Technology won’t replace the agent, but an agent with technology will replace one without it.
When I first joined my brokerage as the vice president of business development, I had a relatively narrow view of what my responsibilities would look like. I would help generate business for the agents, recruit for the offices, and potentially evaluate, analyze and structure growth and acquisition opportunities. Coming from the software world, I assumed the title reflected the responsibilities of the position. However, the last year has shown me that no position can live in a bubble—it must work with other positions to share a recipe for success. Technology infrastructure is key to that success.
Traditional leadership positions are no longer as simple to define. Sales managers, recruiters, coaches, trainers, business development, marketing—they all have core responsibilities, but they also have one large common denominator: They have to be comfortable with technology and always thinking about how to leverage it to increase the brokerage’s bottom line.
NEW ROLES FOR CTO
The days of a CTO having the sole responsibility for technology infrastructure is no longer applicable in the real estate world. All positions are responsible to increase the bottom line. They are all responsible for finding ways the company can use systems and integrate platform data to create a recipe for success that can be replicated from agent to agent within the brand.
York Baur, CEO of MoxiWorks, explained this concept quite eloquently,
“The success of a brokerage is directly connected to recruiting and retention and agent productivity is the key to recruiting and retention. If agents are productive, they won’t want to leave, and it will be easier to get other agents to join your company. Productivity is tied to a specific method-ology or system, which is nothing more than documenting, training, and coaching to a specific set of tasks or activities to succeed with your unique value proposition, in your unique market. Technology must be leveraged to reinforce those systems with the agents, managers, trainers, and coaches. At the end of the day, the success of a brokerage is directly connected to the company’s ability to leverage technology to reinforce the systems that will help agents sell more real estate.”
Leaving the Annual LeadingRE conference recently, I was humbled at the diverse expertise top leaders throughout this industry hold. What’s clear is that they all have comfort with technology and don’t shy away from it. I say this often and will likely say this many more times—technology will never replace the agent, but an agent with technology, will replace one without.
Author Bio
Warren Dow is the VP of Business Development at Peabody & Smith Realty based in New Hampshire. Warren has over a decade of leadership experience in real estate software and services. With a degree in behavioral neuroscience and a back-ground in technology, consumer engagement, and marketing strategy, Warren offers a unique perspective in brokerage efficiencies with a client-first mentality.
