The 11 Positive Side Effects of Brokerage M&A Stimulates Financial and Operational Growth
The title of WAV Group's book exemplifies the purpose of brokerage mergers and acquisitions, Acquiring More Profit. Successful mergers stimulate more transaction volume and profit for the firm, but there are many positive side effects that are often under-appreciated. Since publication, WAV Group has had the opportunity to collaborate with many of our clients to discuss the 11 positive side effects of successful M&A. Today, we'll outline how these 11 side effects stimulate financial and operational growth. 1. Intense focus on change There is an enormous amount of preparation that goes into a successful merger or acquisition. The process of discovery researching into the deep operational bowels of another brokerage will often yield new innovative approaches to improving your business. The process of evaluating if an acquisition strategy is right for you will drive an internal exploration of your own competencies, strengths, wants and needs. 2. Process documentation Every brokerage has developed operational processes. In WAV Group's findings, firms with fewer than 350 agents rarely have their processes documented. This can be particularly harmful in a merger because it makes it much more difficult to train managers and agents on how the firm operates. As a result, processes are defined ad hoc by agents who want to do things the way they have always done things, or managers implement processes at the branch level that vary from branch to branch. Proper process documentation by both firms in a merger allows the companies to evolve their processes to blend the best practices of each firm together and improve the overall effectiveness of the combined entity. 3. Improved onboarding and offboarding Firms with more than 100 agents typically have a checklist for onboarding a new agent. In addition to the many documents that need to be signed, there are introductions that need to be made to support staff, and probably about 22 software applications that need to be configured to the new agent. Often, a successful onboarding experience will validate the agent's decision to join you and become a productive long term asset. Most firms do a pretty decent job of onboarding, but fail to have a documented process for offboarding. What are all of the things that need to be shut off when an agent leaves the firm? WAV Group audits brokerages regularly to align software licenses to shut off applications that they are continuing to pay for agents who have left the firm, shut off agent IDX agreements, etc. During a merger, the firm is onboarding a horde of agents. Proper planning and documentation will allow this process to happen smoothly and delight the agents joining the firm with little or no disruption to their selling efforts. 4. Growth There are enormous economies of scale that can happen in a growing real estate company. Many operational expenses are not linear with the number of agents or transactions. Most firms have excess capacity in their fixed expenses which could be spread over many more agents. Often growth will drive down the cost of business and press the efficiency of underutilized company assets like offices and staff. Companies like Homesmart have created technologies that even support remote office staff. For example, the home office has a team of receptionists who pop up on a screen like a Zoom call when anyone enters the office. They greet the guests on video and either page an agent or help the visitor with anything they need. This process allows a receptionist to greet anyone entering any office any time. There are many other examples of this. The ability to maximize the efficiency of the firm's services to a wider net of agents and clients often produces efficacies of scale. Transaction management, commission management, training, and other regular activities of the brokerage are often underutilized, and the growth of the firm can be supported without additional staffing. 5. Value creation Every firm in real estate is competing amid significant disruption and uncertainty. The scale of a firm in a given market will cast a bright light of industry leadership against mounting margin pressures and the determined efforts to realign costs to sustain market share and profitability. Firms who are active in M&A are constantly strengthening their competitive positioning with smart cost decisions to preserve profits and enable further investment in growth through acquisitions. Firms who view their business value in light of the capital value of their company are often the most efficient managers of expenses and capital. 6. Offset taxes through reinvestment Most brokerage firm owners take a minimum salary to optimize the profits of the firm. At the end of the year, the firm either pays profits out to the shareholders as dividends or pays corporate tax to keep the money in the company for operating expenses. Another efficient way to manage the tax implications of profits is to reinvest operating profit into acquisitions. Losses from one company offset profits in another company. As a result of properly adhering to the tax code, firms can reinvest profits into growth and benefit from the tax savings. 7. Reassess management team and function Every good manager has a superpower. Some are great at training, others are great deal-doctors, some outperform their peers at recruiting, and more. Expanding the company provides an opportunity for management realignment that allows the firm to put the best players on the field in the position that they thrive in. There is nothing more beneficial in a merger than picking up additional management that is equal to or better than your existing staff. This is often called an acquihire – merging the words acquisition and hire into one word. 8. A playbook is an asset WAV Group works with many brokerages to create an acquisition playbook. This is a customized document that is based upon the acquisition checklists that are included in the Implementation System to Acquiring More Profit. (BTW, if you purchase the Implementation Guide, be sure to purchase the electronic version where we will deliver the editable Word and Excel docs that comprise the Implementation Guide. This allows you to customize the checklists to align with your organization.) Having a process that is documented and refined with each merger allows a firm to get increasingly better at mergers. The same is true for opening new offices. Having a list of everything that needs to be done and the assignment of tasks to the people who will take on the tasks is a keynote of preparedness that allows companies to consistently have successful merger outcomes. Moreover, if an opportunity arises quickly when a broker comes to you with an immediate merger need, you will be ready. Leading companies like Compass, Howard Hanna, HomeServices of America, United Realty, and many others have made acquisitions a repeatable science in their business. 9. Expand business units If you look in the rear view mirror to determine how companies maximize financial and operational growth through mergers and acquisitions, you find that the greatest amount of success is delivered through the expansion of business units. Real estate brokerages often have a variety of affiliated businesses that also benefit from the merger of brokerages. For example, at Watson Realty they have business units in mortgage, title, insurance, new home, property management, relocation, along with home service companies like plumbing, electric, landscaping, etc. Companies that merge with Watson not only benefit from their operational expertise and brand, but enable additional consumer services that drive additional margin to the company. 10. Grow firm value Whenever WAV Group speaks to brokers about mergers and acquisitions, the top question is what multiple of profit are companies trading at today. Our answer is always a range – 3x to 7x profit. But that is a small part of the answer. Many times, a company can be unprofitable but growing at a remarkable pace. For example, Compass is currently valued at $1.7B but has rarely demonstrated an operating profit. Even if your brokerage is not profitable, it has value. Last year, a client of ours did an acquisition where the seller brought a check to the closing table. The overall observation made by WAV Group over the past decade is that larger firms trade at a higher value than smaller firms. A company that is operating in the top-third in an area's market share is worth more than a small firm operating in the bottom-third. Rolling up a bunch of small firms in a market to create a large firm is a great strategy for using growth to improve the value of a business. 11. Shared services Many real estate companies have staff who are jacks-of-many-trades, masters of none. As firms grow, they are able to dedicate staff members to single roles rather than multiple roles. Rather than have multiple staff members responsible for a variety of operational activities, those staff members can be dedicated to fewer activities across a wider organization. It is vital that these opportunities for shared services are explored before and after a merger to streamline the organization and eliminate duplicate and inconsistent work. As you can appreciate, mergers create many important side effects to improve the performance of a brokerage firm beyond increased market share, transaction volume, and profit. Be sure to purchase a copy of Acquiring More Profit and our Implementation Guide to get started on your M&A journey. If you need a valuation on your company, if you are thinking of selling, or there is a company that you would like to buy, please reach out to us to schedule a confidential discussion. We will immediately schedule a discovery meeting. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Brokers Need to Prepare for Upcoming Changes to Agent Commissions. Here's How
It seems like every day, there's a new headline about real estate commissions. Several high-profile rulings and cases are putting how agents and their brokers get paid under the microscope. To those of us in the industry, it may sound shocking, but the simple truth is that consumers don't know much about how real estate transactions work, and both buyers and sellers are surprised when they learn how their agents will be paid (and that buyers generally haven't been responsible for paying any portion of the commission, at least historically). But all of that may be on the verge of changing. Let's discuss the events that have led us to this moment and what brokers need to start doing to prepare. What is the Burnett v. NAR decision? Burnett v. NAR was a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of 500,000 home sellers in Missouri who argued that the NAR rule of coupling commissions paid to buyer and seller agents in exchange for the privilege of listing the property in the multiple listing service (MLS) unfairly inflated home prices and the commissions paid to buyers' agents. In October 2023, a federal jury agreed and ordered NAR to pay damages. Like many industry and legal experts predicted, similar complaints are starting to be filed across the country, including Grace v. NAR et al, which was recently filed in California. What do brokers have to do in response to Burnett v. NAR? For now, nothing… yet. The Burnett v. NAR verdict does not require brokers to make immediate changes to their commissions structures. But it has been reported that the Department of Justice may investigate the issue further, meaning it's far from being laid to rest. Brokers aren't being forced to change their practices overnight, but changes are coming—and they might involve the much-discussed unbundling of commissions. As Constellation1 President Brant Morwald predicted in his 2024 real estate industry outlook, the unbundling (or uncoupling) of commissions could lead to lower agent commissions (and therefore lower commission income for brokerages). And while the status quo remains, smart brokers would do well to get ahead of the issue, start talking about these issues now, and begin preparing for a future with more competitive (read: lower) real estate commission income. Shift how you think (and talk) about agent commissions State rules and regulations can vary widely, but two key tenets ring true: Agent commissions are (and always have been) negotiable A lot of top agents (and their brokers) take the "industry average" or "their normal commission" for granted, some going so far as to have the amount pre-printed on their listing agreement forms. Any broker operating this way would do well to change this practice immediately. Compliant forms do not list commissions on them and contain language that asserts the negotiability of real estate commissions. Since we know consumers don't always read the fine print, it's important that this point be a part of every client onboarding conversation, and one that brokers must train their teams to have—even if we culturally have a general discomfort around discussing money and compensation in North America. Commissions and other compensation should be disclosed Of course, since sellers are generally responsible for paying commissions on real estate transactions in the United States, the amount they are making is usually known to the seller, since it's coming out of their proceeds. But buyers are usually not privy to this information, often because it's not a required disclosure (or not enforced), and this is what is at the heart of many of the lawsuits that are being filed right now. Agents can also be compensated in other ways, and their clients might want to know this information, too. These two tenets can be the guardrails brokers and their teams use moving forward to settle on acceptable, fair, and most importantly, mutually agreeable compensation structures. How brokers need to prepare for the inevitable changes to agent commissions Whatever happens, the new focus, interest, and scrutiny on commissions isn't going to go away. In any case, brokers can start laying the groundwork now for a landscape where commissions are different than they are today, and where competition for the best sales talent will only be getting fiercer. Shift how you think about real estate commissions The first major change will be to shift how you and your teams think about commissions. For a long time, sales teams have shied away from talking about money in general and commissions in particular (apart from saying, "we're going to get you the best price on your house!") because, let's face it, talking about money is uncomfortable for a lot of people. But this new landscape is forcing the question, and the more you talk about it, the easier it will get. When real estate brokers and agents agree to represent a client in a transaction, they commit to acting as fiduciaries: they are bound by a legal obligation serve the best interests of their clients, not themselves or their businesses. This means there's an important balance to be struck between meeting your business goals (and charging a fair commission that reflects the amount of work your team does and your overhead) and ensuring fairness for your client as well. Explain how agent commissions and broker splits work As we stated above, before they seriously start considering buying real estate, most people have no idea how real estate agents make their money. Add in another layer of complexity: the different kinds of commission splits and how brokers make their money (read: how much of their commissions agents don't get to keep). What might seem to a consumer like an enormous sum of money might seem less so when the agent explains everything behind it: the split with the broker, brokerage and agent overhead, the cost of tools, licensing, staging, photography, marketing, the list goes on. Most consumers also don't know that agents are independent contractors who have to pay their own taxes, save for their own retirements, pay for their own benefits, and more. Remind consumers that agent commissions are negotiable Don't take 6% as a given anymore. Remind consumers that the amount your agent (whether they're representing the buyer or the seller) will make is up for negotiation, and then sell them on your value proposition and why you deserve what you are asking for. More on that below. That said, having a more flexible commission (and tools to help you deliver the same great customer experience with less effort and people power) could be a valuable tactic for getting more leads in this exceptionally competitive market. Home in on your brokerage's value proposition Agents work hard. It's so much more than snapping a few listing photos, putting them online, and watching the offers (and money) roll in. If only it were that easy! Being a broker is hard work, too. You're managing an entire sales and support team and often a brick-and-mortar location, maintaining your license and (if applicable) franchise agreements, working on recruitment and retention, deciding what agent benefits to provide and how to pay for them, and so much more. And most importantly of all, this work gets results: according to NAR's 2023 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, for sale by owner properties typically sell for less than the selling price of other homes (a median of $310,000 in 2022) versus the median of agent-assisted homes ($405,000). A big part of your agents' work going forward will be explaining why you command a certain commission and why you deserve it. It is in your clients' best interest (remember, your fiduciary duty) to know what they're paying you for and to give them a chance to ask questions. So, what is your value proposition? Why do your agents deserve their commissions? What value do you add? Here are a few ideas to get the conversation started. Specific market knowledge and expertise The undeniable fact is that, since selling real estate is your bread and butter, you know more about it and have amassed considerable expertise about how it works in terms of the rules, best practices, and market. This means you're in a position to fetch the highest price for those who list with you. Negotiation skills This goes back to being a fiduciary. Just as a listing agent's role is to maximize profit for the seller, the buyer's agent's responsibility is to make sure they get the fairest price for what they're buying. This means honed negotiation skills and the ability to advise their clients when they aren't getting a good deal, and why. Proven track record The data speaks for itself: agent-assisted sales result in higher prices for sellers than FSBOs. This is a big selling point for sellers, and helping them means helping yourself, too. Where it gets tricky in this new landscape is ensuring that they know the buyer's side commission is also negotiable and to work that into the conversation. Additional tools Agents don't work with rotary phones and post-its anymore (and even if they did, they'd need to pass on the cost of using those tools to their clients). Agents use pretty sophisticated tools to market their listings, nurture their clients, and ultimately help properties sell faster and for a fair price. These tools cost money, and consumers might not realize the resources your agents are investing in to ensure their success. So, tell them! This is all, of course, on top of the role of being a trustworthy, confidential guide and advocate for the biggest purchases the average people make in their lifetimes! Keep the commissions conversations going This is just the beginning of what will likely prove to be a very long and evolving conversation across the entire industry. So, start now. Talk early and often with your sales team and their clients about these issues and stay abreast of more developments as they happen. To view the original article, visit the Constellation1 blog.

