RISMEDIA, June 14, 2010—Staying positive and focusd in today’s market is proving to be a challenge for real estate professionals across the board. Here, Scott Gibson, President/CEO, Gibson International in Los Angeles, California discusses why it is more important than ever to remain positive and focused.
Scott Gibson
President/CEO
Gibson International
Los Angeles, California
Region served: Los Angeles
Years in real estate: 32
Number of offices: 1
Number of agents: 65
Average listing price: $1.3 million
Average time on market: 62 days
Key to time management: Address things as they come to you or else they will pile up. In addition, learn how to use the resources in your office to effectively delegate tasks.
Best recruiting technique: Our agents, as well as our entrepreneurial culture.
Advice for real estate rookies: Treat real estate like a job and be sure to get to the office early and work all day—success comes from meeting enough people and seeing as many properties as possible. It is also crucial to dress every day as if you are going to make a deal.
What have been some of your most effective strategies for working in the slower market?
A lot of agents have gotten away from the basics and have stopped doing things that have been proven to work, such as marketing and sending direct mail, so we encourage our agents to keep up with direct mail, as it is an effective way to stay top of mind with clients. Many of our competitors have stopped print advertising as well and have transitioned solely to the Internet, allowing our print advertising to stand out. There is still a large segment of the population that looks at the newspaper; print advertising has been effective in helping us promote our brand.
How are you working to stay one step ahead of your competition?
It is important not to worry about what your competition is doing, as it takes your eyes off your own vision. Instead, we have been focusing on continuing to add top quality, experienced agents to our team, as our agents will ultimately keep us ahead of our competition.
What is your biggest challenge in today’s market, and how is your company taking it on?
Our biggest challenge is keeping everyone moving forward in a positive way. We are working hard to keep our agents focused and to teach them not to look behind, but to look forward instead. We have spent a lot of time during this downturn building our culture and creating a strong support base for our agents, both individually and as a group, to keep them positive and focused.
What are the advantages to being able to offer your customers home warranties?
One of the biggest advantages to being able to offer home warranties to our clients is that they lessen the calls that are received after the close of escrow, which can end up being negative calls. We like to work with AHS, which has the experience and extensive contractor network to ensure great customer service, which reflects well on the entire transaction. Home warranties are a positive thing from a client satisfaction standpoint and from an agent productivity standpoint, and also boost the financial responsibility of the company.
