by Michele Gillis, Staff Writer
An idea that Prudential Network Realty has toyed around with for the past five years has finally come to fruition.
In an effort to move with the times, Prudential has unveiled a new model for management of two of its largest branches, Atlantic Beach and Ponte Vedra Beach.
The new model consists of one broker/manager overseeing both offices while a digital marketing specialist will help agents bring the latest technology tools to life.
Specifically, Don Cline will handle the jobs of agent retention, recruiting and agent support while Deb Moulin works closely with the agents to help take their online, interactive and Web-based initiatives including social media platforms to the next level.
They split their time between the offices and on the days Cline is in the Atlantic Beach office, Moulin is in the Ponte Vedra Beach office and then they swap.
It isn’t as taxing as it sounds. With the new technology, you rarely need face time to get what you need.
“It’s a lot less necessary that I am standing in front of everybody all 24 hours of the day,” said Cline. “It’s only about 30 to 40 percent of the time that I actually have an agent come and sit across from me. It’s done via phone, texting and emails.”
To further delve into the model, Prudential has also revamped the broker responsibilities to allow Cline to focus on his agents and their needs.
“Don is splitting his time 50/50 between the two offices and Deb has taken everything administrative and operational off Don,” said Christy Budnick, executive vice president of residential real estate at Prudential Network Realty. “He is not handing anything that has to do with paper except, of course, escrow reconciliation.”
Budnick said Moulin has taken all of that, plus anything having to do with technology or marketing training.
“We’ve created a position where that person has the ability to answer agent’s questions and help multiply their business by teaching them digital marketing,” said Cline.
Budnick said there are others doing this and they spent a lot of time fine tuning the idea so it would be beneficial to everyone involved.
“Various brokers throughout the United States that we meet with a few times a year have employed this particular model, especially when they have a very strong broker like Don Cline and a market where the offices are conveniently near each other,” said Budnick. “You really have to be careful that they are close enough so you aren’t turning the broker into a pinball.”
Budnick said there has been a shift in the real estate market, thus creating an entirely new dynamic.
“With all of the technology that is evolving so quickly, when you look at Realtors as a group, most are not real technology savvy,” said Budnick. “They are usually really great with people, great at networking, great at putting deals together and understanding the art of the deal, but they are not necessarily real great with technology. But, if you look at the buyer and seller population and 98 percent of them are beginning their search for real estate online.”
Though many companies offer technology training, the difference with Prudential is the continued support and training.
“Most agents go to a class and go home and start to implement what they learned and realize they are in over their head,” said Cline. “What happens to that technology? It gets folded up, put back in the briefcase and it doesn’t see the light of day again.
“This is what we are trying to eliminate. We know just by assisting agents to use the tools and even if they are only able to accomplish using the tools at 50 or 60 percent level, it would multiply their business by 20 or 30 percent.
“That’s what we are trying to help the agents with. They have all the technology sitting right there, they just haven’t implemented it yet. Most of our technology is so automated now that all we have to do is get them up and moving.”
Budnick said they needed to make sure they had a strong broker and the support and underpinning of someone who can help the agents not only use the technology but really make it sing for them.
“The key is to get your name out there so when buyers and sellers go online that agent shows up and they are found,” said Budnick. “Many brokers are not skilled in search engine optimization, enhancing a Web site to make sure that is drives up in results or in taking care of the little tweaks you can do to Realtor.com to make yourself show up more often. Plus if you have a really good broker, they are doing what they should do, which is recruiting retaining and training from a sales skill level. So, what we have done is we recognized that today if you are not showing up in results, you might as well not be showing up.”