[Podcast] Futureproofing Your Real Estate Business with Lindsey Smith
In this episode of Million Dollar Question, Billy welcomes the esteemed Lindsey Smith. Lindsey dives deep into the art of consistent business evaluation, emphasizing the power of the "scorecard." With a wealth of experience under his belt, Lindsey opens up about the essence of timely feedback, the mantra of spending within your means, and the vitality of adapting to ever-shifting market dynamics. Expect to hear the blueprint for businesses aiming for enduring success and profitability. In this episode of Million Dollar Question: Present trends in Calgary's real estate market Strategies for adjusting to tech and market shifts The pivotal role of business metrics in gauging business wellness Hurdles for Realtors and brokerages in sustaining profits Methods to consistently evaluate a business's trajectory Connect with Gary: LinkedIn Website Listen to this podcast on: Spotify Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts RadioPublic To view the original article, visit the LeadingRE blog.

The 2024 Recession: Balancing Cost-Cutting and Growth Pursuit Strategies
For most brokers in 2023, there are two ongoing realities: High interest rates, which are dampening the ability for many income-earners to afford a home, and a lack of inventory due to softening real estate prices across the country (and the aforementioned interest rates are probably playing a part there, too). WAV Group's Victor Lund explains how real estate brokerages can navigate the 2023 recession with a two-pronged approach. Real estate has four economic modes of operation: Buyer Market, Seller Market, Growth Market, Recession Market. We are in a recession market, defined as a market that has retracted 20% or more. In the realm of the real estate industry, recessions present a formidable challenge that prompts real estate brokerages to make strategic decisions to weather the economic storm. As economic uncertainties loom large, organizations are faced with the crucial choice between cutting spending to conserve resources and pursuing growth to seize opportunities. The decision hinges on factors such as financial stability, industry dynamics, and long-term goals. In this article, we explore the two primary approaches that companies consider during recessions: cost-cutting and growth pursuit. Cost-Cutting Approach: Weathering the Storm In speaking to several owners of America's largest firms who are members of the Broker Resource Network, cost cutting quickly has become the modus operandi across the board. During a recession, real estate brokerages adopt a cost-cutting approach to maintain financial stability in the face of reduced consumer spending and economic uncertainty. The key strategies under this approach include: Reducing Expenses: To preserve cash, companies scrutinize every expense and curtail discretionary spending. Operational costs are meticulously reviewed and streamlined to ensure maximum efficiency. Workforce Management: Unfortunately, workforce reductions become a necessity for many organizations. Layoffs and furloughs are painful decisions that help control labor costs but can impact morale and company culture. Scaling Back Initiatives: Expansion plans, new projects, and investments are often postponed or scaled back to prioritize core operations. Capital expenditures are scrutinized to ensure they align with immediate needs. Agent Optimization: Effective agent management becomes crucial. Companies strive to avoid excess agents, reducing carrying costs while maintaining the ability to fulfill customer demand. Growth Pursuit Approach: Seizing Opportunities Contrary to conventional wisdom, many of the nation's most successful companies view recessions as windows of opportunity for strategic growth. Historically, many of the world's most successful businesses were born out of recessions. These organizations focus on exploiting market gaps and positioning themselves for post-recession success through the following strategies: Investing in Innovation: Innovation becomes a driving force as brokerages create new services that address evolving customer needs during the recession. It is an opportune time to launch affiliated services in insurance, mortgage, concierge, title, new home, property management, commercial real estate, etc. Expanding into New Markets: Companies may choose to enter previously unexplored markets or target niches that remain resilient amid economic uncertainties. Expanding markets in the USA include Atlanta, Raleigh, Dallas, Fayetteville, Greenville, Charleston, Huntsville, and Jacksonville. Acquisitions: Organizations with solid financial foundations may consider acquiring distressed competitors or complementary businesses at lower valuations. Merging an office that is operating at a loss, or breaking even with a competitor who is in the same boat will often create a profitable office. It's easy to know the volume required to make an office profitable, you will find many willing competitors who are anxious to avoid losses. Download a copy of our recent book, Acquiring More Profit by George Slusser and Victor Lund, here. Strategic Marketing and Branding: Companies that continue marketing efforts effectively can gain market share by establishing themselves as value-driven brands. Customer Retention and Loyalty: Building strong customer relationships during tough times can pay dividends in the long run, fostering loyalty and referrals. In reality, the decision between cost-cutting and growth pursuit is not binary. Most companies strike a balance between the two approaches – tailoring their strategies to their unique circumstances. Available resources, industry landscape, competitive positioning, and risk tolerance all play a pivotal role in shaping the company's course of action. Navigating a recession requires careful consideration of both cost-cutting and growth pursuit strategies. While cutting costs is crucial for immediate survival, strategically pursuing growth can position companies to emerge stronger in the post-recession landscape. Regardless of the path chosen, each decision should be informed, data-driven, and aligned with the company's long-term goals. As businesses embrace the challenges of a recession, their adaptability and resilience become the cornerstones of their success. WAV Group's brokerage advisory specialists – Victor Lund, Mark McLaughlin, George Slusser, and Finley Hair are experts at supporting you through your recession planning. We can aid in the planning or the execution of any piece. Reach out to request a confidential consultation. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Finding new growth opportunities in M&A: Insights from the 'Acquiring More Profit' webinar
If you missed last week's Acquiring More Profit webinar with Victor Lund and George Slusser, then you missed a great event. I would like to share some of the insights and takeaways we explored. Watch the full webinar here: 1. The Current Landscape of M&A: Navigating the Terrain In today's dynamic marketplace, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are more than just transactions; they're strategic moves that can shape the future of companies. We discussed how companies are actively seeking economies of scale through a merge-in strategy. This approach is designed to decrease losses and amplify transaction volume, tapping into the power of synergy. 2. Understanding Your Worth: The Art of Self-Evaluation How much is your brokerage truly worth? We explored the vital importance of self-evaluation and understanding your unique value proposition, whether you're a potential buyer or seller in the market. Knowing your worth is a cornerstone of successful negotiating and strategic decision-making. 3. Creating an Acquisition Center of Excellence: Empowering Growth One of the highlights was our discussion on creating an acquisition center of excellence. This involves nurturing an acquisition mindset within office managers. Our book, Acquiring More Profit, provides insights that can empower leaders and managers to think like owners, perpetually seeking opportunities for growth. 4. The Power of Synergy: Book and Implementation System I'm excited to share that we've created a powerful duo for your acquisition journey: the Acquiring More Profit book in tandem with the Acquiring More Profit Implementation System. When used together, these resources become your ultimate guide through the acquisition process. The book offers valuable knowledge, while the Implementation System provides actionable steps for successful execution. Embarking on a Journey: The 9-Part Webinar Series Hold onto your hats because we're gearing up for an enlightening journey! In September, we're launching a comprehensive nine-part webinar series. We'll be delving into the four pillars of the M&A process: Setting up internal procedures and refining your value proposition Conducting market analyses and approaching potential prospects Navigating the intricacies of negotiating a company's value and sealing the deal Seamlessly launching the acquisition process and integrating the newly acquired company The M&A team at WAV Group are committed to empowering you with the knowledge and tools you need to excel in the world of mergers and acquisitions. If you have any questions, or are simply curious, do not hesitate to reach out for a confidential consultation – and stay tuned for more details on our upcoming webinar series! To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Do you know what your brokerage is worth today?
A broker's work seems endless, and it's often difficult to find the time to work on the business instead of just in the business — or even to know what to work on! But one thing that every broker-owner should be doing regularly, at least once each year, is valuing their business in the current market. Our partners at WAV Group recently published an explanation around why it's so important to get a solid valuation every year for your firm. George Slusser, the definitive brokerage valuation expert, had this to say about regular valuation: "A brokerage valuation gives you a reliable benchmark for growth and establishes a jumping-off point for your firm's future." The revision and update to Slusser's groundbreaking book, Acquiring More Profit, is now available for purchase, including workbook add-ons and other resources to help you understand this elusive but critical business component. Read the full story with all the reasons to value your brokerage on the WAV Group blog, where you can also learn more about Acquiring More Profit (including where to buy it).

