October 2015 - Realty Executives

October 2015
EXPERIENCE EXCELLENCE®
SEE YOU AT THE TOP!
By Zig Ziegelman
CRB CRS GRI ABR SFR SRES
We just witnessed NEW and IMPROVED Realty Executives International.
Ken Durkee and I just completed two days at the Realty Executives
annual Broker/Owner Conference in Scottsdale, AZ. What we came
away with is how David Tedesco, CEO has not only met but exceeded
our expectations. We wish that each of our Broker/Owners attended,
you would be very impressed with what has occured over the past 12
months. Since Realty Executives is our livelyhood, we are very sensitive
about the directon the company is heading, how they plan to get there and how long it
will take. In August of last year we attended a meeting in Chicago where David
introduced himself and outlined his vision for Realty Executives International. His
accomplishments in the past have been amazing, yet could he accomplish the same for
us? Well, what he achieved in only a year is amazing, the results have been
tremendous no matter how you measure the results! First the programs and systems
were greatly improved. He delivered an outstanding lead generating website for
Brokers and Executives with improvements continuing to occur on a regular basis. One
of the examples that was shared with us was an improvement that needed to be done
to the website that came from the field and within a week the change was functional.
This accomplishment had never been done before. The new CRM is up and running at
no cost for the basic system. Mobile marketing is being brought inside at a tremendous
cost savings. The cost last year was $110 for the entire suite of programs, now all
three are only $49 a savings of $61 per month. Additional upgrades are occuring
regularly and are not resultling in additional costs to the user. Customer Service has
gone from no service to where most issues are being completed in less than 24 hours.
There is a new and fresh look to the logo that is really exciting. You will see more later
in this newsletter. Wow, what a meeting!!!
See you at the Top!
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Congratulations Everyone!!!
Ranking is determined on “actual” gross commission closed through September 2015.
Congratulations to these Outstanding Executives who have achieved an Award Level
through the end of September 2015!!! There are 16 Executives who are so close to the
next Award Level, they should achieve the next Award Level in next month’s newsletter.
Double Diamond Award
1
Judi Starliper
Knoxville
3
Sally Love
The Villages
2
Debra Whaley
Knoxville
4
Debaran Hughes
Knoxville
Diamond Award
1
Sharon Bailey
Knoxville
9
Jon Brock
Knoxville
2
Carrie Dougherty
Knoxville
10
Kathy Abruzzo
The Villages
3
Jay Blevins
Knoxville
11
Jeanne Dukes
Knoxville
4
Cindy Wise
The Villages
12
Tyler Fogarty
Knoxville
5
Larry Bailey
Knoxville
13
Joe Fox
Knoxville
6
Tammy Garber
Knoxville
14
Ray Gaudet
Knoxville
7
Dick Brower
Knoxville
15
Ted Fisher
Knoxville
8
Aaron Fowler
Knoxville
16
Heather Pourchot
Seminole
100% Club Award
1
Tom Hughes
Knoxville
19
Jeffrey Jones
Clearwater
2
Tom Pettitt
Knoxville
20
Scott Shippy
Savannah
3
Sherry Paul
Knoxville
21
Mark Foust
Knoxville
4
Kim Harrington
Lake Mary
22
Beth Pankratz
Knoxville
5
Caroleanne Vorac
Seminole
23
Cheryl Hatfield
Knoxville
6
Ackerman Team
Seminole
24
Terri Kerr
Knoxville
7
Robert Sabrkhani
Lake Mary
25
Stephanie Wilson
Knoxville
8
Jackie Mills
Knoxville
26
Dave Moore
Knoxville
9
Quint Bourgeois
Knoxville
27
Susan Caruana
Kempsville
10
Ashley Finney-White
