Takeaways from the REAL Trends Gathering of Eagles 2017

TRIBUS attended the 30th annual REAL Trends Gathering of Eagles conference in Denver last week, and it was an information packed gathering of some of the real estate industry's best and brightest. It was a chance for us to connect with current clients, meet new friends and learn. While it's impossible to convey all that was shared, here are the things I took away from the event.

Day One

The opening session featured Dave Liniger, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of RE/MAX, LLC; Ron Peltier, Chairman and CEO of HomeServices of America; and Hoddy Hanna, Chairman of Hanna Holdings, all sharing their views on where the industry is heading.

Peltier observed they are moving away from agents who view real estate as a second or third career, or a retirement pastime, and seeking those who focus on making real estate sales a career. He described how a church evolved away from Sunday services to Wednesday night services, when more members can attend and avoid conflicts with children's activities and other family obligations. Your company must evolve in the ways customers want, and think ahead.

He also discussed the movement for brokerages to own their own companies that deliver mortgage financing, title insurance, casualty insurance and brokerage services. Those who don't risk losing control of the deal and its outcome. By focusing on the total transaction, you can ensure the customer has a happy outcome.

On the topic of how new technology will affect real estate in the next two to three years, Dave Liniger expressed that "technology is just a tool." There's so much noise, it's easy to get distracted by the next shiny thing. He does not see disintermediation coming anytime soon. In 2007, Facebook and Twitter were new, and it takes time for new technologies to change the marketplace, and, for those services, change is now. He reminded us that technology is needed to keep the agent as the quarterback of the transaction, and let the agent see what's going on. It's "still an agent-to-customer business," and "tech is a tool." Liniger's next comments were a bit more provocative, that "NAR totally screwed up Realtor.com."

"Realtor.com is so far behind. [Rupert] Murdoch will do something great with it." He ended these comments with, "[The industry] should have owned Zillow and Trulia so we are not a slave to them."

Ron Peltier added, "the horse is out of the barn; we need to control our data."

Steve Murray, President of REAL Trends, reflected on the 30th anniversary of the Gathering of Eagles conference, and offered some simple advice that's applicable to all brokerages, regardless of size. He said there are three things a broker must do to succeed:

1. Recruit well
2. Provide tools so agents succeed
3. Spend less than you make

So easy, so simple. But not when you consider a brokerage's commission dollars went from an average of 31 percent to 18.5 percent. So how does a broker combat that? Hire young, newer agents because the broker will have a more favorable commission dollar rate, and coach them and provide the necessary tools for them to be more successful.

Murray also cited a California Association of Realtors Study stating that "teams want brokers to be their business coaches." So as teams become more popular, especially with business models such as Keller Williams', it's wise to learn how to find smart, talented people and teach them the real estate business, while providing tools and methodologies to help them succeed.

Day Two

The second day of Gathering of Eagles featured a dynamic session led by Jim Collins, author of Good to Great. The first part of his session was spent reviewing his 12 questions, which he encouraged all of us to download from here. These are thought provoking questions that I found fascinating.

One of the more thought provoking topics that elicited a lot of head nodding in the room was his twelfth question. He asked the room, "How many of you have a to-do list?" Most people raised their hand. "How many of you have a Stop Doing List?" Most of the raised arms fell. When you focus on the things you should be doing, the stop doing list can be a useful tool to keep you on a "great" path. When deciding what to focus on, it should be at the intersection of these three concepts:

1. What are you passionate about?
2. Can you be the best in the world at it – is it what you're "made to do?"
3. Does it make economic sense?

Things that do not meet these criteria should be on your Stop Doing List. Many people were discussing their Stop Doing List throughout the rest of the conference.

Another great session was the "Using Metrics to Analyze your Business." Many brokerages can use certain statistics to gauge the financial health of their business, and this session pointed out some interesting data and metrics to consider. Behind paying commissions, rent is often a broker's largest expense. With four different generations in the workforce, each have different needs for office space. By understanding the mix of your agents and their needs, you can effectively plan your space and decide if you need more (or likely less) space. For example, in a survey of why sales associates go to the office, 34 percent of Millennials vs. 12 percent of Baby Boomers go to the office to interact with staff. Fifty percent of the Silent Generation (vs. 18 percent of Baby Boomers) go to meet clients at the office. The chart summarizing these findings was presented during the session and is available in a recent REAL Trends whitepaper called "Redefining the Relevancy of Workspace."

David Colmar, of Colmar and Associates, a leading brokerage consultant, mentioned there is one main metric for brokers to pay attention to, OPA – Occupancy, Personnel, and Advertising. When you add up those three expenses and look at it as a percent against total operating costs, Colmar suggested that you need to be below the average of 80.75 percent. Even a few tenths of a percent below that number can make the difference between profits and losses.

If you're curious about your own brokerage's financial health, TRIBUS has a free, easy to use workbook called Management by Guesswork, which you can download for free here.

These were some of our favorite highlights of this year's Gathering of Eagles, and hats off to Steve Murray and the entire REAL Trends team for hosting a wonderful event. And congrats on 30 years of Gathering of Eagles!

Photos

Ron Peltier (left), Howard "Hoddy" Hanna, III (center) and Steve Murray during the opening session:

TRIBUS chargers in use during the conference:

To view the original article, visit the TRIBUS blog.