Pull These 3 Levers Today to Boost Brokerage Profits Tomorrow
It's no secret that running a brokerage is hard work. If it were easy, everyone would do it! This is especially true for broker/owners, who are facing a fast-changing, unpredictable landscape with interest rate uncertainty, low inventory, and the rise of AI. But broker/owners, you aren't powerless! There are three profit levers you can start to pull now to help you pad your margins, improve the customer experience, increase your revenue, and even grow your team in the months to come—all while setting yourself up for long-term success. Read on to learn more. Boosting brokerage profitability On day two of the recent T3 Leadership Summit, a panel of T3 Sixty VPs discussed how small tweaks can have a big impact on long-term profitability (and success). Let's take a look at what levers they recommended that brokers pull, and how you can take the first steps toward leveraging each one to increase your margins and make your business more resilient in the face of uncertainty. Top tips to improve brokerage margins Optimize your technology spend Technology is becoming an increasingly important element in our lives. Broker/owners who fail to successfully integrate technology into their business will be increasingly edged out by those who do. This economic reality means that to a certain extent, most brokerages have started to embrace technology. But as Michael Phelan, VP of Technology Consulting at T3 Sixty, pointed out during the panel, "Companies are great at buying tech and terrible at supporting tech." What does he mean? In many cases, brokerages have invested in dozens of shiny new toys that do not provide a good return on investment. We've discussed how to measure real ROI (and even shared several unconventional ways to determine your ROI) and provided tips on maximizing brokerage ROI, too. But too many brokerages are investing heavily in areas that aren't necessarily providing the return they're seeking. These include middle-of-funnel solutions (like client communication platforms, listing presentation, showing solutions, etc.) that only account for a comparative sliver of revenue. Don't get us wrong, these platforms are important for brokerages, but if you could spend $1 elsewhere and get $2 back, wouldn't you want to spend more there? So, where should broker/owners invest their tech budgets? Broker/owners should consider where a minimum investment will have a maximum ROI. This means looking at the following to identify where a little money would go a long way: Most time-consuming (read: time-wasting) processes Top-of-funnel solutions (e.g., lead gen) that create more business Workflows or tasks that are primed for money-saving automation Add new revenue lines It's as simple as that: find ways to add more revenue while minimizing added costs, and you'll find that your margins are more comfortable. Adding additional services can also help you provide a more seamless, end-to-end customer experience. But which kinds of services could you add? Here are a few ideas: Add ancillary services, like mortgage or title There is a major opportunity to add services to your offering that home buyers and sellers need—simply by partnering with providers of those services. These include: Mortgage Title Home warranty Home insurance Inspections Staging Photography and videography Refer value-added service providers for before and after the transaction Everyone has a hard time finding people they like to help them maintain their most precious investment: their home. You and your team are in a unique position to help refer the best in the business and potentially earn a finder's fee or commission: Interior designers Plumbers Roofers General contractors Landscapers Movers Property management Monetize your website With the right website, you can create opportunities to cross-sell the aforementioned services organically through ads. You can also partner with third-party ad providers to place relevant ads that augment the user experience, rather than detract from it. ValleyMLS was able to do just that with their website. To learn how, read more in our customer story. Recruit new agents It might sound counterintuitive, but adding new agents to your team is one of the best ways to improve your margins. Why? Commission compression is one of the biggest reasons broker margins are razor thin. And the more experienced the agent, the likelier their commission split will be in their favor, since brokers usually need to make a tradeoff: top performers bring in more sales, so to promote retention, they get to keep a higher fixed split (or move to a graduated split). The advantage of hiring newer agents is that they need more support, and since they have less experience, will accept a split that is more advantageous for the brokerage. However, in exchange, brokers should be prepared to provide incentives to attract and retain them that can be rolled into their overhead (so they don't create more added costs): Agent websites and CRM Free leads Coaching Digital marketing tools Real estate commission split management made easy With agents at your brokerage on different splits, plus the potential for desk fees and more, you'll have a lot to keep track of. To take the hassle out of managing your splits, ditch your spreadsheets and consider using a flexible and customizable commissions solution, with a virtually infinite number of different splits you can configure for individual agents, agent teams, and more. Action these profit levers today If you're looking for a true partner that's in the business of maximizing your business, you've come to the right place. We pride ourselves on finding the best solutions for our clients. A free tech stack audit is the perfect way to have one of our tech experts look at your tools and offer actionable recommendations you can start leveraging right away. Learn more and request your audit here. To view the original article, visit the Constellation1 blog.

Strategic Failure
Preparing for a strategic planning session involves a process of gaining a holistic view of the organization. Understanding your customer's perspective is always the primary driver that informs everything. But understanding of staff culture and capabilities, system strengths and limitations, financial conditions, and industry trends pave a path to developing a plan that works. At the end of the day, the board of directors and the management team agree to a group of initiatives that will make the business stronger, and the strategic plan is born. Some organizations in real estate take the plan and execute it flawlessly where others fail. Harvard Business Review outlines three causes of failure that recur in organizations that cause great plans to go off track. We see these three causes persistently in real estate and they are worth examining. Passive aggressive disagreement It's unlikely that everyone in an organization will agree with all of the nuances of a major strategic shift. Disagreement can be based on logic, experience, or (perhaps unconsciously) discomfort with change or loss of power. In any case, if the culture of the company does not encourage dissent, the resistance will go underground. People will voice their support, but not actively do anything to make it happen. To detect this in your organization, you can ask stakeholders the following questions: Do you believe that the strategy is on target? Do you believe that others will agree that the strategy is on target? The answers will be amusing. Normally people will tell a leader that they are aligned with the plan (perhaps mentioning their favorite piece), but will be outspoken about how their peers may have reservations. Fear of confrontation In most nice organizations where teamwork is encouraged, volunteer board members hesitate to confront leaders who are not fully engaging in the strategic plan. They may not want to make waves or fear harming the relationship. So instead, they try to work around it and end up accepting and even promoting a sub-optimizing strategy. Allowing Directors to anonymously grade the progress on each segment of the plan during board meetings (silent ballot) is a great way to get unfiltered feedback. Lack of persistent top-down demands If the successful implementation of a strategy requires change across a number of functions, then a senior leader needs to get everyone on board. Without this explicit expectation — reinforced again and again — people will avoid taking action even though they will continue to smile, nod, and profess support. Many senior leaders are hesitant to push too hard for fear that they will have to take drastic action, like firing someone. So instead they just assume that the pieces will fall into place. Tying compensation, bonuses, and employee ratings to the accomplishment of strategic goals is a great way to overcome this issue and focus the management team. Obviously, it's not easy to change these dynamics, especially when they are often invisible and rooted in longstanding cultural patterns. A good place to start is to point them out and provoke some dialogue. Most people do not want to be part of a collective failure — so holding up a mirror can be a powerful way of helping managers realize when they are headed in the wrong direction. Having a skilled facilitator lead your strategic planning can help set the stage to identify and overcome these hurdles. WAV Group managing partner Marilyn Wilson has facilitated hundreds of planning sessions as the former SVP of Strategic Planning for Fisher Price. One thing she likes to do is a "worst case scenario" exercise to create buy-in among the team. Getting the team to identify external threats can help them rally around the strategic objectives. If you have a strategic planning session scheduled in the near future, contact WAV Group about helping you get the most out of your team. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

3 Brokerage Problem Areas to Watch in 2023
With the new year around the corner, now's the time to look back on your brokerage's year and see what worked, what didn't—and what you want to adapt for next year's strategies. In any business, it can be tricky to spot where things might need a little extra support, and that's especially true for real estate. After all, your agents, in many ways, act like independent contractors—working to reach their own goals that happen to line up with yours. So how do you spot the likeliest problem areas in your brokerage? Watch your processes Real estate involves a lot of paperwork, and it has to be done just right for it to go through. Miss one microscopic step in the process, and it can slow you down. It can even ripple down to clients. How your brokerage manages all the steps of a deal defines how effectively the deal gets done. So if a process is creating headaches and slowdowns on these steps, that translates into problems for the brokerage overall. Is it a problem for your brokerage? Look over your deals from the past year. How many deadlines got missed, even if it wasn't by much? Did you struggle to keep up with file review? Were your admins swamped at any point in the year? This can help you identify whether you need to adjust any of your processes, or even adapt them for seasonality. Know your market You might read that and say, well, I do know my market. That's why we're in it. But the thing is, every real estate market is subject to wild fluctuations based on outside factors, and by the time you catch up to a change, it might be hard for your business to catch up too. How well you can foresee these changes—and adapt to them when they happen—is something many brokerages struggle with. Is it a problem for your brokerage? Think about the major shifts your market saw in the past year. Did any of them catch you or your agents by surprise? Did they have unexpected ripple effects that you suspect left you falling behind the competition? This can help you identify the way your brokerage currently pivots to keep up with shifts, which can help you spot any trouble areas you faced this year. Audit-proof your files New year, new tax season. Audits are always a concern for brokerages this time of year, especially since the more your entire business made, the more likely it is you'll get a knock on the door. And if any part of a deal isn't perfectly up to snuff, it can quickly become a headache for you, your admins, and even the agent involved. The trick here is to be aware of what's required, and make sure you keep paper trails properly organized and tracked. Is it a problem for your brokerage? Audit preparation can only really be done a year in advance, and it takes constant vigilance all year long. At any point this year, did you note a missing form or signature? Do you know where every cent went? Can you reliably report on every receivable and payable going through your G/L? This can help you identify where you may need to double back and double check for the 2022 tax year—and spot where you may need a little extra monitoring for next year's audit season. It's never easy finding and addressing the problem areas in any business, but it can make a world of difference for your brokerage, your admins, and your agents into 2023. With this quick guide to the most common issues, you'll be able to spot any areas that need your help for next year's strategies. To view the original article, visit the Lone Wolf blog.

