Is Growth Possible For You in 2016?

Economists are expecting 5% growth in 2016. Yet many of our clients are setting expectations above 25%. Goal setting is more than just putting numbers on a page and slapping your business in the rear, yelling “go get ‘em” while you stand there in the dust with your hands on your hips hoping for the best. Goal setting is about getting on the horse and leading the charge.   Before you get on that horse, you had better know where you plan to go. In business school, they call this discovery. It is a process for understanding the possibilities for [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:22-07:00February 23rd, 2016|Main category|Comments Off on Is Growth Possible For You in 2016?
Read More

Why Agents Should Never Use Personal eMail

I saw a news article recently about why real estate agents should use their personal email addresses. The article talked about the 10,000 selfish reasons why it benefits the Realtor®. It was a grand display of the underbelly of self-centered real estate professionals. I am here to tell you that using a personal email for real estate business is STUPID and perhaps illegal. The communications between a real estate agent and a consumer are subject to the real estate laws in your state. They are communications that happen under the supervision of the agent’s real estate broker. They are covered [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:23-07:00February 19th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|1 Comment
Read More

Fox and Roach Broker Site Sets Bar Above Portals

Love them or hate them, property search sites like Zillow® have set the bar very high in terms of the information that is made available to the consumer. I choose Zillow because they have hung their hat on an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) that they call the Zestimate. Real Estate brokers have built their websites off of IDX data. That started to change with the launch of ZipRealty and Redfin, which display web pages for every parcel in America. In this way, they are like the portals. Recently, websites like Howard Hanna have begun to do the same. Joining them is Berkshire [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:23-07:00February 18th, 2016|Main category|Comments Off on Fox and Roach Broker Site Sets Bar Above Portals
Read More

Be a Part of the Change!

WAV Group is a part of strategic plans very often for some of the largest MLSs and Associations in our industry. When conducting strategic plans we hear from brokers and board members that their organization is out of touch with today’s reality. So how do you get your board in touch? You can pay thousands of dollars for several of your board members to attend industry events. Many of these events can be very valuable for the content that is presented, the networking, and peer-to-peer learning. The CMLS conference and the AEI conference are two great opportunities for MLSs and Associations to get in [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:23-07:00February 18th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights, Our Services, Strategic Planning|Comments Off on Be a Part of the Change!
Read More

Union Fees and the National Association of Realtors

There is a lot more at stake at the voting polls this year than who will govern our nation. The President will appoint and the Senate will confirm the replacement of the Supreme Court Justice Scalia. Moreover, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is now 82 and is also quite frail. The candidates will be evaluated by the Department of Justice and they will appear before hearings of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Teachers Union case One of the cases that may be material to real estate is the case of the Teachers Union. In the LA School district, they charge teachers $685 [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:23-07:00February 16th, 2016|Main category|4 Comments
Read More

Brokerage Reputation Management Starts With Loving Yourself

Real estate brokers have a difficult time battling the challenges with reputation management. Brokers hire agents. Agents deliver services to the consumer. The consumer judges the brokerage on the service level of its agents. Brokers try to hire well to preserve their reputation. Around and around it goes. Many brokers to do not track their reputation as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI). They track unit volume, agent count, broker dollar, and so many other things. Only a few firms use services like Quality Service Certified or Real Satisfied or Testimonial Tree to measure satisfaction. Those brokerages who are following best [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:23-07:00February 15th, 2016|Main category|Comments Off on Brokerage Reputation Management Starts With Loving Yourself
Read More

California Regionals Breaking Ranks

February is the month of love, but in the case of California Regional MLSs, it may be the month of divorce. There are regional MLSs in California that are in the midst of breaking up. On the surface, this looks like an asymmetrical strategy relative to the regionalization monster that is devouring MLSs across the nation. Perhaps below the surface, collapsing an existing regional may be the first step to creating a New World Order. When most regional MLSs were created, Associations of REALTORS® funded the companies. They are for-profit companies on paper, but typically build reserves then run the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:23-07:00February 10th, 2016|Main category|Comments Off on California Regionals Breaking Ranks
Read More

iPad Listing Presentations and Relationships

WAV Group has been working with many companies on listing presentations. They are the Barnum & Bailey Circus of selling real estate. You know the drill, in this ring we have the home tour, in this ring we have comps, and in this ring we have why you should pick me. iPads deliver listing presentations with much higher impact than paper. It’s a great listing tool. There are a few tools that make the iPad sing that I really like. I think that Paperless Agent has put together a great series of education and applications that make the iPad a [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:23-07:00February 8th, 2016|Main category|Comments Off on iPad Listing Presentations and Relationships
Read More

Realtor.com Seeks to Win the Super Bowl

Last January, I visited Mr. Robert Thomson at the News Corp offices in Manhattan to discuss his plans for the Realtor.com. Joining the meeting were two senior leaders of News Corp: his chief of staff and his chief of sales. They laid out their targets for their new company. What follows is our report card for them. Clear Vision #1: News Corp will leverage its media assets including Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, the New York Post, HarperCollins Publishers, and The Sun to drive consumers to Realtor.com. Successful Result: Thomson reports that Realtor.com average monthly unique users [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:23-07:00February 5th, 2016|Main category|Comments Off on Realtor.com Seeks to Win the Super Bowl
Read More

Vendor Bonus Paid Forward

I had the strangest experience in 2014. A client sent me a check out of the blue. It was a striking gesture. It came with a phone call saying that he appreciated everything we have done. His business had a great year. It floored me, and my family. Financially, it made a difference. The amount was significant. It was not trivial – like a tip. More like the kind of bonus that people get that work at companies for a job well done. Of course, I was thankful. But it was transformative. This year, I went through a list of companies [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:23-07:00February 5th, 2016|Main category|Comments Off on Vendor Bonus Paid Forward
Read More

Is Old School Print Set to Rebound?

Print advertising and marketing has seen a striking decline. I love using the phrase that newspapers are like nursing homes. But that might be changing. Here are some thoughts. Years ago, I spent a few years working with a real estate magazine. We helped them expand into digital marketing – online portal, online advertising, agent and broker websites, etc. It was a good thing. We married their loyal customers to new services that escalated in revenue as print dropped off. The relationship remained the same, the revenue by product choice changed. One of the great boosts to the online marketing [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:24-07:00February 4th, 2016|Main category|1 Comment
Read More

Will Zillow’s New Stripes Cause Stock to Decline

WAV Group does a lot of work on Wall Street. We work with leading analysts to deliver research and insights from Main Street about what is happening behind company shareholder reports. Z is making some significant strategic changes and it will be very interesting to see how the market reacts. It may be poised for incredible growth or the slide the stock has experienced may continue. Media Company vs. a Product Company Zillow Group® has been traditionally valued as a media company. Purchasing product companies like DotLoop change that. Expunging MarketLeader™ after buying DotLoop is asymmetrical. Marketing tools like MarketLeader™ are aligned [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:24-07:00February 3rd, 2016|Main category|Comments Off on Will Zillow’s New Stripes Cause Stock to Decline
Read More
WAV Group | Copyright © 2024 All Rights Reserved.