Peggy Lyn Speicher will speak during her session entitled, “Empowered agent: How the broker’s role is changing,” at Indie Broker Summit on Monday, January 22, 2018, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, Times Square.
We’re really excited to have you joining us as a speaker for Inman Connect New York, but tell us a little more about yourself. How did you arrive in your current role?
I’ve been selling real estate for 27 years. When the industry changed dramatically several years ago (with the availability of information to consumers online), I was lost. I had no background in technology and was searching for a way to stay relevant to my clients and grow my business substantially.
Luckily, my husband Chris Speicher, is a tech wizard! He quit his job and joined me in the business. He took on the role of marketing, technology and a hundred other things so I could do what I do best — sell.
Our business exploded. We were fortunate enough to find many team members to help us grow and expand, and now we have an amazing team that is thriving and still growing.
Tell us a little more about your session, what kinds of things will you be talking about in January?
My session is titled, “Empowered agent: How the broker’s role is changing.” The panel will explore the rise of agents who are relying less and less on broker support because those agents are thriving independently.
Since my husband and I have grown our business and now have a team of 20, our leadership and self-sufficiency in terms of team brand, CRM, lead generation and management of the team has made the brokerage less important, and we require almost no support from the broker.
We are essentially operating like a small brokerage within a brokerage.
What does a typical day look like for you?
My day starts like it has for many years, with a strong morning routine: writing in my journal, my daily gratitudes, affirmations and goals. I share these with two accountability partners, have my coffee and get to work.
Our CRM (BoomTown) lets me know which contacts I need to follow up with, so I get that out of the way. Then I go through my email to see if there are any urgent tasks that need my attention.
Since my admin has access to my email, there usually isn’t much in my inbox: she takes care of what she can without me getting involved and deletes all the junk that I don’t need to be distracted with.
I get to the office for meetings and prep for appointments, and my work day usually ends around 7:00 p.m.
Three times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), our team gets on a Zoom call so we can share our goals, celebrate our wins and review any scripts that can help us with challenges we’re having with clients.
I love mentoring and teaching my agents how to become stronger and better. Their successes are more rewarding for me than my own at this point! It’s exciting to watch them all hit their big goals.
What do you think the biggest challenges facing the real estate industry are at the moment?
There are a lot of challenges in our industry today, including overall uncertainty in the market. In our D.C area market, the massive shift from a strong demand for large homes to the demand for more urban living is a big challenge. Inventory that used to sell easily (large homes) is now sitting on the market and declining in value, and the supply of urban residences can’t keep up with millenial and baby boomer demand.
However, the real challenge I see in our industry, globally, is more related to the competence of agents. I still believe the barrier to entry into this field is way too low, and there is only a small percentage of agents who are true professionals — who are extremely knowledgeable, who know (and abide by) the laws and code of ethics, who provide real value to their clients, who contribute to our ecosystem and who represent our industry in a positive way.
2018’s shaping up to be a really exciting year, and as we look ahead, what are your hopes for the next 12 months, and what will you be working on?
We are always working on staying ahead of the curve, to recognize the challenges and new capabilities that are heading our way.
Our presence in the national real estate community and our relationships with big thinkers like Tom Ferry and the executives at BoomTown and Zillow help us forecast and plan for the greatest success possible.
In 2018, one of our greatest areas of focus will be creating an even more fabulous consumer experience. We believe consumers are willing to pay a premium for an outstanding transaction — one that makes them feel truly respected, educated and serviced in the highest possible way.
The discount brokerages may always be around, but we do not consider them a threat since we know the value we bring to our clients.
My hope is that more agents adopt our mindset and decide to step up to be leaders. I’d also love to see more women with big voices take on leadership roles in our industry.
Want to connect with Peggy Lyn? You can find her on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.