The Broker Business Intelligence Gap
Here at WAV Group, we invest a lot in business intelligence. Business intelligence is a broad term that can mean a lot of things. We define it as a 360-degree review that combines the collection of information from a variety of sources, then benchmarked against peer groups. Our business intelligence across the real estate industry has identified a pretty frightening broker experience gap. What we have learned is that brokers rarely collect enough facts to make important business decisions. The result is failed efforts and underwhelming results. Example: Brokerage Technology Satisfaction A great source of business intelligence that is made available to brokers every year is delivered as a member benefit from the National Association of REALTORS®. If you have not checked out this summary article from WAV Group partner, Kevin Hawkins, about the release of the new 2022 Realtor Tech Survey, you should read it now — but I will pull some highlights to further develop this understanding of the broker-business intelligence gap. According to the NAR study, the most important tools that an agent values are eSignatures, lockboxes, MLS, followed by a three-way tie between transaction management, CRMs, and video conferencing. The best practice would be to compare and contrast this research with research from your real estate agents. When agents answer a NAR survey, they are biased around the service offered by the association. That is not an intention of the survey, but survey bias does happen. WAV Group often combines surveys from associations, MLSs, and the brokerage to mitigate survey bias – let me explain why. You cannot overcome survey bias completely, although using a third-party firm to survey agent satisfaction helps a lot. The less concern that a person has about being identified in a survey, the more truthful they are in answering the questions. Agents do not have any concern about being identified when they are answering an association or MLS survey; there is no concern about being identified for their point of view. With brokerage surveys, a little concern exists within. We have run surveys through associations, MLSs, and brokerages with the exact same questions in the exact same markets and gotten three similar, but different, answers from the same agents. When agents are surveyed about technology by the association, they think of forms, lockboxes, RPR, etc. When the technology survey is the MLS, they think about the MLS system, tax record system, etc. When they are surveyed about broker technology, they think about websites, CRM, CMA, etc. If the brokerage is a franchise that offers technology, there are different answers there as well. The truth is that agents have the association, MLS, franchise, brokerage, and technology companies all marketing to them at the same time, while simultaneously trying to drive adoption of their tools. It is wickedly confusing for agents. Therefore, the collection of data by a third-party, and the collection of data from multiple sources, is so critical to gaining the right level of business intelligence to make informed decisions. Creating the Right Technology Mix WAV Group is fortunate to work with a lot of the top 100 brokerages in the United States, supporting them with their business intelligence systems. When brokers do satisfaction research, their insights allow for business decisions that are well-informed. For example, large firms operating in multiple MLS market areas across many associations did an agent satisfaction study to understand the opinions that agents have for the tools from their associations and MLSs. The richness of comparative data is outstanding. Those firms know which associations have the best tools. Often, you see consistency across forms solutions and lockbox solutions. For example, they know the difference in agent satisfaction between zipForm, TransactionDesk, and dotloop. They can also see the differences in how the association delivers member benefits. Multiple associations offering the same product, score differently. It allows the broker to understand that the association's training and support is better in some places than in others. The same is true for MLS technology. You would not believe the amount of wasted technology spent by brokers who are purchasing inferior products that duplicate better products that are offered through the association or MLS. Simply stated, if the MLS offers a better tool that agents enjoy more, don't be bothered, just cut that tool from your product mix and work with the MLS to tighten up integration with your other products and services through API integration. Innovation vs. Consistency You absolutely must consider real estate personas in business intelligence. There are two different personas that probably matter more than any others, and they are at the extremes of the spectrum. An agent doing fewer than two transactions is a very important cohort – so are top producers. Generally, we find that low-producing agents find the technology to be too complicated. That makes sense. For an agent only using tools a few times a year, it's impossible to keep up. This is where innovation really hurts a brokerage. If agents need to relearn a software for the few times in a year that they use it, then it is too complex and time-consuming. Low-producing agents are the biggest opportunity for profit growth in a brokerage since commission splits favor the broker more than the agent. Do the math across your firm – forecast your EBIDA if your low-producing agents do one deal a year. How does that impact your profit? Consistency is important to low producers. They want certainty that when they go to use a product or service, it has not changed so much that they need to contact support to get their work done. By not innovating tools for low producers, this typically leads to improved margins. Static technology is typically priced better than the flashy, complicated, feature-rich, new stuff and requires lower levels of training and support. Do you really need transaction management if you only have one deal a year? The opposite side of the spectrum is top producers (which includes teams). Generally speaking, top producers rarely use the technology of the brokerage because it lacks the features that allow them to manage an enterprise-sized sales and transaction funnel. This cohort requires a lot of study, and typically the study of top producers needs to be looked at in two ways. You parse their answers to surveys and follow up with in-person calls or meetings. These agents want to know that you value them enough to engage with them personally. Top producers need efficiency, so they typically go outside of the brokerage to purchase solutions that meet their needs. This is horrible for the brokerage and leads to breakage. Should Brokerages Charge for Technology? The NAR study provides an interesting piece of data about brokerage technology fees. Forty-seven percent of Realtors said that their brokerage charges for technology and that it is a reasonable fee. Do you charge today? Do you know if your fee is reasonable? Thirty-eight percent say that their brokerage does not charge a technology fee. Even when technology is not charged for, it has value. Do you understand this value for your company? Twelve percent of agents say that the price they pay for broker-provided tech is not worth it. Yikes! You do not want to be in that group as a brokerage. When you have benchmark data like this, you need to contrast it with data you collect on your own agents. Moreover, you need to collect this data on key competitors. Consider this scenario – your brokerage charges for technology and your agents are highly satisfied for the value they receive, whereas a key competitor does not charge for technology, and their agents believe that the tech offered by that competing firm has low value. If you have a low-performing agent that you are recruiting from that competitor, your narrative is that they will sell more real estate using your technology and that they should have confidence in the technology fee – which will be a new business expense for them. The competitor's top producing agents may be overspending on technology to compensate for their current broker's lackluster tech offerings. The narrative for joining your brokerage is that it can save them money and likely improve their performance. The very same narrative is useful in agent retention conversations. Using Business Intelligence to Make Better Decisions As you can imagine, when you drill down into details like this and offer data that backs up your statements, you are making better decisions. If your business intelligence points to areas of dissatisfaction, or areas where a competitor has a leg-up, then you can make decisions that close the gap. The battle for winning market share is local and requires hand-to-hand combat. You need to win hearts and minds. Every good decision you make solidifies the confidence that your agents have in your firm. Every poor one encourages them to answer a recruiting call. Today's real estate market is savage. If you sit idle and wait for the market to recover in two or three years, it may be too late for your firm to remain competitive. Right now, you need to be 100% obsessed with market share, not volume. The market is down for everyone, but if your competitor's business is dropping faster than yours, you are picking up market share. Let's win this together. If you would like WAV Group to perform a business intelligence study on your company, please contact [email protected]. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Time to Fire Unproductive Agents
The real estate industry is famous for hiring any licensed adult with a pulse. The number of agent members of the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) is at an all-time high. Firms would be hard pressed not to discover a significant number of agents on the roster who are not producing. Is it time to fire them? Years ago, after the acquisition from Brookfield, WAV Group collaborated with a team at Pacific Union to take a historical snapshot of the brand from the eyes of the consumer and the agent. We identified that the local, boutique essence of the Pacific Union brand had been eroded over time by efforts to grow through recruiting anyone and everyone. An interview with one long-time, top producing agent summed it up in a nutshell. "Years ago, when you were invited to become a Pacific Union agent, you knew that you had put in the hard work to become one of the elite agents in the San Francisco Bay Area." To some extent, Pacific Union had lost that pride. The new management team came up with a healthy plan to restore the brand reputation to its golden luster. Step 1: Fire unproductive agents Step 2: Build a P&L for every agent and work with the manager in each office to have a discussion with those who were driving losses. The goal was to get those agents back on track in 90 days. This was done with compassion for life events (death, divorce, etc.), but it got done. The outcomes were impressive. In a short period of time, top producing agents were sharing feedback with the management team in support of the decision. Hard working agents hated being in office meetings dominated by unproductive agents who have an opinion but do not sell. They prefer to surround themselves with other professionals, and even lend a hand to hard workers who are putting in the effort to improve. Moreover, the move inspired agents from competitors to join Pacific Union to surround themselves with other top agents. Remember, you drive broker dollars through transaction revenue, not headcount. The industry is on track to sell about 5.5 million homes this year. If you want your top agents who deliver the best services to clients to get their unfair share of those deals, then let the bad agents go. They can move across the street to another broker and drink their coffee. This may seem a little harsh, but brokers need to own their role in raising the bar of professionalism in real estate – one agent at a time. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

