There’s been a lot of buzz about the Prudential Real Estate Services Convention down in San Diego this week.
Overall a great conference, though one event in particular hit close to Trulia’s home: the shut-down of our exhibit booth. Since we’re already hearing some real estate insider speculation on this unfortunate circumstance, we thought we’d clear the industry air.
Twenty minutes before the exhibit was scheduled to open, Russ Capper of PREA - Prudential Real Estate Affiliates (conference organizer and franchisor to Prudential brokers) - asked us to “pack up and leave immediately.” Reason for the surprise? Trulia’s referral fee-free business model is reportedly directly competitive with the PREA Yahoo! referral fee model.
No hard feelings. Frankly, this was not an “evil plot” to get Trulia to the show and then send us a way. Russ wasn’t aware we were coming. Business is business.
Kudos to PREA for picking a fabulous venue, because no matter whether you were inside the conference or out, sunny San Diego was a great backdrop for the dozens of positive meetings we had scheduled with our existing Prudential broker customers. Kudos to all the Prudential brokers for their level of sophistication and technological savvy. You are true professionals.
P.S. Can anyone spare a dime to bail out our Mr. Marker Men???
Popularity: 3% [?]
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March 20th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Convention drama sucsk! Have fun at the beach and make the most of it. Good luck!
March 20th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Wow! Maybe you can charge a fee to Pru agents for the leads so it stays in line with the Yahoo referral model.
Sami-I am going to give you a call since you will have some down time, so I can get those questions in and on my blog for my KW agents. Love the picture!
March 21st, 2007 at 2:22 am
What a maroon! Does anyone remember what happened to Da Vinci box office and book sales when the Vatican denounced the book? It made Dan Brown an even richer man.
March 21st, 2007 at 2:30 am
So either RS is totally incompetent if he really didn’t know that Trulia was coming until 20 minutes before the conference or he really did let Trulia fly all their execs and their booth to San Diego fully intending to turn them away just minutes before the show, which is in fact pure “evil.” Either way, PREA needs to fire that guy ASAP.
March 21st, 2007 at 6:34 am
This is extremely ironic, especially since Trulia was welcomed to attend and speak at the new roll-out of the PREA program.
March 21st, 2007 at 7:26 am
Don’t forget to check out the Barefoot Bar & Grill, it’s off the hook on weekend afternoons.
March 21st, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Well… don’t be too surprised at being shut out by Prudential, RE/MAX and other big national brokerages. After your deal with Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Southeby’s, and ERA, folks have to pick sides and for the non-Realogy brands Trulia is looking more and more like a foe than a friend.
I love what you guys are doing and I love your site, but business is business. I firmly believe giving my listing to Trulia would be bad for my business. Seems Prudential does too.
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:40 am
Hi Afthird - thanks for your feedback.
Truth is, we are fanatically focused on serving the entire industry. The diversity on our advisory board is evidence of this: http://www.truliablog.com/?p=83
Also, you might not be aware that some of the earliest adopters of Trulia’s model were Prudential brokers. See what they have to say here: http://www.trulia.com/testimonials/
Sami
March 22nd, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Regrettable and in poor taste, but not quite unexpected.
It is another indication that the battle for listings, leads, traffic, eyeballs and consumers is kicking up a notch.
Keep up the effort, you do good work.
Stefan
March 22nd, 2007 at 2:06 pm
I am a Prudential agent and was at the convention. I heard about what had happened and must say I was very disappointed. I mean–gee whiz–they could have at least had the sense to say no to your application at the beginning if that’s how they felt, or at least downsized your exhibitor booth size or something, but to just flat turn you away was in very bad taste.
Just so you know, I don’t think one man’s decision should be blown out of proportion as being representative of the entire Prudential network or its’ agents. I for one support the model you’ve got, and you correctly identify that many other Prudential franchisees feel the same way.
Prudential’s higher-ups need to learn that they cannot dictate or control consumer preferences and demands. People will still search on Zillow and Trulia for homes whether or not Prudential likes it. So our choice is to either fight reality, or accept it and do what our consumers want.
Onward and upward.
Aaron Lewis
http://www.weworkharder.com
http://blog.weworkharder.com
March 22nd, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Well Said, Aaron. One person definitely doesn’t dictate the will of the masses in this case. It did generate some great PR for Trulia though.
March 22nd, 2007 at 5:01 pm
The franchisors only occasionally show their true colors. So, let’s cherish this moment. Prudential flashed its fury against Trulia and Zillow with a spasm of insecurity. Too many franchisors operate in cultures of control that have cleverly designed to exploit their franchisees (the broker/owners). Franchisors have been able to charge brokers fees coming in, going out and if allowed, at all points between. Soon, maybe sooner than we thought, Broker/Owners are going to begin their embrace of open market business models and opt out of the control schemes that lock them into relationships that are out-dated, unnecessary and counter productive to both their existence and their ROI. The market downturn is finally going to help us all create better business models for the new real estate economy that actually empower broker/owners to take back the markets. Prudential’s tantrum will only serve to fuel more discontent and questions that will ultimately lead to better consumer-centric business models for the real champions of the industry, the owners. Donald Teel, Founder of e-Partner and REALonomics.
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:49 am
Charles pretty much hit the nail on the head (really hard too…)
I deal with similar situations in the Title and Escrow world with Prudential in the Portland, OR market. Because they’re affiliated with their own title and mortgage companies, they really pressure the agents to send the business to these affiliates. That’s fine, more power to them for building such a strong business model. My problem arises when my company is offering classes for continuing education to all agents in the area. I have to basically force the receptionists at Prudential to take the flyers and then I hear later from a friend who is an agent there that the principal broker told them they couldn’t distribute the flyers as it was a conflict of interest with their title company policies.
I think most of the agents are brainwashed because they don’t see a problem with what’s happening. To most of the rest of us, we can see that this is borderline illegal. The agents are literally being forced to use this certain title and mortgage company, they’re being sheltered from all the other companies info, and frowned upon if they choose to use other title or mortgage companies.
Peer pressure from management and fellow co-workers would make me very uncomfortable and force me to either give in, or leave the company.
That seems wrong in my book.
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:56 am
It’s all about you companies and you agents! Shame on you all! Now wonder the consumer is looking to sell their homes by themselves, or hire a Help U Sell Agent. Rememeber where the money comes from? Yes! “The Consumer” Now wonder why they do not trust agents anymore and can remain anonymous on the Internet. Thank god the Internet gives the control back to the consumer. It’s about time!
Get it together boys! Grow up!
March 23rd, 2007 at 9:59 am
Wow. Charles. Holy Cow. Why is it that the Zillow guys couldn’t give a darn about the whole incident but you Trulia guys are trying to make hay out of this? Nonetheless, it seems the actions of 1 man on the franchisor side clearly doesn’t represent the thoughts and opinions of the hundreds of brokers and thousands of agents. When’s the Trulia Convention? And will you guys invite Pru and Russ? HA!
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:34 am
Twinkletoes,
Clearly, the Trulia guys and the Zillow guys are taking the high road, for very obvious reasons. They need to kiss ass until they don’t have to anymore. My point, is that companies, like Prudential, need to called out when their cheap and petty behaviour absolutely requires it, or else you end up looking like a door mat and they will just keep on rolling over you.
By the way, the Trulia convention is year around - just send them your feed and your in. Big benefit? No need to go to the expense and logistical effort to set up a booth and then have some lame-o tell you to go home because they don’t like how you conduct your business.
-Charles
April 17th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
I have been trying to get my listing on the Trulia site for some time. Is it because I am a Prudential agent that is holding me back or does the spider crawl slowly towards me?