Michael said:
Hi All...
Just wanted to see some opinions on branding when it comes to clients selecting an agent. What percentage of clients would go with an agent due to the company he works for? Some people seem to believe it's a big issue (the brokerage) and others that I have spoken to think that the agent is what really matters and the broker is secondary.
Thoughts??

People work with people, not companies.

In my personal opinion, brand means nothing.
I used to work for Lepage but the people working there did not offer the same support that I get today from a company that has very little Canadian presence (GMAC Real Estate). I have never lost a client because of the company I work for - but it was something I had to consider before I joined them.
I have seen awesome Re/Max offices and I have seen terrible Re/Max offices - since most offices are run independently (they pay fees to Re/Max or Lepage or whoever to have their name essentially), there is not really any consistency between the offices of the different brands.
Like I said, I work for GMAC Real Estate and for all I care it could be called "Inky Dinky Pinky Real Estate" - it wouldn't matter because the people who I work with and the support they offer in a number of ways wouldn't change. Some inexperienced or newer agents may hang their hat on the brand and say "I work for Re/Max/Lepage who are the biggest company around yaaaaaay".
That's my two cents....

"In my personal opinion, brand means nothing."
By that I meant brand of the brokerage....

I agree...people work with people.. NOT Companies...the world has changed significantly and it's about YOU and not the brokerage you work for.
It's the last thing I mention on my Listing Presentations...and most of the time, both new and old clients don't even bothering asking.
It's about YOU baby!

This is an interesting conversation as it's closely related to the discussion in the "Headshots" conversation: http://www.buzzbuzzhome.com/Forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=118

I have my own staging business and am planning on branching out to Real Estate very soon. When I started up my staging business, I had a hard time trying to decide whether I need to market and promote by business and its brand or focus on marketing and branding myself and my name.

The difference in this conversations vs. the "Headshots" conversation is that this debate has evolved to whether we should work on branding ourselves, versus focus on the brand we're associated to, which we may not necessarily own (e.g. Royal LePage, ReMax and Inky Dinky Pinky Real Estate - my personal fave!); whereas in the "Headshots" conversation, the debate is whether to work on branding your name versus your own personal company.

One can argue that this really depends on what role you play in the company you work for/own. If you work for someone else, you tend to work on branding your name; whereas, if you own the company you work for, you tend to focus on your company's brand.

In a REAL ESTATE context, my personal preference would probably be to brand my name vs. any company for the following reasons:

- Who better to invest in, than yourself?

- If you leave company A and move to company B, your own personal branding helps mitigate any hiccups from the transition. A simple example could even be your personal email - mine would always remain Diana@Diana.com rather than Diana@RLPage.com and then Diana@InkyPinky.com, etc. Or if someone was looking for you personally, they would know to look up your name, versus call the company you were associated with.

- In the future, if I decide to, say create my own team or my own brokerage, I'll already have a "following" who trusts me and believes in my credibility and it will be easier to transition them to my new venture. And if I decide to start something new afterwards, the same would apply.

Some may argue:

- What if you want to sell the business in the future? If this is your plan ahead of time - then perhaps focusing on your company name is more important; but then again, maybe there's a creative way for your company to be sold but to still continue operating under your name (could be a good, could be a bad thing - you just don't know).

- Personal branding was easier back in the "day of the coconut", but now the competition is just too fierce! Well, in my opinion, the competition is fierce either way no matter what type of brand you're marketing! The difference is, for arguments sake, if your company goes down under, much of the efforts you've made to market it go down under with it; whereas, with your own personal branding, your name doesn't really go anywhere and you can alway continue to work on it - someone will always know who you are (not sure if this makes sense - but it does in my head :P)!

Okay - it seems I went off on a slight tangent in the wrong conversation, perhaps...

My point here was going to be that I've done some homework on the type of brokerage I should join and I've learned that it's not about the BRAND and it's not necessarily about how great your COMMISSION SPLIT is (latter is moreso for a newbie); it's about how the brokerage can help you develop a long-lasting and successful business.

