Story Covered by RISMedia. Author, Paige Tepping.

‍Empowering agents with what they need to succeed is the name of the game for Jeff Russell, broker/owner of Russell Real Estate Services. A third-generation real estate professional, in 2003, Russell joined the family business his grandfather started in 1962.

Committed to providing his agents everything they need to generate business in a way that’s sustainable now and into the future, technology has always been a key part of the brokerage’s DNA. And thanks to a long-standing relationship with Inside Real Estate—a leading provider of real estate technology software and creators of the kvCORE Platform—the brokerage has a distinct competitive advantage when it comes to the technology they can offer their agents.

But Russell also knows the success of his brokerage goes far beyond technology. “Good technology and a good culture create a great company,” says Russell. “We sell culture first, which comes with the technology we offer.”

Russell knows that a strong tech offering is critical in the current technology landscape. “By offering kvCORE, we are giving our agents a behavioral marketing system that will help them, long term, become more productive. Agents that embrace it and understand the true power of it are thriving. But if you don’t have a culture of ‘trust’ first, it wouldn’t work.”

The Strongsville, Ohio-based firm is not only empowering agents through its technology platform, but also elevating the consumer experience by leveraging AI-driven behavioral automation capabilities that ensure timely responses and more relevant content for the consumer. “The fact that our technology platform empowers us to generate leads internally is another huge win for our brokerage,” adds Russell. The firm generated more than 1,500 in-house leads a month last quarter, thanks to kvCORE. But the benefits extend even further, according to Russell, especially when it comes to the platform’s follow-up capabilities.

“For agents that use kvCORE correctly, it ensures that the lead isn’t falling through the cracks because it follows up with them automatically,” says Russell. “Better yet, when someone is ready to be communicated with, the platform prompts the agent to reach out via a slick mobile dialer app.”

And while brokers across the board often struggle with adoption, Russell notes that the agents who are taking the time to learn how to use the platform the right way are thriving. “We love the fact that kvCORE is easy to use, which has been a huge factor to our strong adoption,” says Russell.Even with these technology advantages, Russell circles back to his core philosophy of an agent-first culture.“ 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. Without being an agent-first brokerage, that trust would not be present, and the technology would not be used,” explains Russell.

With a focus on bringing in new people and continuing to grow the company, Russell believes technology will improve the business from every vantage point. “Technology is instrumental when it comes to helping agents stay on top of their sphere of influence,” says Russell. “It will also help drive referral business long term as the agent stays in front of the client, which ultimately makes the agent look better.”

For those not utilizing kvCORE at the moment? “Take a look at it, especially if you’re struggling with a plethora of point solutions that cause frustrations on many levels. kvCORE is different—unlike anything I’ve seen before—and it’s enabled us to keep our agent-first culture thriving,” concludes Russell.