No matter how much “curb appeal” a real estate office has, its workforce is its lifeblood. As top agents in hot markets look to local firms as they consider transitioning to that “dream team,” assessing the tools a firm provides to help them serve more clients better, faster, and more efficiently is top priority.
Brokers and leaders across the real estate industry look to RREIN (RISMedia’s Real Estate Information Network®) as a resource to not only motivate their boots-on-the-ground sales force, but as an important tool in their recruiting and retention efforts as well.
Evelyn Ferrara, vice president of Relocation & Business Development at CENTURY 21 Alliance in Audubon, Penn., says she works closely with two recruiters for her company’s sales associates. One of the firm’s recruiters uses RREIN on a regular basis to shoot off e-newsletters and e-bulletins to specific recruits.
“She gets about a 70 percent return or open rate,” reports Ferrara. “We are always trying to use tools like this to attract agents, and the more we are using RREIN as a recruiting tool, the better our results.”
Diane C. Harris, social commerce coordinator at Century 21 New Millennium in the D.C. Metro Area, says she started using RREIN in late 2011 and saw the content as a great way to promote herself and her team’s expertise, especially on Century 21 New Millennium’s social marketing platforms.
“I manage how the company uses RREIN and we do all the training,” says Harris. “Our recruits and existing agents love it. We’re using the content companywide, at the branch and individual levels. We have new agents coming in finding it hard to imagine we give them all this content for free.”
Stacy Gross Benedict, vice president of eCommerce & Marketing for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty believes RREIN resources allow her company to immediately connect with new sales professionals.
“It’s part of our new-hire internal processes,” explains Benedict. “We add them to our RREIN communication distribution, which immediately connects and brands them to our company. As soon as they are added to our RREIN CRM, they begin receiving daily messages that are professionally presented and branded to the company and also relevant to the real estate industry, which they can read and then share with their sphere of contacts.”
Tom Skiffington, owner of RE/MAX 440 and RE/MAX Realty in Perkasie, Penn., says when RREIN was presented to him, he saw great value for his team members who want to learn “about what’s going on in the industry and how to help their clients make the best decision about buying or selling properties.
“We use RREIN to help create articles on our blog that give information to visitors and clients,” says Skiffington. “We use it for our social media; and we use it for promoting seminars and educational events on the Web and with e-newsletters as well.”
Ferrara encourages agents to use RREIN to reach out to their client base.
“Since the information RREIN provides the consumer is about our specific market, using the system provides a way to touch people without having them feel you are always prospecting them. That way, our agents become more of a source of information to them. We also have a relocation guide we send to our buyers, and I plan to talk about using RREIN to distribute our localized e-Guide as well.”
Harris uses RREIN in recruiting presentations, and once an agent is hired, she helps them build their content.
“They really like that,” she explains. “And they love the monthly newsletters; they can set it to go to the people they want and forget it. RREIN is even delivering content to the agent’s website without them having to do anything.”