5 Tips for Successful Real Estate Brokers to Futureproof Their Business in 2022
The Fed has raised interest rates three times this year, cooling one of the hottest real estate markets in recent memory. The challenges of the past year, including high prices, bidding wars, and low inventory, have been replaced by new challenges: uncertainty, higher borrowing costs, and slower sales. These challenges are expected to continue since the Fed is poised to raise interest rates again. This is stressful for everyone, especially buyers, their agents, and the brokers that support them. As a broker, there are steps you can take right now to help support your business and guarantee your team is successful—even during the most uncertain times. Read on for five tips to futureproof your brokerage in 2022 with steps you can implement today. 1. Adopt Real Estate Automations to Work Smarter, Not Harder There is a multitude of solutions these days that leverage smart automation to save your team valuable time and allow them to focus on value-added tasks, not tedium. Automate your digital marketing to stay top of mind and boost organic leads Considering how tight the market is, the last thing you want to do is lose your marketing edge. Digital marketing is a gold mine, but a lot of teams don't have the time, energy, knowledge, or resources to do it right. That's where smart automation comes in. With the right tools, you can automatically post your active listings, branded photos and videos, and relevant, scroll-stopping content on social media. This regular content will keep your team top of mind—essentially doing your digital marketing for you. Many users say these tools make it feel like they have the support of a full-time digital marketing team 24/7. The Constellation1 Digital Marketing Suite empowered one of our customers' best performers to close a sale on average every two business days. Adopt electronic signatures for real estate to save time and money Time is money, so waiting for traditional paper signatures could be costing you thousands of dollars and missed opportunities. E-signatures have been shown to cut the hard costs of paper document management, printing, filing, and postage, as well as soft costs related to speed and efficiency. They've also been shown to boost agent and customer satisfaction, and allow your team to work more flexibly, from anywhere. By automatically notifying and reminding signers they have documents pending, your team can stop chasing people down and start closing deals more efficiently. 2. Create Your Own Real Estate Lead Generation Machine By taking a few simple steps, you could supercharge your lead generation to get a flood of organic leads and keep your funnel full. Do an SEO audit and make improvements You can't "see" or touch search engine optimization, so it's easy to ignore. But the biggest benefit of perfecting your SEO strategy is that you can turn your website into an organic lead generator and appear high in your local search results to bring buyers and sellers to your site. Learn more about the ins and outs of real estate SEO and how a few little tweaks informed by an SEO audit could give you big results. Revamp your brokerage and agent websites A great way to score extra SEO points (and win new customers) is to clean up and revamp your website. Give the text a refresh, write some useful blog posts, and make user experience improvements to make it easier for consumers to navigate. Get the right real estate CRM CRMs are a worthwhile investment. Brokerages need a robust tool for managing leads, and that's where a CRM comes in. There are a lot of CRMs on the market, but few of them are built just for real estate, but our robust mobile + desktop CRM was designed specifically with brokerages in mind. Plus, our customers love it. 3. Boost the ROI of Your Brokerage's Tech Stack As a broker/owner, when the challenges mount, you start tightening your belt. This means paying more attention to the ROI of your tools. You may find that investments you made aren't paying off, and you either need to drop the tools that aren't working or upgrade to tech that will actually help you reach your goals. Audit your tech stack for shortcomings and opportunities You can't know what's working and what's not if you don't ask. As a broker/owner, you might not even know what it's like using technology "in the trenches" every day. This is why you need to conduct an audit of the tools your team is using. Just like a neglected streaming subscription, you might be paying for tools your team doesn't use. Agent adoption has a huge impact on ROI, so it's smart to get rid of tech you never use, incentivize the adoption of existing tech that could actually benefit your team, or upgrade to something newer and more useful. Before you drop a solution or decide your team can't invest right now, remember that technology helps make your brokerage more resilient. Doing nothing can actually cost your brokerage more in the form of lost market share, fewer leads, an unhappy team, poor customer service, and more. Find the right real estate tech solution for you Every brokerage is unique, so the right solution for you might look very different from the one your competitors are using. To make sure you pick the right one (and actually satisfy your team's needs), consult the right stakeholders at your brokerage. The right tools are key to setting your brokerage up for success—today and down the road. If you're looking to make a new tech investment, check out our five tips for maximizing ROI when onboarding new tech. 4. Focus on the Customer Experience Last year, Accenture called customer experience (CX) one of the top trends to watch. This is still true today, both for internal customers (agents) and external customers (buyers and sellers). When brokerages take care of agents' needs and provide the right support, agents go the extra mile to add value for consumers—even during challenging times. This chain of high-value support is what keeps agents engaged and leads flowing. According to the 2021 National Association of Realtors® Tech Survey, only one quarter of agents strongly agree that their brokerage provides all the tech they need to effectively do their jobs. Investing in your tech stack is one way to focus on the customer experience internally and help agents serve customers better. 5. Find the Right Partners We are all stronger together. When there's mutual alignment, we can all go farther faster. The partnership paradigm works at every level of your organization. Brokerages and agents should see each other as mutual partners who, by helping each other, help consumers buy and sell homes. Brokerages should also seek out meaningful and productive partnerships with their vendors, especially their tech vendors. The result is an entire partnership ecosystem with mutually beneficial relationships driving value every step of the way. Futureproof Your Brokerage Dr. Daryl Fairweather, Chief Economist at Redfin, observed "the long-term outlook is still quite strong, but in the short term, because of all the volatility in the economy, home prices might fall between now and next spring," as quoted in the New York Times. The future is unpredictable, so brokerages must prepare for anything by working towards business models that keep them at the top of their markets. Even with prices falling, inventory is low and will likely remain low. There are even more things your brokerage can do to win more leads when listings are in short supply. By following these tips, you can solidify your niche and create your own markets to get through even the most challenging periods. To view the original article, visit the Constellation1 blog.

Building a 'Rinse-Repeat' Real Estate Business
Real estate is all about being in the moment -- being in the right place at the right time.  As you're focused on landing that next big win, your business can easily become fragmented. However, the best real estate businesses are able to establish an organized strategy for generating, engaging, and converting leads. This is achieved by repeating productive actions that push a business forward, ensuring success in both the "right now" moment and the long-term future. Ultimately, this sets an organization up for a continual stream of business. Optimizing your sales funnel through proper lead generation, engagement, and follow up: Builds brand recognition and a loyal customer base Improves the experience your clients have from first impression to closing Opens the door to opportunities for repeat business Invites referrals from past clients If you're interested in accessing these benefits, the first step is to create a seamless operations protocol for communicating with — and converting — your leads. Here are strategies for building consistency and establishing a "rinse and repeat" model for sustainable success. #1. Understand the Lead Funnel (and Work It Appropriately) How well are you working with your lead funnel? If you're only investing attention and outreach into the leads in your database that are conversion-ready, you're missing out on the chance to warm up colder leads. One of the best ways to keep your sales funnel running smoothly is to have a strategy in place to nurture the leads that are further out from buying. Even if a lead is not ready for business, you can become a pillar of support by sharing valuable information and relevant real estate advice. By doing so, you'll be building trust and staying top-of-mind — so that when the lead is ready to buy, they will choose you instead of a competitor. Pro Tip: Stay in touch with your leads by adding them to your email marketing campaign. If you tag your leads based on how far along they are on the conversion timeline, you'll be able to send targeted outreach emails for buyers in their position. Real estate teams who tag all of their cold and lukewarm leads will be able to curate bulk emails to engage buyers until they're hot. 8 Types of Content to Send Cold and Lukewarm Leads: Market reports Home buying guides Mortgage preparation packets Glossary of real estate terms Tips to prepare for a stress-free move Strategies for navigating a buyer or seller market Things to do in your community Small business shoutouts #2. Leverage Automated Marketing To save time, automate your email marketing outreach. Working with automated email campaigns allows agents to work closely with their current clients while still warming up their colder leads. This builds a cycle of momentum that can prevent "dry seasons" in your business — as deals close, other leads convert into business. BoomTown's SmartDrip reimagines traditional email marketing campaigns by: Creating more personable messages Optimizing email open rates Eliminating awkward experiences Grading effectiveness of the campaign Creating a "cheat sheet" for success based on your community of leads SmartDrip is efficient, allowing agents to engage their leads even if they're on vacation!  BoomTown's eAlerts introduce added value to your buyer leads by sharing instant updates anytime pertinent changes are made to listing data based on their customized search criteria. Your leads will receive emails on your behalf, alerting them to the most current listing updates relevant to their home search. This gives your clients a competitive advantage over other buyers in the market! #3. Train Your Team to Seamlessly Repeat the Process One of the biggest challenges to developing a true "rinse and repeat" real estate business can be adopting the new processes and technologies required to keep the flow going. Adopting new technologies and committing time to their use is the only way to activate the full potential of the tools you're investing in. As you're building the model that will result in noteworthy wins, make sure that you're training your team members and spending time working with the assistance teams from your new tools. The more your team masters the technology, the more seamlessly it can be integrated into your real estate workflow to generate the best results. Pro Tip: When it comes to engaging with leads and reaching out to your database contacts, consistency is the key to success. Agents and teams need to commit the time and effort required to warm up new leads until they're ready to convert, as well as stay in contact with past clients to gain repeat business and referrals. To view the original article, visit the BoomTown blog.

