RISMEDIA, April 6, 2009-Communication and creativity are key to staying in touch with real estate consumers at Prudential Prime Properties in the Boston, MA area. Company President Nancy Quinn offers insights into the challenges her company faces in today’s market and how to meet them head on.
Nancy Quinn
President & CEO
Prudential Prime Properties
Maynard, Massachusetts
Years in the industry: 32
Number of offices: 25
Number of agents: 343
Region served: Boston and Metro Boston, Massachusetts, Southern Maine and Rhode Island
Median sales price: $311,000
Average listing time: 140 days
When it comes to communicating with agents today…We have a variety of different ways. We have weekly office meetings, e-mail and an electronic newsletter, “PrimeTimes.”
The key to communicating best with clients…is to find out what your consumer wants. Not everyone is computer savvy, so it’s important-and I stress this with the agents-to find out your client’s preferred method of communication-whether by telephone or e-mail, at work or at home.
How do you keep meetings productive?
The management is trying to bring value to all of our sales meetings. We also try to keep managers motivated to bring innovation and new ideas to meetings and to incorporate going back to basics. We encourage out-of-the-box thinking and spend a lot of time letting agents discuss their issues, needs and successes.
What’s your biggest challenge today?
I think the biggest challenge is the general economic climate. Unlike other cyclical markets, this time it’s a broader picture, and it has affected a lot more of the world than we have witnessed previously. I’m concerned about the recent layoffs of higher-end executives, which may now affect the higher income communities that were previously insulated.
When it comes to recruiting, what strategies have been most effective for your company?
We definitely have stepped up recruiting efforts-bringing forward our differentiators so that people know the tools we have available within our company and within the Prudential franchise.
What has been the most creative ad you’ve ever run to entice sellers?
“Call us today to see if your home qualifies for Prudential Real Estate’s Online Seller AdvantageSM.” This is a program designed to provide real-time information to sellers by collecting Internet data on where buyers are looking for properties.
