In the following interview, Isom Coleman, president of HomeSmart ICARE Realty in Sacramento, Calif., discusses the advantages of the brand, including in marketing and technology.
Region Served: The Greater Sacramento area
Years in Real Estate: 11
Number of Offices: 3
Number of Agents: 171
Most Effective Way to Motivate Agents: We keep our agents motivated by providing education on a continual basis, checking up on them to ensure we remain involved and reaching out if they need an extra push.
What do you like most about the region in which you work?
Not only is Sacramento beautiful, but we’re centrally located in one of the best parts of California, making it easy to go from the mountains to the ocean within a few hours.
How does your company make its agents’ jobs easier?
Through the use of technology and automation. And that’s exactly what HomeSmart stands for. From automatic YouTube videos to websites that are set up with a search feature and contact management functionality to an automated process that allows agents to create flyers at the push of a button, we provide a lot of technology specifically designed to make them more efficient. Our education platform, which can be accessed via iPad or smartphone, allows agents to train on their own terms.
Your firm has achieved significant growth over the past four years. What factors have contributed to your success?
A lot of companies are focused on how they can make money, but at HomeSmart ICARE Realty, we’re fixated on what we can do to provide value to our agents, as this is instrumental in getting them to sing our praises to others. Once agents see the value we provide, and the fact that they’re getting the same things they would get at other brokerages for a fraction of the cost, what we’re doing speaks for itself. It’s also important to note that on average, our agents get 93-97 percent of their commission. In the end, it’s all about providing agents value, as this will keep them coming to us.
What about the HomeSmart model allows you and your agents to serve clients at a high level?
The biggest thing is the fact that our videos are produced at the franchise level rather than the corporate level. At HomeSmart, all of our technology is proprietary, and we’re always looking for ways to replicate new products and services in-house so that our agents don’t have to go elsewhere and pay to arm themselves with the latest and greatest tools.
How are you using technology to better serve your clients?
The marketing side has been really good for our agents. With a full-blown 60-plus page listing presentation that can be customized on an individual basis, and a full suite of automated marketing technology, we’ve seen a huge increase in agents being able to get listings. While most real estate professionals bring a few key pieces of paper with them when they meet with potential sellers, our listing presentation is structured in a way to take the client through the process step-by-step.
For more information, please visit www.homesmart.com.
Paige Tepping is RISMedia’s managing editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at paige@rismedia.com.
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