Innovation through Improv
Improv is funny and magical. Many companies who lead in innovation across all industries leverage the simple rules of improv. Leadership teams can find great opportunities for innovation and improve just about any aspect of your business. The key to improv is based on one simple rule: someone starts with an idea, the next person says "yes, and..." For example: Player 1 – Welcome to the doctor's office. We have your new brain in the fridge and we are ready to do the surgery if you are. Player 2 – Yes, I am excited but I would like to change my brain choice to change me into a man. And so on and so forth. There are a few keys to improv: Always say yes Listen and be present Make other people look good Embrace change and failure Be positive Failure VOW: if it's not working, stop and start over To get started, grab a partner and write a letter. You do not actually write the letter down, you just speak the letter. Partner One: DearPartner Two: PresidentPartner One: ReganPartner Two: HowPartner One: IsPartner Two: ItPartner One: BeingPartner Two: inPartner One: HeavenPartner Two: withoutPartner One: thePartner Two: Media Then you just keep it going. You will find that it is easy to get on the same page with your partner; this gives you the confidence that you and your team can use improv to innovate. It's really fun. In this game, you and your partner create something together by applying the principles of improv. Everything your partner says in the letter is an offer that you must accept. You must listen to your partner and go with what they contribute. You are vested in working with your partner to make the letter sound great – whichever the way the letter goes. Have your executive team partner up and write the letter. Have them do it a few times. This is an icebreaker exercise that opens your mind to creativity and allows everyone to engage in each other and truly listen to the flow of the conversation. The information is not the important part; what is most important is the feeling that you get when your teammate is truly listening to you. It's how you connect. After you write the letter, there are two more exercises that you need to try – to really notice the difference. The first exercise is to say "no" to every idea. For example: Pretend like you are going on a picnic. You suggest an item to bring and the partner needs to say, "No, but we should bring _______." Do this for a few minutes. Then try to plan a picnic but be indifferent. You suggest an item to bring and your partner says, "Sure, whatever, I probably wouldn't have any, but we should bring ______." Also do this for a few minutes. You will feel differently about the conversation when you are doing improv in the negative tone or an indifferent approach. Now, do the same picnic exercise, but excitedly say, "Yes, and let's bring a blanket. Yes, and let's bring hotdogs. Yes, and let's bring ______." You will find that when you say yes, you will be aware and responsible for your impact and contributions to your teammates. You have a huge impact on the team when you say yes – and how you say yes – and how people feel when you say yes. The outcome of saying yes is irrelevant. It's the way you say yes. Brainstorming about innovation and capturing all ideas with enthusiasm will not only build your team and make everyone feel valued, but you are bound to come up with some great ideas that will allow your company to push forward toward innovative greatness. Now bring your team together. You have created intentional culture. You have put the team in a mindset. Have the team create a tropical island. Everyone contributes an idea and everyone enthusiastically says yes. Now, create a new sport. Give it a name, create rules, players, tactics, and so on. You will have fun. Best of all, everyone's ideas are valued. But most importantly, you have changed your culture and created a culture of innovation. These are the types of exercises that facilitate teamwork. It creates an environment that is right for your team. If you need WAV Group to facilitate team building or strategic planning in your business, give us a call or shoot us an email. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Top Tips for Setting SMART Real Estate Business Goals
It's never a bad time to set new, SMART business objectives to take your brokerage further. There's a widespread misconception that you can only set effective business goals in January. People often think of goal setting like new year's resolutions. As a result, you might be reading this without any 2021 objectives in mind, even though we're well into the second quarter! You may be thinking you've missed the boat to set goals for your brokerage, but this couldn't be further from the truth! It might already be June, but it's never too late to set goals for the upcoming week, month, quarter or year. Goals are a moving target: the only way to miss out is to not set them at all. So what's the secret to setting goals and sticking to them? The secret to successful goals There are a variety of ways to increase your success in reaching your objectives. For starters, behavioral scientists agree that something as simple as writing them down can have a huge impact on whether you achieve them. One psychologist found that goal setters who wrote their goals down and also gave accountability updates to a friend or colleague were 33% more successful than those who just thought about their goals. One commonly used tactic psychologists suggest for formulating goals is to make them SMART. There are five key characteristics of SMART goals. Let's discuss these characteristics and how you can use them to improve your real estate business and make your brokerage better—no matter what time of year it is. Intelligent goals? No, SMART goals! Specific SMART is an acronym, the first letter of which stands for specific. What makes a goal specific? Let's use an example. Your goal might be to grow your brokerage. This is very general and could mean a variety of different things. To make it more specific, you might focus on one thing and rephrase it to say, "I want to attract and hire new agents." The market for hiring and retaining top agents is competitive, so to reach your goal, your brokerage might invest in tools that help make their jobs easier, like sleek agent websites for displaying listings, a powerful CRM tool for tracking and following up with leads, or a fully automated social media marketing platform that allows them to focus on customer service, not writing Facebook posts. Measurable The second letter in SMART stands for measurable. When goals are measurable, they allow you to track your progress. Behavioral scientists believe if you can see how well you're doing, you'll be more motivated to reach your end goal. A measurable goal will answer the questions, "How much?" or "How many?" For example, "I want to attract and hire five new agents" is a measurable goal, because if you hire two, you know you're almost halfway to meeting your end goal of five. Achievable The A in SMART stands for achievable or attainable. Your goals shouldn't be too easy; goals that take no effort at all to reach probably won't help you. But goals shouldn't be too hard, either. If your brokerage has 10 agents, hiring 50 new ones in one quarter is unrealistic. Aggressive goals aren't bad, but remember that actually reaching a goal helps motivate you to set more ambitious ones later. Relevant R is for relevant, i.e., choosing the right goal for the right time. Is your brokerage ready for growth and therefore ready to hire more agents, or would a different goal be more appropriate right now? You must set goals that align with your current business needs and resources, otherwise you may be setting yourself up for failure. Back office software is a helpful tool for keeping track of business resources and knowing when it's time to invest in growth or set other more relevant goals. A relevant goal could be, "Because my brokerage is in a position to grow this year, I want to attract and hire five new agents." Time-bound The last letter in SMART stands for time-bound. In other words: set a deadline. Deadlines can be very motivating. To avoid waiting until the last minute, set interim deadlines or milestones to help keep you on track. For example, you might say, "I want to hire two new agents by June 30 and three more agents by December 31." Accountability: the final secret ingredient The last tip for achieving your objectives is accountability. If you write your goals down but never tell anyone about them, chances are you won't succeed. One way to maintain accountability is to share your goals with others. At your brokerage, this might mean including your team in the goal setting process. This creates a sense of ownership, pride and collaboration, all of which are important for working well as a team. Our CRM solution also features tools to help you keep your agents accountable for their own professional goals. Be SMART about it Even if you think you've waited too long, set a few SMART real estate goals today. Then, talk about them and commit to updating your team and colleagues, too. By being smart about your goals, you'll set yourself up for success! To learn how Constellation1 real estate technology can help you reach your goals, book your personal tour today. To view the original article, visit the Constellation1 blog.

How Your Brokerage Can Stay Competitive in 2021
2020 was a weird year, and created a lot of change in the real estate industry. Even now, though the year is over and gone, it's had a rippling effect on the industry again this year as we navigate the aftermath of the pandemic. These ripples will affect exactly what brokers need to do to help their brokerage and their agents stay competitive as more shifts inevitably happen, too. So what can you as a broker do to compete and win in 2021?

Planning for a Successful Exit
Often, I am asked, "When is the best time to sell my real estate brokerage firm?" The easy answer is, "When you do not need to." The better answer is, "When you are ready, and it is a planned event." The ideal time to sell your company is when your firm is positioned correctly to convey its value. Even more important is the timing when it is in your best interests as a career or life decision. Buyers seek and pay premiums for well-run quality firms and those are rarely for sale. You want to be one of those firms and ready when the time is right.

Thinking Ahead: How Do You Plan for 2021?
If you think back, many were happy to see 2019 end. From Brexit complications to political protests, that year had a lot to throw at us, and we were excited for a fresh start in 2020. But 2020 had other plans--and left us with plenty of questions. What's going to happen with interest rates? Will demand stay as high as it is? How will extended patterns of working from home affect established markets? And what else does the pandemic have in store for us? Now, don't panic! We don't say any of this to scare you, and truthfully, this is hardly a doom-and-gloom situation. It's actually an opportunity, because though no one knows what's behind door number 2021, a little preparation on the right fronts means you can be ready for whatever the new year brings.

Security and Business Continuity: Learnings from the Pandemic
While the last few months have been challenging, and they have also been a learning experience for everyone. Christopher Callahan, CISO for Weichert Companies, and I had an extensive conversation on security and business continuity learnings from the pandemic. Why is this important? In the business world, Shelter-in-Place (SiP) has displaced the workforce from the safe confines of corporate offices into employees' homes. I mean, everyone! A full-fledged transformation into a virtual company. The security exposure and risks have increased significantly across all aspects of the business. Isolation of remote access to the company information is limited to the sales team and a few staff who are road warriors. Now, completion of the firm's business occurs in little islands of offices — for every employee. Chris and I discuss pandemic planning topics as part of a business continuity strategy and other security practices. We take a stab at the security risks and new processes and policies that need to be reviewed or implemented. The design of Insightful Tech is to expose people and technology to the WAV Group's audience. The intent is to provide interviews, demos, and pass on the knowledge I've gained to help people do more with technology. I do want to give Chris a big "Thank you" for participating in my first interview. I appreciate his knowledge, our long-time friendship, and for taking this journey with me. Please be patient on some of my techniques and equipment. I am figuring this out as I do these videos. Why not keep learning and trying to be better! Anyone who knows me understands incremental gain is my idealogy. I promise to be better and to help others be better too. Click the image below to watch the interview: To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Visionary Broker Leaders Bring It Home in Louisiana
The birth of a new regional MLS is as rare as it is remarkable. This week saw the highly anticipated launch of Greater Southern MLS, a broker-led initiative in Louisiana to create a statewide MLS organization to help their agents be more successful and profitable. Brokers of all sizes, representing every major brand and several strong independent companies, comprise about one-third of the REALTORS in Louisiana and close to 50% of transactions. They reimagined how they, the participants in the MLS, would reorganize the state's nine MLSs and 15,000 subscribers into one powerful coalition, reaching every corner of their state to expand listing exposure and lead generation potential as well as open up new opportunities for referrals.

Meet the Partners: An Intro to Every Lone Wolf Strategic Partnership
The Lone Wolf ecosystem is all about bringing together the cream of the crop in real estate technology. And with announcements coming out left and right about new additions, we thought we'd put together a quick look at the bigger picture. So here's who Lone Wolf has partnered with (so far!), what they do, and what it means for you.

3 Steps to Get the Most from Your Digital Transformation
While company leaders know they need new technologies to remain relevant and grow, implementing such a change can be daunting. At DocuSign, we face a lot of "how" questions as customers look to successfully create a digital transformation within their organization--questions like, "That solution will save us time, but how do I get my team to adopt it?" or "How will we find the time and buy-in to implement such a huge change?" Digital transformation is a complex task. To make it more manageable, we have broken it down into three phases: Implement, Optimize, and Grow. Breaking down your digital transformation into a series of smaller processes can help answer those "how" questions.

How Realogy and Keller Williams Will Win with AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) may be in the early days of its development, but this brand-new area of technology already promises to transform the way people and machines work together. Most of us experience first-hand the capabilities of AI; for example, over 50% of adults in the United States use voice AI like Siri or Alexa every week, according to Trends author Mary Meeker. Meeker's research also indicates that Americans report these AI solutions accurately interpret speech 95% of the time – which is oddly the same as humans can interpret speech from other humans.

Brokers Need to Weaponize to Combat iBuyer
Who is getting to the listing appointment first? Is a traditional broker the first call for a listing appointment, or do consumers reach out to iBuyer programs like Zillow, Redfin, Keller Williams, Realogy, Opendoor, Mark Spain, or others first? For now, iBuyer programs will continue to reach more markets and brokers need to prepare their strategy, consumer and agent communications, and agent training. Opendoor and Redfin were the first brokers to weaponize with iBuyer programs. Mark Spain is having tremendous success. Are you next?

