Making The Switch
March 16th, 2007 Connecticut, Deeper Thoughts, Family Life
For those paying attention I jumped ship and joined Prudential on Monday. I’m scrambling to get everything up and running this week. One of the nice things you get is a free agent website, though in and of itself, it’s of limited use apart from searching the listings. Still you get 6000 characters for a profile, which just looks like a free soap box to a writer like me. But rather than waffle about my realtor sex appeal, I took another tack….
Shhhh. I’ll tell you a secret.
Brokerages don’t really hire agents, it’s the agents that are hiring the brokerages. When I earn a commission, I pay my brokerage a meaningful slice of the money I earn. In a very real sense I’m a customer too for every house I help sell or buy.
Speaking as a customer, I wanted to get a number of important benefits before I agreed to join a brokerage. After all, I would have to pay thousands of dollars per transaction as their part of the commission for helping me with making a sale.
I didn’t feel serviced where I was, so I went shopping for a new brokerage.
I wanted to work in an office with the #1 market share in Bristol and the rest of Connecticut. I wanted the easy path of instant recognition from a proven track record of success. I’m here to get it done, not reinvent the wheel. Plus when someone calls in to ask about House A and House A just went under deposit, it’s cool to be able to say, “hey we have House B for sale too, it’s a lot like House A”. It’s very cool if you’re selling House B. This stuff just doesn’t happen as much in small brokerages.
I wanted a friendly office. This may seem like a trivial demand, but it’s really not. A friendly office is of course more enjoyable to work in, but I also wanted friendly people answering the phone when people call in asking for more information on my listings. Working with an office of grumpy idiots slow to respond would unquestionably cost me sales. It’s critical the office is pleasant and helpful.
I also wanted to work with a brokerage that provided full one stop shopping for all real estate needs. Real Estate is complex. It’s really so much easier to work a transaction when instead of fragmented support, everything pulls together as a team of affiliated services.
Also with the rise of the Internet as a bigger and bigger piece of the home selling puzzle, I wanted a brokerage that had the best real estate website in Connecticut. It had to be easy to use, packed with information, plus most importantly it has to be able to showcase the homes I would be trying to sell.
However even though the Internet is becoming a bigger and bigger factor in home sales, print media isn’t dead just yet. I wanted to see some of my money turned into newspaper advertising. Advertising to move my listings preferably, though sheer volume is important in getting the phones ringing and pulling in buyers.
And not for nothing, I wanted an accessible office centrally located with plenty of parking. I wanted it to be easy to get to and from anywhere in Bristol, both for myself and my clients. I mean it’s real estate isn’t it? Location, location, location….
So let’s see how Bristol Prudential Connecticut Realty stacks up against that shopping list shall we.
Well, I could toss out some dry statistics proving Bristol Prudential is #1 in our market, but I’m sure you’ve seen our signs everywhere. Plus Prudential Connecticut Realty as a whole is the #1 brokerage in Connecticut for closed sales in Connecticut for 2007 so far. So #1 marketshare? Check.
This is a nice office. I made a couple calls asking for the inside scoop and everyone said it was good. Speaking now as someone on the inside, I’d have to say the office is professional and helpful. There’s a lot of smiles and assistance between everyone here behind the scenes. Laughter too, it’s fun to come to work. So good office? Check.
With in house mortgage, insurance, title and more, Prudential covers all the bases. Can you use someone else for mortgage? Absolutely you can, not like I get paid more if you use them, plus I’ll work with anyone. I just like that the option is available for in house service, why make it harder than it needs to be? Full service? Check.
Well you’re here at www.prudentialct.com, so I know you’re already impressed with what you can see, It’s polished, easy to use and really quite helpful. Plus every home gets its own website that’s easily found from the strong print advertising Prudential does. That relentless full page spread right on the center fold in the Real Estate section of the Sunday Hartford Courant is impressive. So Internet and print advertising? Check and check.
Located right on Route 6 in the Bristol Plaza. Location? Check.
So….
I already knew I wanted to work with Prudential when I came in to interview them. Remember now, I’m hiring Prudential, not the other way round. It was a big decision to make and I wasn’t pressured to sign up right away. I did however get given a temporary access to the brokerage side of the website….
Sweet fluffy bunnies. There were cards and mailers and reports and special flyers and guides and online forms and that’s just scratching the surface. I was blown away by all the tools available to build my business…. The very same tools I’ll be using to sell your house.
That was it though. I signed up. There really is no one else comparable.
