When is the Last Time you did a Media Audit?

African-American novelist, playwright, poet, and social critic James Baldwin put it best: “Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.” That sage advice is at the heart of why every organization benefits from a Media Audit. Never heard of a Media Audit? You are clearly not alone, because despite its enormous value and incredible insight for business and communications objectives, most companies don’t use them. What is a Media Audit? A Media Audit is a survey – a deep dive into how a company and its competitors communicate, [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:53-07:00March 28th, 2017|Main category, Our Services|Comments Off on When is the Last Time you did a Media Audit?
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What Does $1 Billion Look Like?

Last year HomesUSA.com’s Ben Caballero, who has been atop of the REAL Trends/WSJ “The Thousand” list of real estate agent rankings for both total dollar volume and number of transactions since 2013, became the “World’s First Billion Dollar Producer.” It’s a feat that’s hard to get our heads around because we toss around the term “billion” so frequently we forget how truly breathtaking this accomplishment is. From a PR point-of-view, it presented a significant challenge in finding a way to put what Ben had done in the proper perspective. That was the test we faced at WAV Group Communications when [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:54-07:00March 10th, 2017|Main category|Comments Off on What Does $1 Billion Look Like?
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Big Brokers Need To Stake Their Claim Or Risk Annihilation

The start of 2017 has been like no other in real estate. We have just completed our cycle of strategic planning for brokers in real estate and every large broker is facing the same issues. Remember the folklore about the dodo bird. The species lived in a world that was so plentiful; it lost its ability to fly. In the end, that was its undoing. If large firms are not careful, they could walk off the same cliff. Small Firms Are Out Recruiting Large Firms Large real estate firms have become easy recruiting targets for small firms. The big guys [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:54-07:00March 9th, 2017|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Recruiting|Comments Off on Big Brokers Need To Stake Their Claim Or Risk Annihilation
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Zillow Improves Broker Programs

Zillow Group, which includes the websites of Zillow and Trulia have landed on a broker strategy for marketing that works. Zillow Group, which includes the websites of Zillow and Trulia have landed on a broker strategy for marketing that works. Featured listings are dead, and have been replaced with a product to advertise in ways that drive the largest margin opportunity for a brokerage firm – leads to eTeams and Relocation. I call this “shared display,” where the brokerage and agent are clearly displayed and may be contacted – easily understood as “your listing, same leads.” This functionality works equally well [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:55-07:00February 15th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on Zillow Improves Broker Programs
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Merle Whitehead – Follow The Leader Series

Our Follow The Leader Series is an effort to write about the best ideas and best practices of great leaders in our industry who are raising the bar.  In this episode, I am grateful to share the inspirational story of Merle Whitehead, a gentleman who grew America’s 9th largest real estate firm, Realty USA. The intention is to share some background on centers of excellence in real estate that others can be inspired by. Early Career Start Merle Whitehead calls the Buffalo, NY area of Western New York his home. He started his career selling clothing on commission and came [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:55-07:00February 15th, 2017|Main category|Comments Off on Merle Whitehead – Follow The Leader Series
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Why a Smart Home is also a Danger Zone

A most provocative talk about Smart Homes and the dangers of the IoT (Internet of Things) kicked-off the first Hacker Connect in New York City last week. Molly Sauter, a PhD candidate and Vanier Scholar from Montreal’s McGill University, gave a presentation that scared the crap out of me when she dove into the dangers of today’s Smart Home. Now I’ve been a fan and even early adopter of affordable Smart Home tech: in the late 1980s, I had a wireless alarm system from Radio Shack and switches that allowed me to turn on lights with a remote. But that [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:56-07:00January 31st, 2017|Main category|Comments Off on Why a Smart Home is also a Danger Zone
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NYC Party Next Week – Hamilton

Every year a bunch of us industry road warriors get together while we are in NYC to have an late night off campus party. This year, we will be meeting up at Tonic West. And as usual, John Heithaus has pulled together some of the best NYC musicians who will be playing a few sets of good old rock and roll along with some features from the hit musical Hamilton. Because it is a private underground event, only a few people have tickets. If you want to come reach out to your friends at one of the following companies: Realtor.com, [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:57-07:00January 11th, 2017|Main category|Comments Off on NYC Party Next Week – Hamilton
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2017 Inman Influencers List, SP200 Honors WAV Group Clients and Leaders

The impact of the annual reveal of both the Inman Influencer List and the Swanepoel Power 200 is like a social media cannon shot: you can hear the buzz everywhere. The fact that this year, these leadership lists were released nearly simultaneously makes the buzz near deafening. The rush you get seeing your name on either – and in some cases, both – of these prestigious lists never gets old. And nor does the surprise of discovering those who are “missing” – exceptionally worthy influencers and incredibly powerful leaders who didn’t make either list. For many, it must be a [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:57-07:00January 6th, 2017|Main category, Suveys and Research|Comments Off on 2017 Inman Influencers List, SP200 Honors WAV Group Clients and Leaders
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Should Brokers Do REALTOR Background Checks

Too often, brokers and managers get caught up in recruiting goals that they skip some basic best practices – Background Checks, Customer Satisfaction Checks, etc. Perhaps agents should be checking out the backgrounds of their broker too. Before the New Year, Todd Kohlhepp, a real estate broker was linked to 7 murders and a kidnapping. Todd was the broker in charge of TKA Real Estate. Inman news reported that the guy had spent 14 years in jail for kidnapping a 14-year-old girl. Of course – his agent ratings on popular listing syndication websites gave glowing reviews. (The agent has been [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:58-07:00January 4th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Main category|Comments Off on Should Brokers Do REALTOR Background Checks
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How Will You Expand in 2017?

Businesses have a simple strategy – MORE! If you are brokerage, you want more revenue. To get more revenue you need more transactions. If you want more transactions, you need more productivity per agent, or more agents. If you are an MLS or a technology company, you want more subscribers. More, More, More. The problem with more is that it typically does not involve listening to your current customers. In real estate, that means listening to customers. WAV Group is always astounded at the lack of focus groups and customer surveys in our industry. To our knowledge, we are the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:59-07:00January 3rd, 2017|Main category|Comments Off on How Will You Expand in 2017?
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Companies Are Not Designed to Merge

WAV Group has participated and observed the mass amounts of merger activity that has hit a high pitch in 2016. It is happening at all levels of our industry – agents merging into teams, brokers merging into mega brokers, Association of REALTORS® mergers, and MLS mergers. Based upon our work schedule for Q1 of 2017, this trend does not seem to have any ebb in sight. WAV Group will facilitate more M&A activity in Q1 than any other quarter in our firm’s history. Company founders and Boards of Directors are often not open-minded about mergers. The first reaction to a [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:59-07:00January 3rd, 2017|Main category|Comments Off on Companies Are Not Designed to Merge
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Send Your Techies to Inman Hacker Connect

WAV Group is sponsoring Inman Hacker Connect. It is a one day conference for your product managers and technology staff. For this group of constituents, this may be the best one day event of the year. Our sponsorship does not pay the whole fee, but we are paying for a lot of it. Please take advantage. Reasons to Send Them Technology is always changing, but real estate technology is going to have a revolution in 2017 with the widespread availability of the RESO Web API and other APIs. Today, there are only a handful of technology firms developing around our [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:59-07:00December 20th, 2016|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Send Your Techies to Inman Hacker Connect
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