Standing Out in the Marketplace, Online

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By Kayla O’Brien

RISMEDIA, Oct. 18, 2008- It’s hard to believe that there was once a love/hate relationship between some agents and emerging technologies as the number available today continues to grow. “I don’t want to give up any of them,” says Gene Brake, CEO of HomeServices of Nebraska, and when it comes down to it, the most effective technologies for his business include “agent websites, online contact management systems, online calendars and having the ability to change open house schedules with the stroke of a keyboard.” Here, meet Brake, and learn what other ways he’s standing out in his marketplace.

brakegene.jpgGene Brake
Chief Executive Officer
HomeServices of Nebraska
Woods Bros Realty
Home Real Estate

Years in the industry: 32
Number of offices: 11
Number of agents: 578
Region served: Eastern Nebraska
Average listing price: $148,839
Average number of days a home spends on the market: 73
When trying to get the right listing price for a client…I would look to provide the most up-to-date information that’s available.
Overcome challenges with clients by: First being a good listener. Don’t have a predetermined answer and be open to working on out-of-the-box solutions.
Keep your meetings productive by: Starting on time and ending on time. Then obviously have meaningful content, such as what’s happening right now in the marketplace regarding pricing, financing and the local economy.
Your marketing spend breakdown between print and online: Print is probably 45% of our budget, online would probably be another 30% and the rest is broken out between billboards, radio, TV and postcards.
Outside of real estate: I’m on the board of directors for Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development and I currently serve on the BryanLGH Hospital Board of Trustees. In the past, I have served as the chair of the Chamber of Commerce.

What has been the most creative ad you’ve ever run?

In terms of marketing, anything that we’re doing is driving the consumer to our website. We are also using electronic billboards and that seems to be giving us good brand recognition. These billboards also give agents the opportunity to be on a billboard when they typically wouldn’t be able to afford that type of advertising-and it also gives homeowners a chance to have their home shown on a billboard.

How are you staying one step ahead of your local competitors?

I would say by having the best website with the most amount of content and the best functionality. Once consumers have had the experience on the website, they bookmark it and will come back.

What’s the one element of your website that keeps your company competitive?

We no longer advertise specific open houses in the Sunday paper, so that consumers can go online 24/7 and find out what we have for open houses on what days. If a home buyer is from out of state, they can sign up and find out what open houses will be available weeks in advance. This also provides the opportunity for agents to do their own scheduling.

When it comes to recruiting, what strategies have been most effective for your company?

We offer very good in-house training, both for real estate and computer skills, and that seems to be a very good competitive edge, along with extremely good marketing materials that are custom to our market and our agents.

What are your best ideas for client retention?

The newsletters we provide clients as well as agents having contact management systems. They also personally see those clients on an annual basis-that has been most effective.

What tech tools can’t you or your agents live without?

I don’t want to give up any of them, but I would say the most productive pieces of technology are the agent websites, online contact management systems, online calendars and having the ability to change open house schedules with the stroke of a keyboard. If they were in a newspaper and they sold the house on Friday that was scheduled to go in the paper on Sunday, they wouldn’t be able to change the listed open house.

What works well when it comes to communicating with agents today?

We have an online TV program that we call “Brake Time” that we e-mail out. It gives me an opportunity to give updates on the company, policies, market strategy and financing. It’s a great tool and it’s a program that has good content. It’s also fun and lighthearted.

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