Above, Tony Ketterling
As we continue to adapt to today’s post-settlement environment, real estate professionals across the board are rising to the challenge as they double down on their commitment to communication, negotiation, marketing and professionalism. To keep their businesses thriving, agents and brokers alike are having to prove their worth to clients more so than ever before.
Tony Ketterling—CEO of Salt Lake City, Utah-based Equity Real Estate—has done just that by partnering with Buffini & Company to bring its Certified Full-Service Professional (CFSP) program to the firm’s agents, brokers and staff.
Introduced to Buffini & Company at an event, Ketterling has been participating in the company’s coaching programs for 12-plus years—beginning with a one-to-one coaching program before transitioning into leadership coaching.
“For me, it just made sense because of how I built my business. My personal real estate business as well as my brokerage and my company are all about service, professionalism, taking care of clients and taking care of my agents,” he says. “I can teach my agents all that stuff, and as they want to grow their business, I can turn them over to Buffini. They do the coaching and training, teaching how to build their business and how to take care of their clients.”
Developed to help agents better navigate new market realities following practice changes that went into effect this past August, Buffini & Company’s CFSP designation is giving residential sales agents, managers and brokers an edge as the industry evolves.
“It’s a great way for us to stay on top of what’s happening in the industry and what clients are looking for,” says Ketterling, who explains that his decision to bring the program to his brokerage centered around elevating professionalism and transparency to set both himself and his agents apart from the crowd.
“The big thing for me is not only bringing in more business, but being able to have that transparency with the clients,” he says. “We grow a lot more because of that, because clients then respect that we’re being professional. There’s nothing hidden. That’s very important to us.”
Circling back to the NAR settlement and practice changes, Ketterling adds that while agents have always been careful when it comes to following the rules, training can help ensure that the path forward is laid out clearly.
“With the lawsuits and everything, it’s not that we were never careful,” says Ketterling. “We were always explaining stuff, but sometimes agents need a little more training as far as how to share the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of being paid and getting the job done with the client.”
In a day and age when being professional is mission-critical, Ketterling feels it’s important that his brokers and agents continue to raise the bar by earning the CFSP designation.
“Our company is really pushing for that professional agent as it helps the consumer,” he says.
Out of the many companies in the industry offering training programs, Ketterling points to Buffini & Company as one of the best because they truly care about the consumer.
“Their client is the agent and the broker—just like my agents and brokers are my clients—but the end product is we have to make the consumer happy,” concluded Ketterling. “And if they’re happy, we’re all happy.”
For more information, please visit https://www.buffini.com/cfsp.
