Articles by Wendy Forsythe

Posted by Wendy Forsythe 

Question: Do you want to recruit agents to your office, or do you want to attract the best possible talent to your organization?

I’d debate the view point that you want to attract the best possible talent to your organization. We’ve been telling each other for years that this is a relationship business and you don’t recruit relationships–you attract and build them.

In preparation for our launch, we’ve been developing our talent attraction and selection programs (what is normally called “recruiting”). One component of this is videos for the “Careers” section of our consumer Web site. We’ve created three different personas representing different people at different life stages, who either are currently in real estate or considering a career in real estate. Check out McKinsey & Company to see a great careers site.

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Posted by Wendy Forsythe

Last month I was honored to be interviewed for FrogPond’s Voices of Women series. You can check out the full interview at FrogPond’s website.

This interview combined two of my favorite people in the real estate industry, FrogPond’s President, Susie Hale and Opening Doors and Frame of Mind Coaching President, Kim Ades (who conducted the interview).

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Posted by Wendy Forsythe 

Last week was a very exciting week for us as we rapidly move towards our launch in July. What made last week more exciting than most? Our consumer website and brand intranet came one step closer to coming to life!

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Posted by Wendy Forsythe

Earlier this year, at the Inman Connect Conference in New York, I was introduced to Kindle! This gizmo is all the things I’ve ever wanted in a companion: a great communicator, dependable and good looking. I waited a long time for Kindle, but it was worth the wait!

I’m referring of course to Amazon’s Electronic Reading Device called Kindle. I’ve been showing off my Kindle around the office and professing my admiration to just about anyone who will listen. So I thought I’d blog about my new friend.

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Posted By Wendy Forsythe

Recently I’ve been devoting a fair bit of time to the development of the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Awards and Recognition program. Agents take their awards very seriously and I’ve often heard complaints from brokers and agents regarding various awards programs. So, after soliciting years of input (either wanted or unwanted!) here’s the chance to start fresh. If only it were that easy!

What and how many categories of awards should we have (individual agent, partners, teams, office, regional, national, specialty, etc.)?

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Posted by Wendy Forsythe

I recently had an opportunity to listen to Alex Perriello (President and CEO, Realogy Franchise Group) address a group of brokers and agents. While spirits of the crowd seemed high, you could sense an undertone of concern as Alex was asked to give his advice to the group on how to weather this challenging market.

You could see the crowd sit a little straighter and lean forward in their chairs as Alex began to address the question. Here’s my summary of his advice.

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Posted by Wendy Forsythe

There’s a lot of technology talk in the real estate world these days. Deciding which of the latest technology trains to jump on is a quandary.

Like any investment of time and money, the decision should be made on the potential return in investment. One of the benefits of the online world is it is easily tracked. But many of the tracking mechanisms can be misleading. Hits, page views, and unique visitors are all well and good but they don’t pay the bills at the end of the month. What you really need to monitor is conversion ratios. How many leads are you receiving from your online endeavors and how many of them are turning into closings?

But maybe I’ve put the cart before the horse, because the real question is what online technology trends are the most beneficial to growing a sales associates or brokers business? Online tools are really just prospecting strategies. The success of any prospecting technique depends on the individual. In the offline world, not everyone achieves success by prospecting For Sale By Owners or doing open houses. Your personality and skill set will ultimately dictate your success and we don’t all have to do this business the same way.

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With numbers like these, is it any wonder that agents are trying to promote themselves and their listings on these social media sites? We learned recently that some of these sites may not be as open to the advances of today’s modern Realtors as we once assumed (see Inman News-Future of Real Estate Blog). Well, to be fair Facebook will gladly let you advertise your listings as long as you pay!

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Posted by Wendy Forsythe

“Something remarkable is worth talking about. Worth noticing. Exceptional. New. Interesting. It’s a Purple Cow. Boring stuff is invisible. It’s a brown cow.” Seth Godin, author Purple Cow. (www.sethgodin.com)

At the National Association of Realtors Conference in Las Vegas I anxiously sat in the audience as Seth Godin spoke about being remarkable. As I listened my internal thoughts kept circling around the notion that we are all striving to create a Purple Cow every day. Real estate sales professionals need a Purple Cow to attract buyers and sellers. Brokers and managers need a Purple Cow to recruit and retain sales associates. Franchise companies need a Purple Cow to attract affiliates.

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Posted by Wendy Forsythe

Okay, I admit it. Growing up in Canada, I never really understood the hoopla over the Super Bowl. Sure Canadians are football fans, but it’s not hockey! Now having transplanted to New Jersey and living through the recent Giants win, I see a whole other side to Super Bowl Sunday.

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