A Q&A with Donny Sampson, CEO of Samson Properties‍

We were fortunate to spend some time with Donny Samson, CEO of Samson Properties, to dive deeper into his phenomenal success using kvCORE Platform. With 3,600 Realtors and 29 offices in Virginia and Maryland, Samson says he added 1,100 agents last year alone. Our interview had so many useful tips and strategies that we couldn’t fit into a single video or case study, so we’re sharing more of his insights here.  

What made you decide to offer Inside Real Estate’s kvCORE Platform to all of your agents? ‍

I started to research the top companies out there, and the kvCORE Platform from Inside Real Estate came up a lot. Initially, I didn't think I could afford it on a large-scale basis; I thought I’d have to settle for something less than the best if I wanted to offer it company-wide for free. I went to Inman Connect in January 2019 and met with five different companies. I spent a lot of time with Inside Real Estate, and they really impressed me. I was excited to learn a top product like kvCORE wasn’t just affordable for a brokerage like mine but was designed to help me generate more profit year over year. The numbers work! We launched with kvCORE the first week of June, but well before that, I recruited based on the best-in-class tech stack that was coming – and it was FREE for every one of our agents and teams. It’s phenomenal. It feels like a success when I can say that 85% of our agent referrals come from within the company. 

You mentioned how kvCORE Platform from Inside Real Estate helps you bring in 100 or more agents a month, 85% of whom came from referrals within your brokerage. How is the adoption of kvCORE by your agents? ‍

I love that I can recruit a ton of agents because we offer kvCORE, but we also have excellent tech adoption. Our agents love it. I spend a lot of time in recruiting meetings explaining the different products and their capabilities. That’s how I sell the tech: there are thousands of ways kvCORE can benefit you. If you take some time every week to learn a little more and get a bit better, you’ll be an expert before you know it. If one part of it isn’t your thing, you can try a different part, such as create property websites with CORE ListingMachine, and doing just that one thing will create business for you. The more you keep doing the more tech-savvy you’ll become.

‍How necessary is training for your success with agent adoption?‍

As a company leader, it can be discouraging if people aren’t doing what you think they should do to succeed. Sometimes tech can be intimidating for agents, but Inside Real Estate has excellent training. I also have a full-time staff member who’s an expert. She teaches classes several times a week and some individual sessions. It’s helped our agent adoption grow. I use kvCORE to recruit, and almost every agent is so glad I offer it that they want to jump right into using it. I know I’m providing the best tech stack out there  – and that’s an opportunity for people to succeed.

‍You mentioned using add-ons from the kvCORE Marketplace. What are your favorites? ‍

CORE ListingMachine is phenomenal. When I recruit, I talk a lot about how we’re going to help create more business for you, and launching a website for a single property has been a game-changer. Just the idea of creating a website for a property, then one for a home in the same neighborhood, then another website for yet another house in the same neighborhood creates a lot of buzz. I tell agents: you can turn this one listing into a lead-generating machine. And I didn't spend extra money to offer it! 

I also think the CORE PropertyBoost ads do a lot to help us. The combination of giving agents a free website, a free Facebook ad for every listing, and a free ad for every Open House is just phenomenal! Our agents sit around hearing about everything they can do and say, “you’ve got to be kidding me!” Most of our agents now have a website of their own, and they’re proud to market it! Many of our agents are also engaging in social media through CORE Social and launching the listings through the CORE Listing Machine. More and more agents are willing to use those products, so we have far more tech-savvy agents than we had just six months ago. 

Still, the main bedrock I’m offering is a customizable website, but there’s also an AI-Powered Smart CRM with powerful lead generation possibilities. Our agents are creating squeeze pages and lead pages and different ads, and they’re super smart with hashtags. They’re able to get all this business organically that they wouldn’t have had before. As I always say: I can't hit the home run for you, but I can give you as many times as bat as possible.

‍Samson Properties is a large brokerage. What advice do you have for others who want to implement the kvCORE Platform? ‍

For anyone considering Inside Real Estate on the enterprise level, I’ll say what I’ve said before: you have to give people the best tools they can to help them succeed. I encourage people to keep their eye on the end game, too. Agents are independent contractors, and they don't always do what we want them to do. They’re all running their own businesses. But you can lead a horse to water, and I can get them to drink because I give them kvCORE. It has been a game-changer for Samson Properties. ‍

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