10 Reasons Why You Should Sell Your Brokerage... or Not
Today's real estate market is equally primed for those real estate broker/owners who want their company to be acquired by another and for those wishing to acquire an existing company. - Tami Bonnell, CEO of EXIT Realty International Not among the estimated $2 billion invested in the real estate space last year, according to T3 Sixty, is the continued M&A activity within the space. Tami Bonnell, the CEO of EXIT Realty International, released a white paper suggesting now is the best time for brokerage owners to cash out, and examines the reasons for both acquiring or being acquired. The Reasons to Buy or Sell

3 Key Strategies for Being a Better Leader in Real Estate
If there's one thing Doug Edrington knows, it's how to lead a team. Doug recently opened his own Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Brokerage, J Douglas Properties, and runs (with no shortage of success) The Edrington Team. Last year, his team sold 491 houses. And when he's not busy being a top producer, he is also a Tom Ferry Coach. Doug recently shared some of his recent experiences and expertise when it comes to building a sustainable business and being an effective leader. Here are the top takeaways:

5 Technology Expenses to Review for Budget Season, Part Two
Part two of this two-part series continues to explore technology expenses and strategies for budget season. In part one, we discussed the importance of reviewing your technology partner agreements and telecommunication expenses. Part two focuses on finding savings in cloud services, the benefits of a hardware refresh program, and capturing Shadow IT costs. So, let's start.

5 Technology Expenses to Review for Budget Season, Part One
As we embark into the first week of the fall season, the time is ripe to review and prepare next year's budget. When it comes to technology expenses for 2019 budgets, the following five areas are prime opportunities to harvest savings or craft better budget strategies. This is part one of a two-part series.

How to Future-proof Your Brokerage
I'm sure you've seen in the press that Upstream has launched. So what? What does that mean to you? ​It means you have access to one of the most instantly valuable broker platforms in the country. It's your data. It's one of your brokerage's most valuable assets. And your data is critical to your current and future business. That's why every vendor and portal wants it.

Are Brokerages Using BI Visualization Tools?
In talking with various people inside brokerages, I hear the same challenge time and time again: "My data is all over the place and I have no way to understand what it means." Driving what your data means and information out of your data is Business Intelligence (BI). There are free or low-cost solutions to help analyze data in your control and derive the answers to make better business decisions.

Are You Guilty of "Business as Usual" Budgeting?
How many of have been informed that you need to spend the rest of your budget or it's going to be reduced next year? How many times have you blindly hit copy and paste and then added a bit for inflation and an unexpected project, and then called it a day on your budgeting process? If you're walking somewhat blindly through your budgeting process, then you're practicing what we call "business-as-usual budgeting."

5 Steps to an Impactful and Effective Strategic Plan
We've all been involved in those strategic planning sessions where you get locked in a room, hold hands, sing Kumbaya, feel really excited for about three days—and then everyone goes back to doing everything the same old way they did before the session. They are a total waste of time. I call those sessions "Forced Family Fun." They give strategic planning a bad name. Let's talk about a way to make the time and effort put into a strategic plan that will actually MAKE A DIFFERENCE for your organization.

SMART Goals and Why Your Business Needs Them
Every brokerage owner dreams of success, but far fewer define the goals needed to achieve those dreams. The S.M.A.R.T goal-setting methodology makes it easy to set realistic business goals and achieve them. Read on to learn about the methodology and how it can benefit your firm. What are S.M.A.R.T. Goals? S.M.A.R.T goals refers to a goal setting methodology that helps you set clear and reasonable expectations in order to maximize your odds of achieving a goal. Each letter of the acronym identifies an essential component of effective goal setting. "S" – Specific Business goals like "make more money" are rarely attained because the goal isn't specific enough to be actionable. You need to identify the driver and desired outcome of the goal. The easiest way to do this is to ask yourself the five Ws: What do you want to achieve? Why do you want to achieve this? Who is involved? Where will this goal take the business? When do you plan to accomplish it? With this approach, you can swap the goal of "making more money" for the specific goal of "finding one new client by the end of the month." This specific goal checks all the five Ws and can actually be implemented.

Annual Strategy Planning and Management Retreat
There is a curious coincidence about the relationship between strategic planning and success. Large, successful companies always have strategic plans and management retreats to celebrate accomplishments and recognize opportunities for success. Interestingly enough, start ups do the same thing. Where is the middle ground? For whatever reason, companies that are in the middle of the pack typically do not have plans. Or, the plan they do have is stale – the product of a moment in time when the leadership or board of directors insisted on cobbling something together which, in turn, was saved in a remote desktop folder or shoved into a drawer somewhere. For decades, WAV Group has been providing strategic planning facilitation for leading real estate brokerages, technology firms, large MLSs, and large associations. We have also reviewed strategic plans and business plans for the most ambitious young start-ups. If you are planning your strategic plan to launch your business powerfully into 2017, be sure to consider a proposal from us. Organizing your strategic planning session will be unique to your business and culture, but here are some elements of strategic planning that may point you in the right direction. 1. Discovery – Interview the board of directors and key staff to understand their perspectives about the business. Great boards and business leaders are often closer in their perspectives about the strengths and weaknesses of a company than you might expect. Using an outside facilitator opens the door to more candid discussion.

The Value of Your Value Proposition
How do you recruit new agents? How do you keep the ones you've got? Just as agents need to prove their worth to their broker, brokers needs to prove their worth to the agents. Here are three ways to you can use back-office data to strengthen your value proposition: 1. Insight Show your agents how much money they've made this year compared to last. Email them their expense statements so there are no surprises. Show them how much money they can make by following your brokerage's standards. In doing so, you'll give your agents vital insight into how your brokerage fosters their success.

Planned Technology Implementation
Have you ever tried to launch a technology product in the spring or summer? It can be very hard to gather the attention of your sales associates in the heat of their selling season. You can manage though it with strong leadership and support, but there is a better way. To the extent that you are able, it is a good idea to plan your technology deployments when sales dip. For most areas of the nation, that puts the ideal time for technology deployments in the October to February time frame. The exceptions to this planning are ski area markets or snowbird markets. Either way, you know when your sales historically dip. I cannot express how much planning is the secret to success with product launches. The number one reason why agents fail to adopt or enjoy a technology solution is their own failure to take the time to learn how to use it. When some companies do user satisfaction research, they ask two questions (among many others) at different times in the survey so that the responses are not intellectually correlated: 1. How satisfied are you with Product Name? Never used it Not satisfied at all Somewhat satisfied Mostly satisfied Extremely satisfied

Graceful Vendor Termination
System conversions are very difficult in real estate. If there is one eternal truth it's that agents will absolutely resist change no matter what. Even with MLS system conversions where the death of the application–vital to their business–is imminent, they hang on during the parallel period until the very end. Then there is a flood of complaints about failure to notify them or train them. It’s a way of life that extends beyond the MLS system to the brokerage system. More and more, brokers are providing end-to-end business systems to their agents. Over years, the company trains and supports the program. It becomes part of the culture of a company. Then one day, usually for sound business reasons, the broker decides to change vendors. Chaos ensues. Change is a recruiting opportunity When you see a competitor changing vendors, it is a great time to target your recruiting. License the system that your competitive broker is dumping and offer it for agents who want to come over and bring their system with them. The recruits can wear the old shoes of their last firm for as long as they like.

Avoiding Secondary Disruption With Strategic Design
A significant number of past commentaries from this column have discussed the various aspects of digital disruption, both from the perspective of being the disruptor and of being disrupted. The fact is that disruption is a primary factor affecting almost every aspect of the current brokerage scene. Most compelling brokerages are either in the process of responding to disruption or creating innovative disruptions of their own. Sometimes these disruptions are external and impact the brokerage's competitive position in the marketplace. In other cases, the disruptions are internal and impact management and operations. While disruption as a business factor for real estate brokerages is too new to have evolved a classic tactical or response pattern, certain matters are already clear. Chief among those is the absolute necessity that firms adopt and implement their own strategic and innovative course rather than adopt a response strategy that forces the firm to respond anew to each incursion of internal disruption and/or external market or competitive forces as they occur. With few exceptions, response strategies equate to being led around by a leash with a blindfold. It is hard enough to anticipate the challenges of one's own strategic intent, let alone trying to track and prepare for the unknowns of another's. The essence of strategic design requires taking a "total" or "big picture" approach. Brokerages that have a strongly articulated strategic intent set and maintain their own course. While the activities and actions of the market or competitors may require occasional course corrections, they do not result in major shifts in strategic course or tactical deployment.

Dominate Your Market—Without It Dominating Your Time
For real estate professionals, driving from community to community and personally nurturing each client from the initial meeting until close has long been the bread and butter of the business. And if you're like most brokers, you get frequent requests from agents on your team looking to somehow multiply their time and effort. They usually have their minds stuck on one way to do that—with the help of an assistant. Next time you hear this request, give agents a counterproposal. Tell them there is a staff of nine highly qualified, motivated salespeople eagerly waiting in the wings to help them reach their goals. The key to this process is new construction. Brokers can take advantage of the way many of these communities operate to help their agents close more sales and exert a lower level of effort. This is how the business model niche works. Select agents focus on new homes and leverage new-home salespeople to multiply their efforts. These agents don't drive around, taking individuals to endless properties. Instead, they find three markets (ZIP codes) in which to specialize, and develop a team of new-home salespeople in those markets. In each one, they work with a salesperson in an entry-level, mid-level, and luxury home community. The agent's job is to find new clients and determine which area, community, and home is most appropriate for the client. From there, the agent hands the client off to the appropriate member of their team and let that salesperson do all the legwork (and of course, the paperwork) from there.

Your Business Plan Should Be a Strategic Spring Board, Not a Dynamic Anchor
Today's real estate industry is awash in new strategies. Franchises, brokerages, Multiple Listing Services and professional associations are all using "strategic" as their new magic word. Some of these strategies represent bold and innovative steps into a new and exciting future. Others, unfortunately, are just updates and recasts of what their sponsoring organization has always done in the past. Fortunately, more and more of these organizations are opting to seek outside expertise with their strategic plan document. The key differentiating factor here is the difference between acquiring assistance (an amateur commodity) and acquiring expertise, the commodity that is really needed. Not so fortunately, many brokerage executives are electing to align their future potentials with individuals who have little or no experience with the concepts of strategy or are already aligned with a larger philosophical entity (e.g. a franchise) to which them have already pledged their allegiance. Many of these plan documents suffer from substance abuse. This is what occurs when the individual selected by the organization or company to facilitate their planning experience (rather than process) casually asks everyone in the organization what they think should happen, then gathers the leaders and executives together for a more intimate view, then moves the organizational pieces forward in incremental steps so that, when executed, the organization will look exactly like it has always looked, just a year or two older. In other words, Substance Abuse in planning is what happens when the plan document reflects where the company or organization has been rather than where it wants to go. Substance Abuse is what happens when a strategic plan becomes a task list rather than an expression of strategic intent. But interestingly enough, as great a hardship as identifying an appropriate planning professional, creating an effective planning process and giving birth to an innovative business plan has become the ultimate challenge in accomplishing a successful implementation process.

