NARdiGRAS Redux
NAR held their annual conference last week in New Orleans and I’m happy to report that Bourbon street is alive and well!
RIS Media hosted the “Power Broker Panel: Managing in the New Market” where high level real estate executives pondered how technology is changing/helping/hurting today’s brokers and agents - and what they should do about it.
Participants were (all bios are here):
Brian Buffini, Chairman & Founder, Buffini & Co.
Earl Lee, President, Prudential RE Affiliates
Alex Perriello, President & CEO, Realogy
Jim Sherry, President, Innovative Solutions
John Featherston, President & CEO, RISMedia Inc.
Dave Liniger, Chairman, Co-founder of RE/MAX International
Harley Rouda, CEO & Managing Partner, Real Living
Arthur Sterbcow, President, Latter & Blum
Thought I’d share a handful of their observations:
Sherry on print ads: I think we advertise so much print, because you can’t measure the effectiveness…so it’s an even worse deal than you think it is.
Lee on managing in the new market: We need to look at things on less of an emotional basis - and separate that data that gets distributed from the value that we bring to the table.
Sterbcow on agent value: The thing I learned about the market [through Hurricane Katrina] is the importance of a real estate agent as a human being or connection point to another human being. No website will ever replace that relationship - ever.
Rouda on internet ads: 34% of all media consumption is on the Internet, but only 6% of all ad spending. In our industry that number is even higher with 77% of consumers going online, but we spend far less than 6%. There is an opportunity to reach the consumer online with the right message that’s untapped.
Liniger on internet ads: 12 months ago we spent our money on traditional real estate advertising - properties, TV, print, radio — several thousands dollars for first time this year went to online marketing.
Rouda on the market: 2006 is going to be much worse than you thought. But we’ll rebound by the end of Q2 2007.
Perriello on the media & advice for agents: I hope Harley [Rouda] is right - but one thing that we can be sure of is that the media will be negative. The market is not bad - it will be 3rd/4th strongest year for real estate and consumers don’t know that houses are selling. Of the advertising that you do, make 20% sold listings.
Lee on a consolidated MLS: I’m a states rights guy. You cannot dictate from above. It will be a disservice to the industry if we do that.
Buffini on how to deal with change: Agents need to get out of the passive mode. When I was 25 I could eat pizza and oreos and lose weight. In my 40s, I walk by my kids eating oreos and I see the shadow of my backside increase. Agents need to break old habits of waiting for leads to call. They need to watch their diet.
Speaking of diets, the next time you head down to The Big Easy, I highly suggest Emeril’s Delmonico restaurant; an iconic New Orleans restaurant, now with a Lagasse twist!
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Athol Kay said,
November 19, 2006 @ 5:12 pm
Rouda on internet ads: 34% of all media consumption is on the Internet, but only 6% of all ad spending. In our industry that number is even higher with 77% of consumers going online, but we spend far less than 6%. There is an opportunity to reach the consumer online with the right message that’s untapped.
Thats a great quote
Stan said,
November 25, 2006 @ 6:11 pm
My wife, Jayme, and I attended the NAR convention in New Orleans a week or so ago. I felt good about attending in a city that needs support from fellow Americans. We enjoyed the conference very much. My wife attended the management sessions, while I attended the Agent classes.
The past day, we toured the entire city and observed the destruction. It takes so many years to build out from neighborhood to neighborhood. In my opinion, it will take at least 10 years for the city to return to most of it’s original glory. Does anyone think any differently?
After Karina, many families moved to Oklahoma City. I feel very badly about what happened to the Big Easy. How do we help rebuild the city, with some much damage?
Stan McLaughlin
Stan said,
November 25, 2006 @ 6:19 pm
Athol, I tell my sellers that there will be an equal amount of showings the first four weeks and the next 5 months. A lot of Agents are waiting for a new home to come on the market and they show yours, and if they do not like it, they move on. So they had better price it right. What do you think?
Stan
Terra said,
January 15, 2007 @ 9:56 pm
everyone talks about placing ads for traffic, but if you’re an agent in a tight and competitive community (like san francisco) then you know placing ads is not only about the consumer…
i think the successful agent of 2007 will have learned to check their ego at the door and concentrate on online marketing. i think the traditional fancy pants agent who is on the cover of real estate times or all over the paper does not realize that the marketing dollars he/she is spending is going toward exposure within the real estate community rather than the consumer. if agent wants to be ahead of the game, they should ignore the “glory” ads and concentrate on making money. at the end of the day, he with the most cake wins. right? (regardless of whether the competing agents knows it or not)