Knoxville
28
Kara Edenfield
Knoxville
11
Cole Edwards
Knoxville
29
Kim Miller
Knoxville
12
Amy Schlosser
Knoxville
30
Hope Davis
Knoxville
13
Team LaPoint
Orlando
31
Doyle Webb
Knoxville
14
Vicki Everbach
Knoxville
32
Jeanne Duncan
Knoxville
15
John Porta
The Villages
33
Christine Sparks
Knoxville
16
Amy King
Knoxville
34
Rusty Ensor
Knoxville
17
Malloy Team
Clearwater
35
Mark Murphy
Seminole
18
Purtee Team
Seminole
36
Jeff Larue
Knoxville
2
37
Laura Jensen
The Villages
70
Janie Diggs
Hinesville
38
Jamie Seal
Knoxville
71
Jason Fulmer
Central Florida
39
Furman Burt
Winston-Salem
72
Glenda Wilson
Lenoir
40
Julie Hedges
Johnson City
73
Lisa Hagerman
Knoxville
41
Chris Spencer
Hickory
74
Jeff Funk
Central Florida
42
Randy Susong
Knoxville
75
Teresa Hensley
Hickory
43
Julie Haines
The Villages
76
Ray Cooper
Knoxville
44
Wanda Hendryx
Seymour
77
Robin Myrick
Knoxville
45
Nicholas Nicaud
Knoxville
78
Donna Tallent
Knoxville
46
Nick Calvert
Kempsville
79
Ryan Fogarty
Knoxville
47
Daniel Parker
Knoxville
80
Christian Merrill
Knoxville
48
Chris Barnes
Knoxville
81
Lisa McCurry
Knoxville
49
Theodore Ciske
Clearwater
82
Forrest Murphy
Seminole
50
Nikitia Thompson
Knoxville
83
Stephanie Scarbrough
Knoxville
51
Lois Bonacci
Lake Mary
84
Kathryn Knowles
Lake Mary
52
David DiGioia
Cornelius
85
Danny Sturdevan
Knoxville
53
Chris Hauck
Knoxville
86
Pat Serafino
The Villages
54
Jerry Headrick
Knoxville
87
Chip Huber
Knoxville
55
Donna Bailey
Knoxville
88
Leslie Rotella
Knoxville
56
Bev Shive
The Villages
89
Tom Whitten
Savannah
57
Marie Gerrick
Knoxville
90
April Winters
Central Florida
58
Gary Koontz
Knoxville
91
Elizabeth Clark
Knoxville
59
Yvonnca Landes
Knoxville
92
Angela Cody
Knoxville
60
Laura Harrison
Seminole
93
Emily Page Pratt-Miller
Knoxville
61
Betty Cooper
Knoxville
94
Randy Temple
Knoxville
62
Donna Bosze
Kempsville
95
Eddie Perry
Maynardville
63
Steve Amburgey
Central Florida
96
Glenn Ryder
Kempsville
64
Pamela Zibell
Clearwater
97
Ron Gregory
Kempsville
65
Cynthia Stansberry
Knoxville
98
Phyllis Edington
Knoxville
66
Amy Goodlett
Knoxville
99
Beth Larson
Savannah
67
Carolyn Bolden
Hickory
100
Lindsay Dicus-Harrison
Seminole
68
Jerry Collins
Knoxville
101
Linda Ritchie Royal
Kempsville
69
Michael Cameron
Knoxville
102
Mike Murphy
Seminole
Gold EXECUTIVE Award
1
Kala DiCiero
Kempsville
8
Kim Isenberg
Knoxville
2
Christine McInerney
Knoxville
9
Kerry Queener
Knoxville
3
Michael Klanot
Sarasota
10
Phyllis Harrison
Bristol
4
Timothy Hathaway
Knoxville
11
Sherry Zirakdjou
Lake Mary
5
Don Taylor
Seminole
12
Kelly Bullard
Knoxville
6
Jennifer Honeycutt
Knoxville
13
Jan Ennes
The Villages
7
Darrell Biggs
Seminole
14
Gina King
Hickory
3
15
Tammie Hill
Knoxville
39
Sandy Black
Seminole
16
Sandy Jones
Knoxville
40
Stephen Johnston
Greensboro
17
Lynn Waters
Knoxville
41
Jeff Linginfelter
Knoxville
18
Terry Goodson
Knoxville
42
Property Seekers Team
Fayetteville
19
Dog Gone Good Team
The Villages
43
Elizabeth Hamil
Knoxville
20
Susan Calabrese
Knoxville
44
Terri Flynn
Central Florida
21
Donald Batho
Knoxville
45
Marian Henry
Clearwater
22
Jan Cole
Knoxville
46
Andrew Sharits
Knoxville
23
Angie Gibson
Knoxville
47
Frank Weiskopf
Knoxville
24
Denny Koontz
Knoxville
48
Alvin Sanders
Savannah
25
Jackie Price
Knoxville
49
Andrea Spires
Johnson City
26
Judy Brewton
Knoxville
50
Megan Stansbury
Knoxville
27
Mike Owens
Knoxville
51
Stacey Brandau
Knoxville
28
Charles Fethe
Knoxville
52
Carl Knudson
Savannah
29
Matt Craft
Knoxville
53
Tammy Gerdts
Kingsport
30
Nancy Potts
Central Florida
54
Brian Howard