Arriving at the Fork in the Road
Guest contributor Jose Perez of PCMS Consulting says: Our industry continues to change and evolve; some will make it, some won't. Brokerages are finally making money again; some are reinvesting, some are not. We could easily see another recession in coming years; some will be ready, some won't. Many brokerages have arrived at a fork in the road. Real estate brokers should be asking themselves the following questions: Am I proactive? You should be focused on building a competitive brokerage now and over the next five to ten years. Am I profitable? Your financial strategies need to give you sufficient capital to make the necessary investments to support question 1. Am I willing and able? Consider if it is time for you to hang it up, or if you should be consolidating market share through acquisition. Currently we are advising a large brokerage who, as recently as a few months ago, was entertaining buy-out offers. Not receiving the value they believed justified their sale, they have switched positions and now are aggressively pursuing an acquisition strategy with our help. Their answers to the first two questions influenced the outcome to question 3. They decided it was the right strategy to consolidate market share through acquisition of a company that might not be in the same position.

Treat Your Brokerage Like a Sales Organization
I want you to think about two things; you're running a business and that business is a sales organization. Let's discuss some real estate best practices. In my seven plus years providing real estate professionals with technology related services, I've found (time and time again) more often than not, Broker Owners/Team Leads/etc. don't treat their teams like either. Today, I wanted to point out a few best sales/business best practices that you can adopt to make the agents you're currently managing work smarter and get more sales--and a few simple things to adopt to make you a better CEO (which, as you should know, is how you should be looking at yourself). Sales best practices: Have monthly strategy sessions Have monthly (minimum) pipeline reviews In the aforementioned pipeline review, determine if they are on pace to finish behind or ahead of their individual goals (GCI, number of transactions, etc.) Look at what marketing efforts are yielding the highest ROI and, conversely, what is not. Use this information to guide yourself and have relevant talking points in the pipeline reviews Hopefully, whatever system you're currently using, gives your agents the ability to see behavioral data (how many times did they view a property, where did they share the property, what properties did they save or request information on?) and use that data to have a compelling reason to call "Have you found any properties that are of interest?" Make it a "curious" call so as not to give the impression Big Brother is watching! Use this data to make intelligent and relevant contact. Have a preset list of goals going into each call.

Preparing Your Real Estate Business for Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)
Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) is being introduced on July 1st, 2014. This legislation puts restrictions on what is, and what is not considered acceptable forms of electronic messaging. Moving forward businesses must ensure that there is expressed (explicit) or implied consent before emailing or texting people in Canada. This law also pertains to those in the U.S or overseas who are contacting Canadians via electronic messages. Let's take a look at what it means to receive expressed or implied consent: Expressed Consent: The recipient has given you direct permission to email them for business purposes. This could be via a mailing list sign up form on your website, or a confirmation link in an email etc. There must be an affirmative action whereby the person clearly identifies that they wish to be contacted by you. You must also include the option to unsubscribe from your communications at all times. A record of this expressed consent must be kept. Implied Consent: Revolves around the notion that you are allowed to email someone because you have an existing business relationship with them. An "existing business relationship" exists where the sender and recipient have engaged in business together within the previous two years from the date the message is sent.

6 Business and Strategic Planning Tips for the Year Ahead
The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to think about how you want your real estate business to grow. From building a business plan to formulating an online marketing strategy, we've published plenty of great articles that can help you get organized and plan ahead for success. The articles below are a sampling of the best business and strategic planning articles of the past year. Take a look for ideas on how to succeed in 2014. 1. New View of Broker Social Media Strategy - by Victor LundOne of the key shifts in online marketing that has occurred over the past five years is the evolution of social media marketing. What is astounding is how far removed most broker websites are from executing baseline social media strategies effectively. 2. Did You Forget About the Data? - by Lorne C. WallaceWhen integrating one office to a new environment, the back office systems are often not the same. And, even if the two companies are with the same technology partner, the service level or menu of products can be different and will require some advanced planning to seamlessly integrate.

The Real Reason Resolutions Fizzle and How to Change It
Everybody loves a new year. It's a bright, shiny, fresh, clean slate. A vista unblemished by mistakes or regrets. A brand-new chance to make those changes and accomplish those things we've been meaning to do forever. Yet, undermining all this glorious potential is the hidden truth we're aware of even as we proclaim that this time we'll really lose 20 pounds or get out of debt or finally launch that long-dreamed-of business: New Year's resolutions are nothing more than fairy tales we grown-ups tell ourselves. That's right. If you're like 92 percent of Americans, you're not going to keep those resolutions. What's more, you know it. What you may not know, says Brian Moran, is why. "The number one enemy of most New Year's resolutions isn't feasibility, a lack of know-how, or even a lack of motivation, though those things can come into play," says Moran, coauthor along with Michael Lennington of the New York Times best seller, The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Do in 12 Months. "The No. 1 enemy of most resolutions is time." Think about it: It's all too easy to procrastinate through January, February, March and even longer. No problem, you think. I have over half a year left to do what I said I'd do. Even when July and August roll around, there are still enough months left in the year that you don't feel a real sense of urgency. Next thing you know, the holidays are almost upon you. You're still over your ideal weight, drinking too many sodas a day, working the same job, with less savings than you'd like. Too late to do anything now, you figure. I'll try again next year. Ultimately, says Moran, effective execution happens daily and weekly and on a consistent basis. To perform at your best, you will need to get out of "annual mode" and stop thinking in terms of a 365 day year. That's where the 12 Week Year comes in. It's a system that works for businesses striving to meet their goals—and it will work for you, too. Moran offers eight ways to get yourself out of the annualized thinking trap—and into the much-more-productive 12 Week Year, where resolutions do come true.

Rewind: Why Zillow and Trulia Don’t Matter Today
We're continuing a holiday tradition of revisiting classic articles from the past year. This article was originally published back in August. Enjoy! Let's start by stipulating two arguments: First, that every listing needs a buyer. Second, that most buyers find the home they bought on the internet. We might even throw in a third truism in real estate: a powerful web presence can bring in lots of business for most real estate brokers. All fine and well. Except for one thing: the market. It's true that most buyers today find their homes on the internet. According to NAR Research: It's also true that buyers like to use major web portals to do search for those homes. By and large. Yet the fact remains that most real estate remains local (most buyers moved less than 15 miles last year) and that local brokerage websites remain more-than-capable of capturing that buyer traffic. See the broker-revolt against sharing listings with major portals as market evidence of this fact (more here and here). And while there will always remain a large, soft chunk of the industry that prefers to outsource its buyer marketing and lead generation to third parties, Zillow and Trulia will hum along nicely for some time to come. None of which really matters today. Because it's not a buyer's market any more. It's a seller's market.

Business Strategy: Understanding Tech for Agent Adoption
Over the past 12 years, I've looked behind the curtain of many brokerages and spearheaded countless tech innovations and developments. One thing remains constant: If your agents don't see value in the technology and adopt it, your efforts and money are essentially wasted. Training and effective roll-out strategies are crucial for adoption, but there's a critical early step that is often overlooked. This step will determine whether your idea translates into a brilliant and useful tool or serves as just another bell and whistle that sounds great at conferences. You must ask: "Do your agents know they want or need this technology?" The most successful technology ideas I've seen implemented haven't come from industry blogs or innovative conference speakers. These ideas have come from within the organization, directly from the agents, and focus on helping them do MORE transactions in LESS time. Unfortunately, in many cases, the brokerage doesn't consult its sales force. You must engage your agents to evaluate their current needs, then use these findings to understand exactly what technology can help overcome these challenges. Doing so will allow your brokerage to present itself as the leader and ally in your agents' success.

5 Questions to Ask Your Team for a Successful 2014
"The power of questions is such an important thing," says real estate coach Mike Lindstrom. "A good broker or good leader is always empowering the agent to ask those questions." With 2014 right around the corner, it's the perfect time for real estate professionals to take stock of where they want to go in the year ahead. Last week, we featured five questions from Mike Lindstrom that agents should ask to ensure a successful new year. This week, Lindstrom offers five questions that "brokers should always be challenging their agents with--constantly, throughout the year." Why are you in this business? What are your goals? What is missing? What are your shoulds? What is your identifiable niche? Lindstrom was one expert selected to provide one-on-one training sessions to the winners of the 2013 HomeFinder.com Agent Makeover Sweepstakes. For more details on these questions, read the transcript on the next page.  

Have You Started Planning for 2014?
With summer behind us, the New Year is approaching quickly. Make sure your office is ready for 2014 by following the tips below: Create an Annual Business Plan Having an Annual Business Plan allows you to focus on what creating primary goals and focus areas for upcoming year. A basic Annual Business Plan should have the following: A mission statement that spells out your company purpose for 2014. Goals that your office will strive to achieve (i.e., market share, new technologies) Plans for additional recruitment of agents Plans for retention of current agents A master calendar with all of the events, sessions and meetings your office is planning on. Take the business plan you've created and use it as a foundation for choosing the direction of your brokerage in 2014.

More Brokers Offering More Services
WAV Group consults primarily with enterprise brokerages who offer full services. We frequently refer to full services as home services, not to be confused with the Berkshire Hathaway company of the same name. Home services refers to the variety of needs that a customer has during a real estate transaction and beyond. In residential real estate, this may take the form of Mortgage Services, Homeowner's Insurance, Title Insurance, Home Warranty. Some residential companies even offer contractor services, maintenance services, and landscaping services. Resort areas have brokers who offer concierge services where they will clean your home before and after your visit, and even do some grocery shopping before you arrive. Beyond residential real estate, there are a plethora of other product lines offered by brokerages. They include relocation services, commercial sale and leasing services, property management services, etc. All of these full service companies often operate as separate corporations or joint ventures, principally to adhere to RESPA laws. Perhaps the best way to connect these operations together is through data sharing. The more information that you can share with a partner about the needs of a common client, the better level of service that consumer will get. "An interesting caveat to this trend is that many of the MLSs in the United States and Canada have not expanded their data services to support the broker's need to handle property management data or commercial real estate lease and sales," notes WAV Group partner Marilyn Wilson. There are some who have, but most MLSs buckle under the challenges of supporting business models that are different from the residential format for offers of compensation. WAV Group firmly believes that MLSs should step up and follow paths that other MLSs have made toward offerings for residential and commercial business lines that brokers have today. It is a great way for MLSs to grow in support of their clients. Marketing technology provider Imprev released an interesting study today that confirms that more brokerages are focusing on full service, which they refer to as "one stop shopping." In a press release issued today, they note the following.