Homes of Idaho experiences record growth by breaking the "one-size-fits-all" mold. “We’ve been able to build our own tech ecosystem that fits our culture and brand, so even if another brokerage in our market is using kvCORE, it isn’t going to look like our kvCORE.” -- Colby Lampman, Broker/Owner, Homes of Idaho

Actually working out the commission program needed to recruit agents presents much less of a challenge than tracking these unique commission programs designed for each agent on something other than an Excel spreadsheet. Small and midsized firms need to support variety in their compensation plans in order to recruit and require an affordable solution that integrates with QuickBooks. In 2016 and 2017, entrepreneur Jeremy Shoenig developed software for exactly this purpose, called BrokerSumo.

Teams are often the highest contributors to brokerage sales volume and one of the fastest-growing segments in real estate. This makes teams a critical part of today’s real estate landscape, so it’s important for brokers to make an effort to do whatever they can to recruit and retain teams in their organization. Fortunately, industry technology has improved in recent years and there are solutions today, like kvCORE Platform from Inside Real Estate, that effectively support teams and individual agents on one platform. Now, broker-owners have complete control, but can also allow their teams and agents to customize the platform to fit their needs and create their personal and private platform within the broker platform.

Ah, Zillow. The real estate portal we all know and love? It’s no secret that many homebuyers leverage the “Z word” to begin their initial stages of the homebuying process. Due to the popularity of Zillow with homebuyers, many brokerages and agents alike feel they must be committing a dedicated monthly budget to the platform for a perceived fear of missing out on a potentially limitless stream of leads. Many real estate professionals also feel there is an unspoken expectation they need to be present on the search portal to truly compete with those who are also on Zillow. However, often the cons/disadvantages of advertising with Zillow outweigh the perceived pros.

REAL Trends and Inside Real Estate set out to answer an age-old problem for brokerages: How do you get agents to use the wonderful products and services that you offer? Many times, the technology is complicated, or the agents don’t want to invest the time into learning a new program. However, much of the time it’s due to a lack of management support, few training opportunities, and a dearth of incentives for sales associates to commit to your brokerage tech platform.

Joe Skousen, Founder/President of Inside Real Estate weighs in on what’s really behind the broker-tech battle, and how brokers can win the war.

Chris and Leigh Russell started Plum Tree Realty from scratch about seven-and-a-half years ago. After taking took some time to define what “being the best” meant for their firm and researching the many lead generation programs out there, they chose a platform they felt was "the best technology available." Now, from lead generation to recruiting, Russell has built his brokerage around the value proposition of getting leads to his agents.

The winning combination of technology plus culture sets Russell Real Estate Services apart. "The trust cultivated in our organization has led to a reciprocal tech relationship: Our agents have embraced our approach to consolidated technology, which has led to widespread adoption, and, consequently, unprecedented success." - Jeff Russell, Broker/Owner of Russell Real Estate Services

Find out how this brokerage struck gold with a well-thought-out tech strategy, a near flawless platform rollout and record numbers of agent adoption.

It’s common for brokerages to focus more on lead generation programs, CRM software, and sophisticated websites as their revenue driving solutions. There is no question powerful solutions like kvCORE are built to drive revenue. But if brokers ignore the backend, that’s a missed opportunity to carve out additional profitability and claim a competitive advantage with a modern back office.

It’s only been in the last few years that virtual brokerages have popped up, and they’re a hot topic within the industry. Without a physical location, virtual brokerages have significantly lower overhead costs and can scale their business with relative ease–two big reasons why they’re growing in popularity.

Today it seems as though there is a tech tool or solution for every stage of the real estate transaction, from marketing and advertising to listing and closing. Sometimes it can feel like we are kids in a candy store, overwhelmed by so many choices that promise they will miraculously improve our business. But is there such a thing as too much tech for real estate? And what is the perfect balance of tech tools that produce the highest agent adoption and profitability for the brokerage?