GUIDING THE WAY

Focusing on the Meaningful Role of Agents,

RE/MAX Renews Its Vision for the Future
AGENT TEAMS: A WINNING MODEL (OR NOT) Page 49
by Maria Patterson
88 September 2014 RISMedias REAL ESTATE
GUIDING THE WAY
Focusing on the Meaningful
Role of Agents, RE/MAX
Renews Its Vision for the Future
RISMedias REAL ESTATE September 2014 89
But what they dont see in online
photos or during a quick showing is
important, too. And thats where the
insight of an experienced agent is so
vital.
In recent years, RE/MAX associ-
ates have sharpened their insights
to respond to market shifts. As part
of a global network with more than
96,000 agents, theyve shared best
practices from all over the world.
Theyve learned through their own
experiences closing transactions
at a pace unmatched at most broker-
ages. Theyve taken advantage of an
incredible educational platform. And
collectively, theyve evolved as pro-
fessionals, never content with the
status quo.
As the housing market continues
its recovery, RE/MAX agents are ne-
tuning their businesses by nurturing
and strengthening long-term client
relationships. And the brands adver-
tising helps them, by illustrating to
consumers the deeper, more mean-
ingful role a RE/MAX agent can play
in a real estate transaction.
Beyond their Dreams
Visionaries. Trusted guides. Lead-
ers. These are the kinds of people
attracted to the RE/MAX system.
Theyre also the keywords behind the
2014 national advertising campaign.
Chicago-based powerhouse ad
agency Leo Burnett created the
campaign. Masterminds of some
of the most prolic ad campaigns
in the worldTony the Tiger, United
Airlines Fly the Friendly Skies
and Allstates Mayhem, to name a
fewLeo Burnett helped RE/MAX re-
examine its brand purpose.
The result was the Dream With
Your Eyes Open ad campaign. Its
a multifaceted effort that includes
television, radio, print, Web, social,
outdoor and digital components
all sending a consistent message:
RE/MAX agents are skilled at guid-
ing buyers and sellers through a
transaction.
RE/MAX agents are the best at
what they do because they invest
in their relationships with clients
as well as their own personal suc-
cess, says Mike Ryan, RE/MAX ex-
ecutive vice president, Global Com-
munications and Branding. What
you see in the TV commercials is a
heightened emphasis on the value a
RE/MAX agent brings to a buyer or
seller.
The ads tell consumers that the
right home is better than a perceived
dream home, and that a RE/MAX
agent will be there every step of the
way, guiding them through a some-
times complicated process.
RE/MAX has led all other real es-
tate brands in national TV advertis-
ing in the U.S. since 2002, and it
continued a strong advertising pres-
ence even when other real estate
brands scaled back dramatically,
Ryan says. RE/MAX ads drive trafc
to remax.com, and more than 14 mil-
lion referral-fee-free leads have been
generated and delivered to RE/MAX
agents.
Ultimately, those agents are the
best advertising there is. For in-
stance, Brian Teyssier, a tech-savvy
sales associate with RE/MAX Ad-
vanced REALTORSin Pittsburgh, is
well known for de-
livering exceptional
service in his mar-
ket. Hes received
hundreds of online
reviews from clients
raving about their ex-
periences with him.
For Teyssier, being a guide for
his clients is something he takes
seriously.
I
n business, as in life, it takes vision to imagine
possibilities and hard work to make them a reality. Its a
simple, straightforward philosophyand the foundation
the RE/MAX network was built upon.
That philosophy also translates to buying and selling properties.
Consumers from all walks of life work hard, save money and make
personal sacrices to achieve their real estate goals. Sometimes, when
evaluating what appears to be a dream home, they tend to see only
what they want to see.
To be the
worldwide real
estate leader,
achieving our goals
by helping others
achieve theirs.
Everybody wins.
-RE/MAX Mission
Statement
Brian Teyssier
90 September 2014 RISMedias REAL ESTATE
I succeed where others might fail
because Im available to my clients
when they need me; I make their
lives easier, Teyssier says. My on-
line reviews from past clients help
me earn the trust of everyone I work
with.
Deliberate Planning
Online reviews are an emerging con-
cept welcomed by RE/MAX leaders.
In fact, having the vision to anticipate
important shifts and the courage to
address them has always been a
RE/MAX strength. For instance, early
on in the downturn, RE/MAX Chair-
man and Co-founder Dave Liniger
encouraged RE/MAX agents to learn
how to work with distressed proper-
ties. They listened.
