RISMEDIA, September 22, 2009—Keeping your business running smoothly is a key goal to success in any marketplace. While real estate professionals around the country are seeking ways to stay ahead in the current market, it is crucial to create efficiencies to keep your business on the right track. Here, Keith Nelson, Designated Broker with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Executive in Bellevue, Washington shares how he keeps his business running smoothly.
Keith Nelson
Designated Broker
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Executive
Bellevue, Washington
Region served: Greater Puget Sound
Years in real estate: About 30
Number of offices: 5
Number of agents: 230
Average sales price: $399,000
Best idea for time management: Know how to use Microsoft® Outlook and keep it current. Update all of your devices and make sure they are synched.
Keep meetings productive by…having a thorough agenda and sticking to it.
Key to staying profitable: Know how to do every job in your organization so you can look for efficiencies.
Best advice for real estate rookies: Don’t listen to the nay-sayers; there is good business to do right now.
What is your biggest challenge in today’s market and how is your company taking it on?
Now that we have become affiliated with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC, our biggest challenge is informing our agents about all the new technology they can use to their advantage. We are constantly working to keep new technology in front of our agents and helping them learn to use it effectively so they can succeed. For example, setting our agents up with Facebook and Twitter accounts allows them to take advantage of the perks of social networking. We have also updated our website to include more Web 2.0-type content, which we’ve found resonates with today’s consumer.
How do you effectively communicate with your agents?
My goal is to get back to any of my agents that have a question within the same day they have contacted me in order to keep the lines of communication open and to get issues resolved quickly. Additionally, we send out a monthly newsletter that covers new hot topics within the real estate industry as well as new laws that have been enacted that will affect our business.
How do you ensure you always get the right listing price?
Be truthful and honest with your sellers and understand they have an emotional attachment to their property. Research market data so you can provide clients with information that will enable them to make informed decisions. Today’s consumer wants to work with someone who will provide good, personalized information.
What makes your company unique in today’s market?
Unlike traditional brokerages, we have never functioned with a traditional brick and mortar, “cube farm” mentality, but rather a “click and mortar” mentality. While we have always been efficient with centralized services, we have become even more efficient by centralizing most of our administrative needs, moving our documentation to a digital transaction storage system and setting up convenience centers for our agents to utilize 24/7. In addition, we provide a high level of risk management and tech support to our agents.