Knoxville
31
Brenda Holt
Knoxville
55
John Melton
Knoxville
32
Gina Jenkins
Hickory
56
Kriston Wilson
Knoxville
33
Lynette Bell
Knoxville
57
Regie Jones
Greeneville
34
Penny Lawrence
Lake Mary
58
Margaret McGuiness
Knoxville
35
Igor Krylov
Naples
59
Nancy Alley
Knoxville
36
Kim Douglas
Knoxville
60
Cathy Delorenzo
Seminole
37
Emma Bea Stallings
Knoxville
61
Rodney Atkinson
Lake Mary
38
Lois Leonard
Hickory
62
Mary Butler
Seminole
Silver EXECUTIVE Award
1
Wendy Hoffman
Clearwater
17
Daniel Green
Knoxville
2
Jim Browning
Port Charlotte
18
Richard Crabtree
Clearwater
3
Elisabeth Bennett
Knoxville
19
Kathy Hersh
Kempsville
4
Pamela Owen
Knoxville
20
Dawn Kilby
Hickory
5
Eric Lukkarinen
Hinesville
21
Jill Dyer
Knoxville
6
Aleex Conner
Knoxville
22
Kelly Bolden
Hickory
7
Jill Piercy
Johnson City
23
Vickie Ricker
Greeneville
8
Stephen Smith
Knoxville
24
Noel Gilbreath
Knoxville
9
Carol Goodwin
Johnson City
25
Brad Knuth
Central Florida
10
Janet McGlohn
Knoxville
26
Barbara Lowry
Knoxville
11
Dave Bolton
Central Florida
27
Darrell Moore
Kempsville
12
Teresa Rogers
Johnson City
28
Tish Hickman
Knoxville
13
Jeanna Penton
Knoxville
29
Tae Harper
Central Florida
14
Ruth Benjaminson
Kempsville
30
Michael Veri
Ocala
15
Wesley Shotwell
Knoxville
31
Kim Litton
Knoxville
16
Pam Lovett
Hinesville
32
Keith Allison
Knoxville
4
33
Carolyn Matthews
Knoxville
72
Jim Umstead
Central Florida
34
Sandra Loveday
Knoxville
73
Martha Hancock
Knoxville
35
Linda Mieczkowski
Central Florida
74
Matt Hearon
Knoxville
36
Robert Berube
The Villages
75
Alan Long
Hickory
37
Linda Trotta
Kempsville
76
Brian Kincaid
Knoxville
38
Lillian Sung
Kempsville
77
Bertha Sanchez
Knoxville
39
Judy Collins
Knoxville
78
Karol Clark
The Villages
40
Kris Julian
Lake Mary
79
John Mansker
Lake Mary
41
Debbie Miller
Bristol
80
Tim Cogburn
Knoxville
42
David Roberts
Knoxville
81
Carolyn Francis
Sarasota
43
Sam Daugherty
Knoxville
82
Kimberly Tabela-Eastwood
Central Florida
44
Gidget Jackson
Marathon
83
Ellen Purvis
Watkinsville
45
Becky Sera
Knoxville
84
Beckie Colvin
Knoxville
46
Robert Saunders
Knoxville
85
Adam Sharp
Knoxville
47
Rita Gayewski
Bristol
86
Barbara Everett
Knoxville
48
Judy Rowley
The Villages
87
Elizabeth Frank
Hickory
49
Frank Melino
The Villages
88
Dottie Reynolds
Seminole
50
Jeff Bales
Knoxville
89
Dee Lowery
Kempsville
51
Adam Collins
Maynardville
90
Katherine Phelps
Knoxville
52
Doyle Hensley
Knoxville
91
Becky Hale
Johnson City
53
Lisa Vineyard
Knoxville
92
Bill Cox
Hickory
54
Jana Webb
Knoxville
93
Jackie Garland
Johnson City
55
Lynn Hobbs
Knoxville
94
Kim Bartlett
Knoxville
56
Kathy Caylor
Knoxville
95
William McLain
Knoxville
57
Thomas Jostes
Knoxville
96
Justin Hess
Bristol
58
Henry Fennell
Knoxville
97
Stephen Goodson
Knoxville
59
James Cottrell
Greensboro
98
Terri Mason
Knoxville
60
Carlton Purvis
Watkinsville
99
Jennifer Cooper
Knoxville
61
Douglas Ewell
Knoxville
100
Matthew Thomas
Knoxville
62
Brad Bollinger
Hickory
101
Janet Maloy
Clearwater
63
Paul Meise
Kempsville
102
Joanna Lankford
Knoxville
64
Sally Kamrada
Central Florida
103
Jade Isenhour
Hickory
65
Kay Winefordner
Sarasota
104
Eddie Taylor
Knoxville
66
Karen George
Knoxville
105
Nancy Britton
The Villages
67
William Long
Knoxville
106
Laszlo Kovacs LLC
Sarasota
68
Linda Mabry
The Villages
107
Elsie Yu
Savannah
69
Steve Davis
Knoxville
108
Steven Doty
Knoxville
70
Joe Davis
Knoxville
109
Walter Anderson
Clearwater
71
Ross Concklin
Clearwater
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EXECUTIVE MARKETING UPDATE
By Ken Durkee
