In the following interview, B. John Duffy, broker/owner of Duffy Real Estate, a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE) in Narberth, Pa., discusses the advantages of the global network, community involvement, and more.
Region Served: Greater Philadelphia
Years in Real Estate: 46
Number of Offices: 2
Number of Agents: 32
Best Tip for Getting the Right Listing Price: Bring a number of knowledgeable agents together, review the listing, then reach an appropriate price as a team.
No. 1 Tip for Running a Successful Agency Meeting: Use meetings as workshops and get everyone involved.
Most Creative Ad, Promotion or Marketing Campaign You’ve Ever Run: We’re getting a lot of attention with our current 40th anniversary celebration marketing.
As a family business, you must be interested in supporting the various communities where your team works.
We pride ourselves on our community involvement. Every one of our agents is involved in volunteerism or community causes privately, and, as a company, we look for opportunities to support community groups, from local basketball and baseball leagues to human service agencies. Recently, one of our agents heard about a cause trying to buy 40 bikes for kids who didn’t have one. When we heard they were 20 bikes short, we stepped in and took care of getting them the remaining bikes.
You must also be very selective when it comes to the agents you want representing the company.
While we continue to grow and hire new agents, we also benefit from our veteran agents—some of whom have been with the company for 38 years. When we bring in someone new, we match them with an experienced agent who works with them on three or four transactions before they work independently on one of their own leads. Our new agents aren’t made to feel like they have to compete. At our offices, no individual agent is greater than the sum of all our parts. We support one another completely and put our company out there as a team.
What are a few key advantages of being part of the LeadingRE network?
First and foremost, there’s no better relocation network in the world than LeadingRE, as far as I can tell. And while we may be a relatively small company, as part of LeadingRE, we have a global presence. They help us connect to top firms around the world, which gives us a distinct market advantage.
How have you benefited as a broker/owner after joining LeadingRE?
I find that I’m networking and learning a lot from other LeadingRE REALTORS® and brokers. In fact, there’s a lot of sharing that helps us all do better. I’ve had conversations with others about the same challenges we’re experiencing and have learned how to overcome those challenges. I also get great ideas for our company when I see another LeadingRE broker/owner doing something better than we are. Additionally, I’m big on conference calls with other LeadingRE partners because, like our company sales meetings, it’s like having a workshop where we learn things to help our individual companies.
For more information, please visit www.leadingre.com.
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