Staying Power

ERA Real Estate prepares for growth with the right strategies

By John Voket

RISMEDIA, April 9, 2007-When a company's motto is, "Always There for You," it has a high standard of consistency to live up to. Thanks to its dynamic suite of management tools and educational initiatives, which prepare its brokers and agents for both short- and long-term success, ERA Real Estate is confident that it has the right strategies in place to ensure that their success in 2006 will continue into the coming years.

In 2006, ERA Real Estate franchises enjoyed substantial growth, both domestically and internationally. New franchises joined the corporate family while existing affiliates expanded organically and through mergers and acquisitions. This growth, according to the Parsippany, New Jersey-based firm, is directly attributable to the company's cutting-edge programs and tools, which are continually enhanced to reflect evolving market conditions and trends.

It's a cycle of mutual benefit: by implementing ERA tools and systems, ERA affiliates strengthen the very system that supports their individual business activities.

"Through ‘first and only' tools and programs, ERA Real Estate continues to create an environment where dynamic market conditions are turned into a competitive advantage for our affiliates," notes Brenda W. Casserly, president and CEO, ERA Franchise Systems, Inc. "By thoroughly understanding the needs and wants of buyers and sellers, market conditions and our affiliates' business goals and objectives, we are in a unique position to deliver a customized roadmap that aligns tremendous resources with the business goals of our partners."

Bringing New Affiliates into the Fold
ERA Real Estate attributes much of its success to the care with which it brings new firms into the fold. When welcoming a new affiliate, ERA Real Estate quickly and efficiently transitions the company into the ERA system, explains ERA Franchise Systems, Inc. COO Judy Green. This transition process includes building a business plan that integrates each new partner into the broader ERA system and provides everyone involved with the right training.

"Each business plan is tailored to meet the specific needs of the new affiliate, for example by including merger and acquisition plans or new office and niche market initiatives," explains Green. In addition, research partners, called Discovery Teams, can be assembled to perform an in-depth analysis of a new affiliate's current business conditions. Discovery Teams analyze financials, conduct agent surveys, and review past practices in order to develop customized strategies for achieving maximum growth in a company's individual market.

ERA Franchise Systems, Inc. Regional Vice President Jeff Riber helps facilitate the integration process for new affiliates by determining their growth potential and developing mutual goals.

"When a broker prospect is considering our system," says Riber, "they see not only the immense amount of experience we can bring to them, but also the tools we offer. My reviews with the brokers typically start with the financial side of things before turning to agent productivity issues. This, in turn, leads us into talking about how our tools and systems can target their needs."

According to Riber, affiliates look to ERA Real Estate for advice on how to make the best use of the company's tools and systems to help them build their businesses. By comparing their current performance against industry statistics, ERA Real Estate can determine what their issues may be and offer a proven series of programs to improve outcomes.

The Technology to Make it all Happen

ERA Real Estate's strong technological platform allows it to implement strategies for growth quickly and effectively. Its IT system and the level of support it provides to associated brokers, agents and clients distinguishes ERA Real Estate from its competitors.

ERA Real Estate continues to break new ground with TeamERA.com, its award winning intranet site delivering functionality and timely content about products, programs and services to its brokers and agents. For example, through TeamERA.com, ERA Real Estate's partners can use programs and tools at their discretion. Affiliates taking advantage of these tools contributed to a 320% increase in user sessions and a 287% increase in pages viewed on TeamERA.com in 2006.

One of the best new front-line tools ERA Real Estate offers its affiliates is the Quick Market Presentation (QMP). QMP allows agents-both new and established-to concisely add information about ERA products and services to their marketing presentations.

ERA Real Estate's technology also helps consumers to navigate its services, for example by integrating current trends, such as text messaging. Through the introduction of "TXT ERA," consumers can text message a property ID number to TXT ERA or 898372 and receive basic property information and instructions on contacting an agent.

ERA Real Estate is also offering a video presentation program in which agents and brokers watch and critique each other's mock presentations. After watching themselves on video, many associates recognize various subtle areas where they can improve. The program empowers them to help themselves by taking control of their body language, eye contact and basic selling techniques.

Embracing Emerging Markets

The game plan for ERA growth also includes developing strategies to meet the demands of today's emerging markets, particularly America's burgeoning Latino population.
Representing over 13% of the total U.S. population and having a purchasing power of $581 billion, Latinos constitute an important and growing segment of the real estate market.

William Colley, broker/owner of ERA Buckhead Realty, was among the company's first franchise partners to recognize the importance of this emerging market. Colley researched many real estate brands before selecting ERA Real estate, explaining that the company's unique marketing platform allowed him to launch ERA Bienvenido, a Spanish-speaking office designed to meet the needs of the growing Hispanic market in the Atlanta region.

One tool that ERA Real Estate employs to help its team members engage the Hispanic market is Espanol.ERA.com, the Spanish-language sister site to ERA.com. In addition, the company also provides Spanish translations of all its marketing tools, specifically designed for the Latino community. Finally, every listing is also fully translated electronically.

"We chose to join ERA Real Estate because it was the only brand that had extensive Spanish-language materials, including ERA.Espanol.com, and a commitment to move this market forward," says Colley. "ERA Real Estate helped jump-start the ERA Bienvenido office by solving our major challenge of delivering a robust selection of Spanish-language marketing materials, including print ads, television commercials, billboard signs and communication pieces."

In addition to serving the Latino community, ERA Real Estate is also extending its reach to include a greater segment of the retiring/senior community in addition to individuals in the exclusive luxury home market.

Improving Skills, All the Time

Even as it embraces the challenges and opportunities presented by changing social and technological trends, though, the core of ERA Real Estate's growth strategy remains essentially unchanged: equipping its team members with the skills and knowledge they need to adapt to whatever situation they confront. ERA Real Estate's robust training and professional development programs, such as the Realogy Franchise Group M&A Academy, therefore remain the foundation of everything else it does.

"The desire we have to help each franchisee fulfill its dream is incredibly strong," notes Green. "The tools we offer give us a unique advantage, but ultimately, our phenomenal success reflects the passion that we bring to everything we do."

Highlighting one innovative training program, Green remarks, "There is an outstanding, in-depth workshop on how to do mergers and acquisitions right. We offer it as an opportunity for brokers to learn our proven way of facilitating successful M&As at their respective market levels."

According to Green, these professional development programs help to reinforce the connection between ERA Real Estate's impressive resources, on the one hand, and the ambitions of the brokers who have invested in the company as franchise partners, on the other.

"We have created comprehensive tools, programs and training materials that enhance our brokers' skill set," concludes Green. "We take pride in giving them the information they need to take advantage of trends and help make their growth a reality."

For more information, visit www.era.com.

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