A Personal Approach

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By Paige Tepping

RISMEDIA, Dec. 29, 2008-One would think that with a company of 1,500 agents, offering “a personal touch” to everyone’s career training would be challenging at best, if not impossible. But organization, recognition and the right training programs help Paul Valentino of Coldwell Banker in Washington, D.C., make it look easy. Here, some insights into how he communicates with, trains and motivates his agents in these difficult times.

Paul Valentino
President
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Washington, D.C./Virginia

Years in real estate: 36
Number of offices: 23
Number of agents: 1,500
Region served: Washington, D.C. metro area
Average sales price: $453,000
Average time on market: 114 days

Best tip for time management: Delegate. I learned a long time ago that one person can’t do it all, let alone get it all done well. I work with my staff to create and set expectations of what I want from them and then I get out of their way.

What I love most about being in real estate: Working with my agents, managers and staff in order to help them achieve personal growth and success.

What are the most effective ways you communicate with your customers?
My agents are my customers, and communicating with them is crucial. One of the most effective ways I communicate with my agents is through my monthly President’s Letter. Each letter focuses on a topic that is relevant within the industry and is written in a very casual, easy to understand manner. Not only is this a great way to communicate with my agents, but my agents can then reproduce the letter and hand distribute it to their buyers and sellers.

What are you doing within your company to make sure you stay ahead of your local competitors?
Agent education is the number one thing that makes us different from our local competitors. We conduct a lot of in-office workshops as well as one-on-one educational sessions with our agents. Our tech trainer works with our agents on an individual basis to discuss specific challenges that the agent may be facing with all of the technology that is available to them. In addition, our marketing coordinator works with our agents to help them develop marketing business plans as well as how to capture and convert Internet leads.

How do you keep your agents motivated?
We approach our management from a personal perspective. In addition to sending birthday cards to each of my agents, our regional vice president makes it a point to recognize each agent who has achieved a business success during the month. Our top 30% are recognized each quarter as well. It is important for us to be out there with our agents and available to discuss current market conditions with them. Showing our agents that we stand behind and support them is the best way that we can motivate them.

How do you ensure that you get the right listing price?
Two years ago, we developed a workshop program to educate our agents on pricing as well as to train them on how to educate their buyers and sellers to work together to get the correct listing price. The introduction of this program has allowed our agents to outperform today’s market.

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