From recruiting and retaining to optimizing technology, the following interview with Al Galperin of Real Living CO Properties in Denver, Colo. explores the ins and outs of running a thriving real estate business.
Al Galperin
Broker/Owner
Real Living CO Properties
Denver, Colo.
Region served: Colorado
Years in real estate: 23
Number of offices: 1
Number of agents: 24
Must-have technology tool: A smartphone with the most current technology. With so many different ways to communicate, a smartphone allows you to adjust to your clients’ wants and needs.
Best advice for new agents: Choose the right real estate company. It’s also important to remain visible and have a good contact management program in place.
What are some of the current trends you see in your market right now?
Denver’s real estate market has exploded with new listings and active inventory. In fact, June was a record-setting month for 2016. We set yearly records for active listings, new listings, days on market, average sold price, median sold price, number of homes sold and sold volume. Year-over-year, active listings have increased 9.67 percent, while new listings increased 6.79 percent.
How are you using technology to better serve your clients?
Keeping Real Living’s technology user-friendly has been one of our best resources to serve our clients. Incorporating a contact management system into the mix adds efficiencies to the entire transaction process from contract to close. We’ve also enhanced the Real Living consumer property search tools, which has been instrumental in establishing our agents’ sites as a go-to resource for consumers.
What are your best recruiting and retention strategies?
Real Living 360 ServiceSM is our No. 1 strategy for agent differentiation. Not only is it the cornerstone of our agents’ personal brand campaigns, supported by training, tools and marketing pieces, it’s also the only service rating program built upon validated customer responses. Also, our agents are not confined to fit within the Real Living mold, but rather, they’re given the foundation, training and support to create and grow their business and their personal brand. They have the power of Real Living and the freedom to be themselves.
What are some of the most significant accomplishments you’ve been involved with during your time as Chair of Real Living’s Broker Advisory Council?
First and foremost, I would have to point to the creation of our Marketing Showcase—an exclusive online catalog where Real Living brokers and agents are encouraged to share outlines of strategies, programs and events they’ve implemented in order to grow their business. Each posting will contain a description of the market’s demographics and the details surrounding implementation, cost and results. A point of contact for further information will also be included. There is also an option to include samples of marketing materials, press releases and links to YouTube videos. Brokers and agents are strongly encouraged to access and contribute to the Marketing Showcase on an ongoing basis in order to keep its content current, meaningful and relevant. Members of the Broker Advisory Council and their respective subcommittees work closely with Real Living executives and staff prior to the introduction of new programs and tools, and serve as beta test groups for them. We’re also charged with spearheading ever-evolving strategies for social media marketing.
For more information, visit www.realliving.com.
