NAR Power Broker Roundtable

Maximizing Affiliate Services: Analyze, Innovate, Repeat

Chris Kelly, President & CEO, Ebby Halliday Companies, North Texas; Broker Relations Liaison, the National Association of REALTORS®: It was sometime back in the early ’70s, I think, that the first savvy real estate brokers began offering mortgage and other ancillary services to diversify revenue and to have as a safety measure against difficult real estate markets. To be sure, these services were, and still are, a means to meet consumers where they are—to help streamline the process of buying a home. Today, it’s a given that most larger brokerages offer some affiliated services. But how do you maximize both their revenue and their value?

Gary Scott, President, Allen Tate, REALTORS®, Charlotte, North Carolina: I think the success and the value of any affiliated service has to reflect the cultural strength of your whole organization, outstanding leadership and competent salespeople, so that these ancillary businesses become integral to your core services. We want to be seen not just as one big enterprise, but as being better at everything we offer than anyone else on the street.

Larry “Boomer” Foster, President, Long & Foster Real Estate, Chantilly, Virginia: We’ve provided affiliate services for a couple of decades, and we see that as a way to build good relationships as much as to enable smooth transitions. We maximize revenue by creating real value, so that using what we offer becomes a no-brainer for clients and customers.

Greg Mason, President/CEO, Edina Realty Home Services, Edina, Minnesota: The Big Three—mortgage, title and insurance—have been an added opportunity for us for more than 10 years, and the truth is, today’s customers expect us to be the source for any number of integrated services.

CK: What’s preferable—ownership of these affiliate service companies or partnering with other agencies? And where are the best opportunities in today’s market? GM: We own our Big Three, but we partner with HomeServices of America for other revenue opportunities, and we have a warranty relationship and marketing agreements for services like movers, utility connection and the like. We’ve even piloted an integrated service tracker that clients can use so that one view shows them every milestone in their transaction.

GS: I don’t think it matters whether you own or partner. Customers want their lives to be made easier, and we want to make that happen. But we know our brand is measured by our success at what we offer, so our overall goals are about enhanced customer service as much as revenue. We’ve looked at home warranties, moving services, landscaping, property management…it’s a matter of scalability.

BF: We opened a moving company five years ago and home inspection services 18 months ago. Looking at the long game, diversification is key. In today’s environment of shrinking revenue and rising costs, if we’re not innovating, we’re in line for bankruptcy.

CK: I’ve loved the analogy of affiliated services moving beyond the feeling of a strip mall, where all the services are in close proximity to one another, and more towards that singular store and experience for the consumer. With respect to our agents, we have to earn those opportunities with their clients by making it simple and accessible, correct?

GS: Exactly. We need to earn their business by being the best game in town.

GM: Agreed. We don’t deserve anyone’s business unless we are best in class.

CK: And finally, what’s next? Is there any part of consumer service that’s off-limits as we expand?

BF: Gary mentioned scalability, and that’s a key component. But I don’t think anything is off the table in terms of transactional ease. We look for the best ways to ease customer pain points.

GS: We’re always looking for the next Big Three—the best new revenue components that meet consumer needs. It’s the kind of creative thinking we know we have to do, especially now, as the hot market of the last couple of years is getting back to normal. RE

The Power Broker Roundtable is brought to you by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and Chris Kelly, NAR’s Broker Relations Liaison. Watch for this column each month, where we address broker issues, concerns and milestones.

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