Brokerage Design: Now is the Time to Promote Innovation in the Brokerage Environment

Here is what we know about the next twelve months in the real estate marketplace:

• That a new and vibrant real estate market will emerge
• That consumers will be the most powerful force in this new market
• That information will be the currency of the new market
• That consumer expectations, the release of distressed properties and the availability of information will combine to create a new market dynamic

This level of knowledge may not be enough to satisfy a detail obsessed business planner, but it is certainly enough to recognize that whatever else must come out of the next twelve months, a record level of innovation will be necessary and essential.

Given this certainty, the top priority for each and every brokerage must be to ensure that their business model and operational environment are positioned to encourage, seek out and recognize innovative behaviors and solutions. The following information is provided to get that process started.

The first response for some reader’s will be to sigh in exasperation and suggest that in today’s capital-poor and stressful business environment, survival is the objective and innovation is a luxury.

There is only one response to this position. It is impractical and unacceptable for brokerage firms to delay their innovation initiatives until the economy repairs itself. To do so is to risk being well behind the industry curve when the economy does recover, and giving up precious opportunities to be a relevant and productive part of the new real estate industry. Now is the time to plant the seeds of innovation.

The first step to innovation is to understand it and create an atmosphere within the brokerage that will foster it.

What is innovation? The term innovation refers to creating a new way of doing something the brokerage is already doing or, in the alternative, doing something new that the brokerage is not currently doing. It may refer to incremental, radical, and revolutionary changes in thinking, products, processes, or organizations. Something new must be substantially different to be innovative, not an insignificant change. The change must increase customer value. The goal of brokerage innovation is to bring about positive change, to make someone or something better for its customers.

An innovative atmosphere exists when individuals engaged in this environment feel encouraged to think, create, interact and collaborate in an innovative manner. An innovative atmosphere also includes effective recognition and reward programs.

Prime you firm’s innovative pump by holding a one-day innovation retreat or innovation camp. Spend that day working with your management staff and top agents to:

• Review current consumer, consumption and real estate market trends. Create a matrix of these trends. 
• Review your firm’s current consumer experience and value proposition. Create a matrix of their characteristics and promises.
• Identify reoccurring problems that your teams are encountering in today’s marketplace. Everyone is having issues today so they make a great place to start.
• Select a number of key operational or consumer services areas of activities or innovation zones.
• Motivate the participants to begin the process of thinking about how your management and sales teams can begin to meet today’s unique market circumstances with new approaches to the experience you offer consumers and your value proposition.

Remember, during this process, everything is up for consideration. There are no black out dates in the innovative process.

Carefully review your current initiatives to determine what should be postponed or curtailed. One of the biggest blocks to innovation is a sense that “there is already too much to do, why would we make our day-to-day activities even harder.” Innovation needs just a bit of space. But be sure that any space you create is being filled with innovation, not daydreaming.

Look for innovative ideas you can undertake quickly and cheaply. Financial distress should be a guideline, not a deterrent to innovation. Great innovation will not only improve the experience and value proposition, but it can also lead to cost savings.

Embrace “open sourcing” with respect to innovation. Expand your innovation search to include everyone in your firm, as well as customers, vendors and family members. Make your search for innovation transparent.

All too frequently, the greatest block to innovation is the person or persons at the top. Test your own innovative senses and response mechanisms. How innovative are you right now and how much have you really been encouraging innovation in this difficult time. Remember, a declaration that there is no money for innovation shuts down the entire process because it really says, “I am so busy keeping this thing afloat I have no time for silly ideas and innovation.”

Look for innovative ways to expand your current service package especially in ways that make it more valuable and feeds the twelve expectations of the current consumer.

Be sure that your innovation process includes a relevant threat analysis. Many things have changed in the real estate market environment over the past four years. There are a number of new threats out there. Be sure your search for innovation includes ideas and solutions that address these threats.

Finally, be sure that your search for innovation goes beyond your current range of operations. Leading firms will be innovating new and better ways to serve the real estate consumer.

These ideas will get you started, and now is the time. Declare your desire to be an innovative company, create a specific event or opportunity to start the process, carefully review what you are doing and what you would like to be doing, articulate a vision of what you would like to be, consider possible threats and get out of the way.

Innovation is there. Just let it happen. We can do this.