Inman Connect celebrated its 20th anniversary last week, with a record-breaking crowd of more than 3,500 attendees. Although the innovation, content and networking are the main attractions, some of the very best tips and memorable moments come in the form of zingers, observations and succinct advice. Here’s a recap.
Zingers
“My daughter found out she was pregnant from Google.” – Brad Inman, publisher, Inman
Seth Godin | Photo by Jenna Bascom
“When you give some people a mile, they take an inch.” – Seth Godin, best-selling author
“The problem with self-driving cars is that the maps aren’t good enough.” – Kara Swisher, executive editor, Re/Code
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“If you don’t really love what you are doing every day, get out of it — you’re spoiling it for the rest of us.” – Alyssa Hellman, Director, Go School
“I always dreamed of making other people millionaires — I just wasn’t thinking it would be the IRS.” – Ben Kinney
On Realtor working hours becoming a 9-to-5 job: “It’s always 9-to-5 somewhere.”
“Smart home technology is no longer for the rich and shameless.” – Sean Blankenship, chief marketing officer, Coldwell Banker Real Estate
“Whoever raises interest rates should be fired.” – Allan Weiss, founder and CEO Weiss Residential Research
If you lose someone awesome, look in the mirror for the cause.
The real reason Snapchat has become so popular? Millennials have now become too lazy to text — they just send pictures of themselves instead.
Pithy observations
“Lowering your price (commission) is the refuge of the marketer who has run out of ideas.” – Seth Godin.
Spencer Rascoff | Photo by Jenna Bascom
“The kitchen island is the new home office.” – Spencer Rascoff, CEO, Zillow Group
“Today’s consumer expects you to be available when they want you. The push-button economy is driving the growth of teams.” – Glenn Kelman, CEO, Redfin
“Household formation was finally on the move in 2015. The group driving it, however, is not what you would think — it’s people ages 55 to 75.” – Elliott Eisenberg, chief economist, Graphs & Laughs.
“Empathy, guidance, insight and understanding are the key points of differentiation from a portal. You are what you share. The future belongs to those who are relentlessly helpful.” – Matt Shadbolt, director of real estate products, The New York Times
“Unless you adopt disruptive technology, it will disrupt you.” – Brad Inman.
“If you have purchased a TV in the last few years, it is the gateway for smart home technology. Research shows that sellers are willing to spend up to $3,000 if it will help them reduce the number of days their home is on the market and increase the sales price.” – Sean Blankenship
“The lack of inventory is the elephant in the room.” – Nela Richardson, chief economist, Redfin
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“Negative reviews are good. They make you a real person. How you respond to a negative review shows people how you will handle the situation if they hire you and then become mad at you.” Tristan Ahumada, Realtor and CEO, Tristan and Associates, Keller Williams Realty
“Real estate is now a technology industry. The U.S. will need over one million computing jobs by 2020. ‘Dear women — we need you. Companies with women in leadership yield better results.’” Alaina Percival, Board Chair and CEO, Women Who Code
“Service goes up when you add the right people.” Ben Kinney
Zillow, Trulia and realtor.com can’t take away the personal relationships that we have with our clients and the local knowledge that we have from living in an area.
Succinct advice
“Rather than saying that you are no. 1, show potential clients the stories from past clients that describe how you helped 250 families buy and sell homes.” – Dave Liniger, Chairman and Co-Founder, Re/Max.
“Consistency matters. Change your ad when your accountant gets tired of it.”- Seth Godin
When interacting with millennials, “game-ify” everything.
“Systematize for where you want to go — not where you are now.” – Alyssa Helman
Coach your clients to write great reviews that work with natural-language search by including the words, “great,” “Realtor” and your geographical market area. – Tristan Ahumada
Cristina Cote | Photo by Jenna Bascom / Inman.com
“Your clients often suffer from post-closing depression. Stay in touch by sending them a funny video. Humor creates joy.” – Cristina Cote, Salesperson and Partner, Town
Residential
“Be very careful in your pricing — the data show that traffic tapers off two weeks after taking the listing.” – Allan Weiss
“On Instagram, use at least 10 to 12 multiple hashtags. The more hashtags you use, the more followers you will get.” – Jennifer Egbert, Re/Max Alliance, Boulder, Colorado
“Realtors today need both a website and a mobile app. Your app helps you to control and retain the client you already have, especially when they are out looking without you. Your app helps you to avoid having your clients call the listing agent on a property and circumvent you on the deal.” Jim Marks, head geek, Virtual Results
Put an end to shaky videos — order a video stabilizer (SteadyCam) from Amazon.com.
Get the perfect closing gift for dog lovers — CleverPet — mind games for the family dog. CleverPet emits sounds, has a screen, and allows your dog to engage in interactive games. When your dog wins, it is rewarded with a treat. You can also watch your dog while you are away and say hello remotely.
If you attended Real Estate Connect in New York, please share any zingers, pithy observations, or succinct advice that you heard — let’s have some more fun!
Bernice Ross, CEO of RealEstateCoach.com, is a national speaker, author and trainer with over 1,000 published articles and two best-selling real estate books. Learn about her training programs at www.RealEstateCoach.com/