sister-in-law, Laura Klock – Vice President of Klock Werks Kustom Cycles and cocreator of a workshop where young girls work together to build a motorcycle – approached Amy about participating in an upcoming build. The 100 Percent Club member with RE/MAX Realty of Rapid City, in Rapid City, S.D., was in. They joined forces with Girls Incorporated of Rapid City (Girls Inc.) to rebuild and customize a 2012 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail.
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“I have three boys – ages 15, 12 and 2 – so I was very excited to have an opportunity to work with girls for a change,” Amy Klock says. “I’m very much a girls girl!” For two hours a week over 17 weeks, Klock and a variety of motorcycle specialists worked with a dozen girls, ranging in age from 8 to 12. Although her husband rides, “I’m by no means a motorcycle expert,” she says. However, Klock soon learned that the course was really about problem solving, and the girls didn’t expect her to have all the answers. The group pored over parts catalogs, and each girl created her own design. They also wrote stories explaining
ABOVE THE RE/MA X MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2013
their concepts and what empowerment, teamwork the project meant to them. and problem solving. Finally, they voted to choose “We all took something the winning design. The from the process,” Klock says. Phoenix, created by fifthThe Phoenix bike will be grader Raeshawn in raffled off, with honor of the mythiproceeds benefiting cal bird that rose Girls Inc. from the ashes, was Klock is already chosen. Fittingly, the looking forward to bike is black, another bike build red and orange this fall. with flames. “I come from a AMY KLOCK The girls then family that didn’t stripped the bike down to have a lot of money or opits frame and, with assisportunities, but I always had tance, installed the custom strong female role models,” parts. Along the way they she says. “This is an opportulearned about confidence, nity to be one myself.”
Visit remax.com/above for more information and a link to a blog about the Girls Inc. project.
PHOTO BY KEVIN EILBECK
WITH THE HELP OF ASSOCIATE AMY KLOCK, A GROUP OF GIRLS IN SOUTH DAKOTA CUSTOMIZED A HARLEY – AND LEARNED TEAMWORK IN THE PROCESS BY BONNIE SCHIEDEL
I T ’ S A G R E AT L I F E
ABOVE & BEYOND
Finding BALANCE NEW JERSEY AGENT DREW ROBUSTELLI GAINS SATISFACTION IN REAL ESTATE, RAISING HIS DAUGHTER AND CATCHING WAVES BY SHARA RUTBERG
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REW ROBUSTELLI has two favorite suits. One is made from fine Italian wool. The other is neoprene. “If I’m not in one, I’m in the other,” says Robustelli, a Sales Associate with RE/MAX Homeland Realtors in Freehold, N.J. Robustelli grew up surfing in Brooklyn, and although his native borough may be better known for spectacular accents than for big waves, “there are some great breaks out in the Rockaways,” he says. Being out on the water, surrounded by sea and sky, reminds Robustelli of how “insignificant” he is in the grand scheme of things. “It’s a spiritual thing,” he says. “It resets me. It clears my head. It’s my soul food.” Robustelli has sought
that soul food all around the world. Each February, he heads to Hawaii to ride the waves with a surfing pal who lives on Oahu’s North Shore. Each June, he spends a week with friends surfing the beaches north of Zihuatanejo, Mexico. At home, where Robustelli lives about 25 minutes from the beach, he surfs the shores of Asbury Park and Island Beach State Park. Robustelli’s other passion is his 4-year-old daughter, Isabella. “Being a single dad, I appreciate the freedom that RE/MAX offers,” he says. “I can have a career, spend time with my
child out alone to face the ocean armed only with a surfboard doesn’t scare him. Neither do riptides. So what terrifies him? “That Isabella will one day be a teenager who starts dating,” Robustelli says. “That scares me way more than even the biggest wave.”
PHOTO BY RYAN STRUCK
Being a single dad, I appreciate the freedom that RE/MAX offers.
daughter and still enjoy the things I love, like surfing.” Real estate, he says, has allowed him to achieve a great level of balance in life. He’s also been getting the next generation of Robustellis ready to ride waves. “Of course I’ve been giving my daughter swim lessons!” he says, laughing. The inevitable scenario of sending his
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JUST FOR FUN
WORD SCRAMBLES
Brain Training Arrange the letters in the word scrambles below, one letter per shape, to form four ordinary words. After you’ve figured out the four words, take the circled letters and rearrange them to form the answer to the riddles.
1. KRACT
1. TARFD STUMPED?
2. EMTEES
FIND THE ANSWERS ON PAGE 6.
2. TROOM
3. TASLUE
3. TFROFE
4. EWARBE
4. BROBRE
RIDDLE
RIDDLE
When Salvador Dalí tried to sell houses, he got involved in …
With all his failed experiments, the inventor needed a home with …
Complete a bonus scramble at remax.com/above. Email the correct answer to above@remax.com to receive a prize.
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ABOVE THE RE/MA X MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2013
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