By John Voket
RISMEDIA, August 19, 2008-It’s refreshing to hear that in an albeit less than perfect market, real estate professionals are not only remaining positive, but also embracing the fact that time can truly be on their side. “As the Rolling Stones sang, ‘Time is really on our side. It must be a friend that you embrace, pay attention to and care for,'” says Roy M. Scholtka, president of Coldwell Banker HomeSale Realty. Here, meet Scholtka, and discover the other best practices his company utilizing in today’s market.
Roy M. Scholtka
President
Coldwell Banker HomeSale Realty
West Allis, Wisconsin
In real estate: 35 years
Number of offices: 6
Number of agents: Approximately 200
Region served: Southeastern Wisconsin and the Milwaukee area
Most creative ad you’ve ever run: We wrapped 18 Scion cars with company logos and had moving billboards all over town. We also hired the late Pat Morita (Mr. Miyagi of “Karate Kid” and “Happy Days” fame) to appear in TV commercials with our car as the star. People saw us everywhere.
Best recruiting technique: One of our basic strategies is based on periodically distributing our “agent update,” which tells the real estate world-and agents looking for greener pastures-about our company, its values, accomplishments and successes. We distribute these updates to every licensee in our board of Realtors.
Best online marketing strategies: Our marketing strategy has been evolving from print to online, recognizing that the Internet is the place to be. We developed our Power Shift Program working with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. We helped them develop their JS online homepage to display enhanced listings with multiple photos and video tours. Then, we extended that program to many other real estate marketing Internet sites.
What are your technology best practices?
We developed our in-house intranet for agents called our Agent Resource Center (ARC). Agents can find everything from forms to logo-wear, to marketing and training and much more from the comfort of wherever they are at this intranet-based site.
What are two fundamentals that you feel are essential to your company’s continued success?
The two fundamental aspects of our company’s success can be described by two words: attitude and action. The glass is always full and life is good. When we approach each day with that positive attitude, it is easy to take action-to do something. When asked to write a letter to agents of the HomeSale Company, regarding our affiliation with Coldwell Banker, I summed it up as follows: “Expect the best, accept the good and turn the good to great.”
How do you coach your agents on time management to help keep them on top of their game?
My view is that if your time management system is to be effective for you, it must mirror your personal view of life and reflect your thoughts, beliefs, emotions, values and actions. Therefore, my personal time management system centers around creativity, use of resources, multitasking and a bit of chaos. That may not sound organized or focused but it works for me. Since time is a precious commodity, one should choose to be conscious and aware of how one’s time is spent. Be sure to spend time on all phases of your life. Consolidate your time-do things for more than one reason.
As the Rolling Stones sang, “Time is really on our side. It must be a friend that you embrace, pay attention to and care for.”