Zig and I just returned from Scottsdale, AZ and found the
Broker/Owner Conference to be very uplifting. Here are
some of the highlights of the meeting.
Where Realty Executives started a year ago.
In looking at the picture on the left you will notice that REI
was using multiple vendors and you may not know this; but, the quality of
service and the response time to correct issues were well below senior
management’s expectations. The picture on the left gives you some idea of
how unmanageable they found the situation.
David Tedesco, CEO Realty
Executives announced during
the
August
gathering
of
Brokers/Owners that he was not
pleased with how the company
was using its assets and began
making immediate changes.
The picture on the right shows
the solution to his vision and
the action he has taken with the
firm. The new Mobile Marketing Suite will be available by mid-November.
Currently REI is receiving enhancement suggestions for all the programs and
they are being received and responded to.
If you have not updated your Agent Webpage, now would be a great time
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to do so. On the previous page is an active webpage for your review.
If you Google Dawn Cavaness this is what you see on Google’s front page.
You will notice three listing at the top of page one, the second one is her
Realty Executives website. When you click on the second listing this is what
you see. Now the consumer is able to search for homes in her area or
elsewhere.
This next chart shows us where the greatest impact for search engine
optimization is found.
Most of us knew that FaceBook ads have a
tremendous effect but many in attendance did not know that Blogging was
ranked so high. Here is the graph that amazed everyone present.
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We saw where individuals had blogged about something specific in their
market and the public searching for that issue on Google found the agents
Blogg which resulted in raising the agents SEO since the Blogg originated
from their website. The next image shows the results of an Inman survey
on digital marketing and where the emphasis needs to be. Take a moment
to study the image.
New Training Webinars & Videos
•
•
•
•
•
How to build a dynamic database
How to easily stay in touch with your prospects and clients
What’s blogging and why should you do it every day?
Take advantage of free online exposure for your office
PR and Social Media Classes
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If you have not been on PrimeAgent in a while now is the time to catch up.
It has become very robust. Here is an image of what you may see with the
marketing tab being activated.
With Mobile Marketing being operational internally in a couple of weeks all
of the Realty Executives tools and services will be integrated. This is a
milestone compared with the time when
these tools were operated by different
vendors and could not integrate. The text
message content links consumers directly to
agent websites. New Mobile Marketing
leads will show up on the PrimeAgent
homepage, just like the leads from Realty
Executives websites.
Mobile leads are
added to CRM. Additional info can be added
to a contact for use in PrimeAgent Broadcast
& Campaigns or Listing Alerts. Contacts are
automatically added to the Mobile Customer
group.
To avoid duplication, REI will merge all the
property addresses into the notes field for the contact. Agents can add
email addresses and other contact info at any time. Above is a visual that
demonstrated the integration.
