Congratulations to the Nellis Group from the Burke office for placing Number 96 in Team Volume in America’s Top 100 Teams (Volume)! The survey, conducted by Real Trends, found that most top agents and teams had plans in place to weather the challenging market and the volume and transaction sides for the top individuals and teams were not down as much as their markets. Click here to check out the entire list.
I wanted to share an innovative technique one winner in the survey implemented last year:
Last February, John and Ruth Ahlbrand, co-owners of RE/MAX Central of Las Vegas, began escorting groups of prospective customers through the neighborhoods of the gambling mecca — also one of America’s housing-crash hubs. They bought a diesel, 30-seat Blue Bird, had it wrapped in the company’s red, white and blue colors, hired a commercial driver and launched thrice-weekly “foreclosure bus tours.”
Each tour numbers 20 to 25 potential buyers. Last year, the team closed 1,008 sales.
“It mushroomed and became a fantastic tool for us,” says Mrs. Ahlbrand.
The trips — hosted Sunday, Tuesday and Saturday — take three hours. As they roll, agents chat with the passengers about the “bargain” properties beyond the windows. With their outings and with one out of every 22 Las Vegas homes in foreclosure, the Ahlbrand team remains in top gear, raising transaction sides 60 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with the like period last year.
“Numbers are picking up,” Mr. Ahlbrand says. At first, many passengers were merely looking for a fun expedition, not a home. “But consumer confidence is coming back, so today’s riders are more serious and we are writing more deals.”
One of the tour’s ingenious features is that it gives the agents an attentive audience and a relaxed, social environment in which to pitch. In fact, when dissecting their 2008 successes, all four category winners mentioned their reliance on a similar vintage tactic: eye-to-eye, handshake-to-handshake deal making.