For example, I've heard of some bad ReMax's where their training sessions don't teach very much and they try to get you to uprade to more sessions by paying for them. That for me is a big NO-NO! I also have an opportunity to join a boutique brokerage which offers me 95% of my commission and no desk fees for the months I don't have any transactions...sounds great right? Well it would be, but there's no true coaching or mentoring at this place, so I'm not going to be learning or gaining any skills by working for them either; which to me means potentially a slower business with lower volumes or just a long time to grow my business...who wants that?!

My goal is to find the brokerage that will mentor and coach the crap out of me in this ever-so increasingly competitive industry while I continue to brand ME, so that when I decide to move on to the next step chapter, I've got a solid base and foundation.

Brand is somewhat important to me - have national and international clients - but I certainly do brand myself.

The brokerage you are with will make no difference to your clients. I was with Royal LePage for awhile and when I switched, my clients didn't even ask. If your clients trust you and enjoy working with you, they will follow you wherever you go! Some of the brokerages like Royal LePage offer great services to help you keep in touch with your clients. (ie: e-letters etc) It's these type of tools that agents should look at when on the hunt for a brokerage.

As a client who's purchased a home I think in residential real estate the company brand is significantly less important than the individual brand of the agent.
This has something to do with brokerages encouraging/alllowing agents to setup up their own mini-companies with a separate brand from the parent company - personally i don't think this is a good thing as its tied in to the inconsistencies of service provided by agents of the same brokerage (people like consistency).
I also see the situation slightly different in commercial real estate where the company brand is has greater weight - such as with companies like Cushman and WakeField - where the personal agent brand is slightly diluted and company brand given more weight.

I recently switched brokerages and was considering many options. I went from one brand to another, but really have not ever been asked by a client about the company. I think your personal brand and what service you are going to provide the client is more important. The corporate brand doesn't work with the client, the sales rep does.

I have just recently entered the mortgage industry, and ended up making the decision to switch brokerages after just a few months with my first company. I loved the company and loved the brand but ultimately I received an offer to work alongside an experienced broker, from a different brokerage. I did have to consider the brands of both companies, but ultimately the decision was based on my desire to work with this broker - because of what he was like as a person.
The brand of the company is secondary to me, and I am sure secondary to our clients as well. Provided, of course, that there is no negative publicity about the company - as that would create a negative brand association!

Good thread guys!
I would have to agree with the whole 'people work with people' mantra in this regard.
I would think that it is a very specific 'person to person' relationship rather than 'person to brand'.
Do you think that there is a high degree of brand loyalty in the brokerage community? Or even agent loyalty? Or even so, any loyalty at all?!

to potential agents....just be careful who you park or place your license with as having a commission trust account is not mandated by RECO....you always want your commissions protected so this should be a question you ask of any brokerage you may work for.
I am the Broker of Record with Hive Realty in Toronto and we started up about 8 months ago....one of the first things I did was establish a commission trust in addition to the mandated Real Estate Trust.....
We're a new online based model where agents keep way more $$, pay no desk fees, have a BROKER of Record at their disposal 24/7 vs. a manager and we keep our office costs down to allow the saving to be passed onto the consumer....in our first year of business we have rebated more than $60,000 of commission monies and i have been towing the line of brand vs, agent..... moving forward i will try to promote consistency in marketing with our agents as one bad agent can ruin the brand and that affects everyone.
I spent year one learning the rules and regulations of RECO and TREB....we just passed our RECO audit/inspection and moving forward will be speaking with agents who want to grow their own business model and the brand. The old 1960's-1990's big office model was a great thing but times they are a changing and the Real Estate Office in the 21st century must be cost structured and planned differently.
I am very excited for the TREB broker of record breakfast this week explaining all the new regulations moving forward.
Have amazing holidays all my fellow BUZZIES and if you ever want to talk RE/Agent Branding or Brokerage please drop me a line at cary@hiverealty.ca