It’s not often I find myself speechless when approaching the podium after an introduction. Actually it’s quite rare. But rare too were the words of Mike Hickman, President and General Manager of Seven Gables Real Estate who spoke before me setting the stage for the rebrith of his brokerage.
I hope they inspire you as they have me.
Rebirth
This is what Michael said, in a nutshell:
If for one more minute you believe you can remain doing what you’ve always done and expect to stay in business, stop your clock now. As a company we are moving forward. All of us. We’ve resisted change for too long and that has not served us well. We will be changing our website. They way we market. The promise we make to our customers and the standards to which we will adhere to deliver on that promise. This is long overdue.
Michael cited the GM debacle, completely unaware that just minutes prior to his speech I published this post. He talked about GM’s miscalculations and their inability to read the tealeaves. GM abandoned their commitment to their customers and lost their way.
In no uncertain terms Michael made it clear that real estate brokerages have also lost sight of who their customers are. “It’s not agents,” he said. “You are our partners. And we both should be working together to provide services for the folks that pay our bills.”
I looked across the room. 200 heads nodded up and down.
Michael cited first quarter losses posted by a competitor and offered it to the group without that typical lampooning you would expect from a broker basking in the glee of a competitor’s misfortune.
Michael felt the losses as if they were his own. Aloud he hoped the folks at this company were also taking stock of every assumption, every expense, every agent and every process. And measuring it against a higher aspiration. His point was clear: The real estate industry as a whole must do better. We are all in this together.
I crossed checked Michael’s words, his emotions and the impact he was having on the room against the four key brand values of his firm:
Authenticity. Competency. Innovation. Creativity.
I began to think that maybe here, these things actually mean something.
Speechless
Michael then introduced me. I advanced to the podium and ditched my prepared opening statement.
“I’m speechless,” I ad-libbed. “I not sure if it’s due to the boldness of Michael’s marching orders, which are seldom heard inside a brokerage overrun by fear of how agents will respond, or by the fact that just about every single agent who works here showed up to hear them. And appears to be inline with them.”
My presentation laid the groundwork for what was to come next. The changes that will take place, what they will look like, time frames and ultimately, what Seven Gables is on the path to becoming.
As I concluded, I suggested everyone place a sticky note next to their computers, on their car’s dashboard and by their nightstands with the four words that define their brokerage brand:
Authenticity. Competency. Innovation. Creativity.
To make these words count, they must make them their own. They must live them. Breathe them. Own them. Measure everything they say and do against them.
If that happens, the results will be breathtaking.
- Davison
Twitter: 1000wattmarc
Local, Mobile, Social and the future of real estate
20 Tools to Bring your Real Estate Business to the Cloud
15 Ways to Make Your Marketing Mobile
I think one other word is paramount and is first in my book, TRUST.
Way to go Seven Gables, Change is Good!
I’m excited about the change afoot. It make room for people doing it right to ascend and gives the companies doing it “differently” the opportunity to change.
I am a firm believer in Seven Gables and the support they offer their agents but most importantly, their CLIENTS! We love and appreciate Mike and his vision for our company! Look forward to the changes!
This should be required reading for all Brokers! I don’t often print out blog posts but I printed out this one.
[...] Posted an item Joe Spake: Rebirth of a brokerage | 1000Watt Consulting [...]
[...] Rebirth of a brokerage – We should all take a lesson from GM’s mistakes and be ready to change, because things change. [...]
[...] Rebirth of a brokerage | 1000Watt Consulting – http://www.1000wattconsulting.com/blog… [...]
Marc: I couldn’t agree with you more, but you are preaching to the choir in my case. I talk to at least 50 and often 100+ realtor’s a week. It amazes me how many actually think they can somehow ignore (or in the least, postpone) the changes that are already taking place, let alone the changes about to take place.
Like, “I know I need to get with this internet thingy, but I don’t have… (followed by numerous excuses) will in some way buy them time and save them from the inevitable. All of us in the related real estate industries need to get out of the box and burn it down now. We’re all in a totally (not so healthy) codependent relationship of old broken business models. We ignore the simple fact that it took all of us to bring the industry to it’s knees. And, it will be up to all of to reinvent it.
Now that would be some real social media with authenticity and transparency!
I hope that we lose the ones who do not want to make the change. I get most of my business by word of mouth, meeting face to face and referrals. I keep them with technology. Now Google credits me with most of the address in my mls if you search by address. I sold a house because the the customer googled the address. she then emailed me a question, I showed it to them followed up then made sure the look at the whole area before they made a choice. When sending a new listing always make sure to send it by link on your site. get all the hits you can. The internet is Real Estate and you know what the say what is the most important thing in real estate. Location, location location.
I began my career in Orange County, Seven Gables was there then. It is good to hear an old-line company with progressive thoughts.
Aloha,
Keahi
[...] – http://www.inman.com/buyers-…Rebirth of a brokerage | 1000Watt Consulting – http://www.1000wattconsulting.com/blog… Social media and real estate – http://memphisrealestatebuzz.com/2009… from Memphis [...]