More than 15,000 RE/MAX agents
earned the Certied Distressed
Property Expert (CDPE) designa-
tionfar more than any other real
estate competitor. One of the rst
to seek the education was Marilyn
Kohn. She took the
CDPE course a full
year before an inux
of distressed prop-
erties hit her Peoria,
Ill., market.
When they arrived,
Kohn was ready.
The access RE/MAX gives us to
education, not to mention the op-
portunity to network with so many
seasoned agents from around the
world, is like turning on a re hose
of knowledge, says Kohn, a top-
producing real estate veteran with
RE/MAX Unlimited in Peoria who
joined the network in 1985.
Theres no better place to be than
at RE/MAX. We have a track record
and credibility that simply cannot
be replicated. The connections Ive
made with other RE/MAX agents
over the past three decades are in-
valuable.
RE/MAX associates like Kohn
have tailored their business plans
for todays low-inventory market in
which sellers have the upper hand.
Theyre adding new skill sets to their
rsums and staying ahead of mar-
ket trends in order to deliver superior
service.
In the luxury realm, for instance,
RE/MAX associates who specialize
in high-end listings in The RE/MAX
Collection are earning the Certied
Luxury Home Marketing Special-
ist (CLHMS) designation to better
meet the needs of afuent buyers
and sellers. RE/MAX agents lead
national real estate franchises in
the number of agents who hold that
designation, as well as the Certied
Residential Specialist (CRS), Seniors
Real Estate Specialist (SRES) and
the Accredited Buyers Representa-
tive (ABR) designationsall acces-
sible via the award-winning RE/MAX
University.
One beauty of the RE/MAX system
is the access associates have to
tools and resources that help them
Marilyn Kohn
Designed by
powerhouse ad agency
Leo Burnett, Dream
With Your Eyes Open
is the 2014 national ad
campaign.
RISMedias REAL ESTATE September 2014 91
our goals, Kelly says. That soul
searching, of sorts, led us to drill
down deep into what todays buy-
ers and sellers really need from a
RE/MAX agenttrusted expertise
and guidance.
As a network that provides the
support and services for
RE/MAX agents to live up
to consumers high expec-
tations, weve changed
the way we present the
RE/MAX value to the
world.
Two key outcomes have
since emerged: a strength-
ened RE/MAX mission
statement and Momentum, a com-
prehensive education program for
franchise owners. The mission state-
ment is direct and to the point: To
be the worldwide real estate leader,
achieving our goals by helping others
achieve theirs. Everybody wins. Its
accompanied by the networks vision
of being the right place for real estate
entrepreneurs who want a combina-
tion of independence, support and
unmatched competitive advantages.
Identifying an updated, clear-cut
mission for our company has helped
us become more proactive
in delivering what RE/MAX
associates need to contin-
ue doing what they do best:
listing and selling proper-
ties, Kelly says. A suc-
cessful companywhether
its a sizable network like
RE/MAX or the agent who
has a solo operation in a
small townhas to have a well-de-
ned purpose. Otherwise, its easy to
lose focus and forget the core prin-
ciples that drive everything we do.
Momentum training, introduced
at the recent RE/MAX Broker Owner
Conference, empowers ofces to in-
thrive in their markets, or in niches
such as commercial properties,
luxury homes or international trans-
actions. In a post-recession world,
that kind of edge is indispensible to
agents looking to close more sales.
Consider Dane Rickard, a millenni-
al agent who joined RE/MAX Profes-
sionals in Littleton, Colo., in 2012,
his ninth year in real estate. Rick-
ards reason for the move? It was
time to expand his business, and he
realized RE/MAX provided the pro-
ductive environment he needed.
Ive been with other national
competitors, and I
know the difference
between whats good
and whats great
and RE/MAX is
great, Rickard says.
The brand culture
fosters the idea that real estate isnt
about a single transaction; its about
long-term relationships.
Rickard, whos part of a RE/MAX
social media mastermind group, says
hes embraced technology to develop
his relationships. And hes done so
with great success. His presence
on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn,
among other platforms, gives him a
direct connection to past clients and
a way to plant seeds to attract new
ones.
I take cues from what people
are posting and invest time in cre-
ating community pages where I can
be seen as a resource and market
expert without being pushy, Rickard
says. Its about providing value to
my clients and relating to them on a
more personal level.
