“Most people don’t care about listings,” acknowledges Chris Somers, leader of The Somers Team, affiliated with Keller Williams Philadelphia.
Somers and his wife, Stephanie—along with 25 agents and five staff—are experts in marketing property. Last year, they did more than $100 million in sales, and are on course for more or the same in 2020.
However, “most people don’t care about listings.”
As a result, The Somers are big on branding, especially video. The group hosts Somers TV on YouTube, home to the program “The #SomersSofa,” in which Stephanie conducts interviews on the namesake sofa, a blue settee.
“Stephanie is the brainchild in terms of creativity,” says Somers, who was the 2019 Greater Philadelphia Association of REALTORS® president. “It helps from a branding and reputation standpoint. With our team, if you connect with us online or offline, it’s going to be the same experience.”
Recently, Somers chatted with RISMedia about the group’s marketing strategies, the local market, and more.
Suzanne De Vita: Chris, The Philadelphia Inquirer highlighted The Somers Team and your videos. What’s your secret?
Chris Somers: Years ago, we did five or six high-production videos that weren’t just property videos; we showed the lifestyle, with actors. We saw that so few agents were doing it. It helps from a branding and reputation standpoint. With our team, if you connect with us online or offline, it’s going to be the same experience. We do great marketing, and we do great client service.
SD: How do you come up with concepts for videos?
CS: Stephanie is the brainchild in terms of creativity. In Philly, there’s a large investor market, for example, and Stephanie and I have always invested in real estate—we’ve done a lot of renovations and resales—so our “Flipping in Philly” channel provides tips for other investors. Stephanie has been working on a buyer series and a seller series. Listings are great, but at the end of the day, most people don’t care about listings.
SD: Last year, you were the GPAR president. How did you first get into real estate?
CS: I had sales skills and a financial background, so I got licensed in 2004. My best recruit was Stephanie—we joined forces about the same time we got married. Looking back, our goal was never to have a team the size we do now, but the busier you get, it’s important to have more resources. The first thing I did was get assistants, and then other agents joined, and organically it grew over time. We have two full-time admin, an operations manager and a transaction manager; two marketing professionals; and a creative events director.
SD: How’s the market in Philadelphia today?
CS: I was concerned going into this year due to the length of the real estate cycle, but at the end of the day, the trend is your friend. With low inventory, there’s good properties that are priced right. We sell fast, and have a steady demand of buyers in the $200,000-$500,000 range, so I expect another solid year. Further, we have a tax abatement in Philadelphia which changes after 2020, so that could be another catalyst for a strong market, because this’ll be the last year for people to get the full 10-year abatement.
SD: What are your goals for your team this year?
CS: We did well over $100 million in business in 2019, and we moved from RE/MAX to Keller Williams. Our production goal remains the same or better, but overall, our goal is to continue to do what we’re doing—do great work and give the best client experience possible, and be instrumental in the success of not just our agents, but, more importantly, our clients.
Suzanne De Vita is RISMedia’s senior online editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at sdevita@rismedia.com.
