Anna-Marie Ellison, ERA King

cited to be a part of Corcoran, and together, we’re going to accomplish great things and dominate the BVI market. RE

For more information, please visit www.corcoranaffiliate.com. -Paige Tepping

Ellison

The Value of Building Relationships

Anna-Marie Ellison

Broker/Owner, ERA King Real Estate Anniston, Alabama www.era.com/era-king-real-estate--568c

Region served: Central Alabama Years in real estate: 15 Number of offices: 10 Number of agents: 202

How did you come to partner with ERA, and how has the partnership helped mold your brokerage? ERA is all about building relationships, the power of the network and collaboration, and the brand aligns with who we are as a company. It was a natural fit for us to partner with them. What traits do you look for in agents, and how do you attract top talent? We’re constantly trying to build connections with agents at other companies so that any time they begin thinking about where they are in their careers, we have an at-bat to talk to them about what we offer our agents and how we help support their business. That said, we’re always on the lookout for great agents. If they’re top agents and produce a lot, that’s great, but it’s more important that they’re aligned with the core values and ethos we have for our agents.

What values do you promote at ERA King Real Estate to help your agents succeed? Our charge is to do the right thing all the time. We want our agents to deliver a consistently exceptional experience to their clients, and we help them do that by providing support—a ton of professional development for agents looking to get better and hone their craft. We want them to keep their REALTOR® hats on and let us handle the office and administrative project-management responsibilities to get a client from listing to closing.

“A house is the largest purchase that many people make, so act like it and build relationships around that.”

-ANNA-MARIE ELLISON Broker/Owner, ERA King Real Estate

What strategies have you implemented to snag listings during this time of limited inventory? We focus on building a relationship. You’ve got your core people and your sphere people, but what are you doing to get to know their family and help them make the best decision for them? A house is the largest purchase that many people make, so act like it and build relationships around that.

How do you and your agents approach the client experience? Here in the south, you have a Publix shopping experience and a Winn-Dixie or Walmart shopping experience when buying groceries. We try and model the Publix shopping experience for our business, which involves under-promising, over-delivering and exceeding expectations. We also encourage our agents to be predictive of what they think their clients are going to need.

How does tech use fit into your brokerage’s daily business strategy? While tech is a tool to help us support relationships with our agents, it also allows our agents to support their relationships with their clients. We’re a paperless company, and we’ve supported that initiative since 2016. It allows our agents to move more nimbly in this market where inventory is tight. As a result, our agents didn’t have to pivot when the pandemic began because we had a digital platform for them to work remotely within our framework.

What advice do you provide your agents regarding how they incorporate tech into their business