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Certified Marketing Executive training is available to someone in each
company that has an individual who wishes to help others use all the
systems together. The training is weekly recorded webinars, how to videos,
guides and coursework. Below is feedback from those who attended the
training.
1. “It was most helpful to go through all of the websites that we need to add
our business like Yelp, Google+, etc. and I liked that we were given clear cut
instructions on how to do it.” – Joli
2. “The strategies and reasoning behind using corporate REI websites for
individual brokerages and agents, as opposed to self-hosted wordpress blogs
using Placester, etc. Everything is related to Google Optimization.” - Patrick
3. “Love the fact that the Training Center is updated and the whole website
is really starting to come together! I think it is a lot more user friendly and a
lot easier for agents to find what they are looking for right away.” Alexandra
Support Evolution: Future
Now more than ever when we hear about what is coming in the future, we
believe that it will come to pass. REI gave us only one topic for the future
and that was in the area of a Knowledge Library. Here are the topics they
covered.
Knowledge Library
• Build a self-help section in the customer service portal
• Content will also be available in PrimeAgent
• The most popular issues/questions will be addressed and readily
available to agents
I hope the above information was helpful and you were able to get a
sense of what the company is doing for us and the marked improvement
we have seen over the past year.
National Association of REALTORS
Industry Update Excerpts!
NAR Study: New Home Construction Trailing Job
Growth in Majority of Metro Areas
WASHINGTON (September 9, 2015) — Despite positive improvements in the
labor market in recent years, new home construction is currently insufficient in
a majority of metro areas and is contributing to persistent housing shortages
and unhealthy price growth in many markets, according to new research from
the National Association of Realtors®.
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Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says low inventory has been a prevailing
headwind to the housing market in recent years. "In addition to slow housing
turnover and the diminishing supply of distressed properties, lagging new home
construction — especially single family — has kept available inventory far below
balanced levels," he said. "Our research shows that even as the labor market
began to strengthen, homebuilding failed to keep up and is now contributing to
the stronger price appreciation and eroding affordability currently seen
throughout the U.S."
According to Yun, with jobs now being added at a more robust pace in several
metro areas, the disparity between housing starts and employment is widening.
In 2014 alone, the average ratio of single–family permits to employment
jumped to 3.7, while the ratio for total permits increased 50 percent to 2.4.
"The demand for buying has drastically improved this year and is propelling
home sales to a pace not seen since 2007," says Yun. "As local job markets
continue to expand, the pool of homebuyers will only increase. That’s why it’s
crucial for builders to begin shifting their focus from apartments to the purchase
market and make up for lost time. If not, severe housing shortages and faster
price appreciation will erode affordability and remain a burden for buyers trying
to reach the market."
The National Association of Realtors®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is
America’s largest trade association, representing over 1.1 million members
involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST EXECUTIVES
FLORIDA
REALTY EXECUTIVES Seminole, Lake Mary
Mel Bernstein - mel@mbrealpro.com
REALTY EXECUTIVES Lifestyle Group, Mt. Dora
Tom Clark - tclark@realtyexecutives.com
Sam Vetter - samellanor53@gmail.com
Michael Ramos - Michael@MagicalEventsTravel.com
Larry Spann - ljspann@live.com
NORTH CAROLINA
REALTY EXECUTIVES Triad, Greensboro
Julie Price - JulieSPrice@RealtyExecutives.com
TENNESSEE
REALTY EXECUTIVES Johnson City
Jordan Hodges - jordanhodges8@gmail.com
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NEW LOGO LOOK
In addition to the new look in the logo; REI
desires to reduce the number of logos we
use to something that is more manageable.
The consumer does not recognize that the
different logos belong to the same
company. We found out that if the yard
sign is different from the print and is
different from the business card logos, the consumer becomes confused and
instead of reinforcing the logo its impact is diminished substantially. The
original logo will remain but the ones that have come about since then will
fade away over time. The new logo is cleaner and has no boundaries. It is
less restrictive than before. Next you will see how the new yard sign will
look. Please look closely and you will notice that the new yard sign an open
house sign is cut out at the top to match the new look in the logo. Below
are some examples.
This is the new name tag that we wore at
the conference. It has a clean and fresh
look. It is very readable and the logo
really stands out. We took a photo of my
name tag so you could see what it looks
like. A darker background was put behind
the name tag so you could see that it is
cut out at the top. Here is the new name
tag look.
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