Redening Purpose
RE/MAX associates arent the only
ones reinventing how they do busi-
ness. RE/MAX corporate leaders
have done the same by examining
and updating the purpose and mis-
sion of the brand, RE/MAX CEO Mar-
garet Kelly says.
Our executive leadership team
met earlier this year to better dene
Agents Who
INNOVATE
Agent productivity is just one mea-
sure of RE/MAX success. Innovation is
another. Two innovators
within the network are Michael
Thorne, a sales associate with RE/MAX
Little Oak Realty in Fort Langley, British Columbia,
and Broker Associate David Fauquier with RE/MAX
Preferred Professionals in Bridgewater, N.J. The pair
co-host the live, weekly online Mobile Agent TV show in which they
interview their peers and real estate industry experts to provide busi-
ness tips for real estate agents. The show has a loyal agent following
and robust social media presence.
The show is all about helping agents improve their businesses,
Thorne says, noting that its just one way he uses technology and
social media to build relationships with other agents and clients. The
power of the brand ties it all together.
The RE/MAX brand conveys everything you need it to without
you having to say a word, Thorne says. When I switched to
RE/MAX, my clients congratulated me; they said I had arrived in
the big leagues. A business card with the RE/MAX Balloon on it is
the best one to have.
Dane Rickard
Margaret Kelly
crease protability by adding value
for agents and recruits.
This is going to change the way
our RE/MAX broker/owners open
the RE/MAX conversation with new
agents and help them reinforce the
competitive advantages of the brand
to their existing agents, Kelly says.
Momentum is adapted from a suc-
cessful program in the RE/MAX of
Texas Region, where participating
brokerages have seen substantial
increases in ofce protability and
agent count. Its a different and ex-
citing way to spread the positive im-
pact RE/MAX can have on agents
careers.
A Proven Approach
Meets a New Era
Dave and Gail Liniger founded
RE/MAX in 1973 with the idea of
providing professional, full-time real
estate agents with an ideal blend
of income potential, services and
freedom.
That approach, which met erce
resistance from critics in its early
years, has been successful beyond
the Linigers wildest dreams. Their
initial vision blossomed into the
current global network of dedicated
real estate professionals with un-
abashed entrepreneurial spirit and
re in their bellies.
Were not a one-size-ts-all com-
pany, and weve never tried to be,
Dave Liniger says. Thousands and
thousands of RE/MAX agents have
shared in our vision and adopted it
in their careers.
In that vein of visionary thinking,
RE/MAX wrote an entirely new chap-
ter in its history last fall when it be-
came a public company. The news
was met with enthusiasm and pride
around the network, and it bolstered
excitement for the companys future.
True to the promise RE/MAX
leaders made after the October
2013 IPO, little has changed in how
RE/MAX operates, Kelly says.
The Linigers control a majority
stake in the company and are still
at the ofce every day. The same ex-
ecutive team is in place and is con-
stantly looking for ways to grow the
brand and make it even better.
If industry surveys are any indica-
tion, RE/MAX associates are follow-
ing the lead and working hard. In the
26
th
annual RISMedia Power Broker
Report, nearly 30 percent, or 292,
of the 1,000 largest brokerages that
qualied for the report were with
RE/MAX. The Power Broker Report,
based on 2013 residential sales vol-
ume and transactions, showed that
RE/MAX agents at brokerages within
the study averaged 18 transaction
sides, more than double the eight av-
eraged by agents at competing ofc-
es. In sales volume, RE/MAX agents
averaged slightly more than $4 mil-
lion, while all others in the report av-
eraged just under $2.5 million.
Nobody sells more real estate
than RE/MAX, Liniger says. And
thats because we have the best
agents in the business. That was our
approach 40 years ago, and it has
never changed. When you give great
agents the right tools and unique
competitive advantages, anything is
possible. RE
Strong Showing
Heres a glimpse at the outstanding year of achievements for the RE/MAX network worldwide in 2013.
All gures are full-year or as of year-end 2013, as applicable.
*Residential transaction sides may include some leases, estimated to be less than 1 percent.
92 September 2014 RISMedias REAL ESTATE
15.5
average
transaction
sides
(residential only)*
1.41
million
residential
transaction
sides*
12.9
average
years of
agent
experience
11
countries
gained for a
network total of
97 countries
710
new
RE/MAX
franchises
For more information, please visit www.remax.com.
When you
give great
agents the
right tools
and unique competitive
advantages, anything is
possible.
-Dave Liniger, Chairman
& Co-Founder, RE/MAX