Despite the uncertainty of what lies ahead, RE/MAX CEO Adam Contos is urging his company’s brokers not to sit back and wait for the pandemic and accompanying financial uncertainty to pass.
Adam Contos | RE/MAX
Instead, he’s urging his brokers to continue to build their businesses with “bricks” and support their agents as the market rebound presents opportunities.
“No one knows what lies ahead, and no one knows how long this chapter will last,” Contos said during the opening session of RE/MAX’s virtual Broker Owner Conference. “What we do know is, life hasn’t stopped.”
“The market is rebounding, people are still buying and selling homes, and we are in the business of helping them,” Contos said. “So we keep moving forward with focus, with confidence and resolve.”
Contos acknowledged that 2020 will likely go down as the most difficult year of our lives, but said it’s ultimately another step in the ongoing evolution of the company, network and real estate industry.
Things have changed and will continue to change, Contos said. In the short term, provide the health, safety and social distancing technology tools that agents need, but in the long term, help agents become more virtual.
Brokerages should also be using this time to make their business stronger, Contos said.
“If your business was weak before COVID-19 hit, you would not be here today, you’d be out of business, wondering what hit you and what you could have done differently,” Contos said.
Contos invoked the story of the “The Three Little Pigs,” urging brokers to build their businesses with “bricks” and comparing the COVID-19 pandemic to the story’s villain, the Big Bad Wolf.
“Build with bricks, and you’ll be ready to beat every competitor, overcome every challenge, weather every storm and stand up to every wolf, even a global pandemic,” Contos said.
Those bricks, Contos explained, are many of the things he believes are part of the RE/MAX network. Things like, solid agents, a growth mindset, a network of peers, a productive culture, a positive attitude, an amazing assortment of tools and kindness and compassion.
“Businesses built with straw — like weak agents, mediocre service and low energy — will collapse,” Contos said. “Businesses built with sticks — like gimmicks, false promises and short-term thinking will be gone too.”
“But if you build your business with bricks, if you build it the right way, the hard way, you’ll thrive no matter what threat comes along.”
Contos highlighted a few new initiatives that RE/MAX is launching to help brokerages support agents in the near future, including a new internal communications platform that is set to come out in 2021, five new agent training and development courses, a new technology marketplace so agents can choose from their favorite third-party applications, and a new recruiting resource.
The company is also launching a new marketing campaign focused around the theme “let our experience be your guide,” Contos said.
“This will help you highlight your competitive edge,” Contos added.
