Peer-to-Peer
Brad Allen, CRS, ABR, The ART of Real Estate, Columbia, SC
What first interested you in becoming a CRS?
I’ve always been the kind of person who likes to see the best in any field and then use that as my model. When I got into real estate, I saw that CRS was the Cadillac of the REALTOR® Designations, so I knew that was the goal to achieve. When we started the firm, the first REALTORs® on board got our CRS Designations at the same time. As time went on and we acquired new team members, I encouraged everyone to get their CRS when they were able to. It’s not a requirement [for working at our firm], but it is highly encouraged.
How did having the CRS Designation affect how you did business?
When I was studying, we didn’t have a lot of classes in South Carolina, so I had to travel to take them. Because of that, I saw how others were doing business, what kinds of things were working and what wasn’t, so I was able to apply those lessons to our business. All in all, the business planning class was not very exciting, but it provided me with so many ways to set our business apart and showed me how we could step up our game.
What do your clients appreciate most about your services?
Clients love that we are a full-service, client-centered brokerage. For example, we hire an appraiser and inspector at our cost to come evaluate houses, we pay for staging, and we have a professional photographer and videographer on staff. All these services have helped us become pros in our clients’ eyes; they see that we will take their product and put it in the best possible light to get it sold. We are working hard to enhance the client experience.
We sell our homes within 4 to 5 percent of the listing price, so that shows we are doing things right. In addition, our average listing is sold in 64 days as opposed to the 98-day average of our local market.
What else about your firm sets you apart from your competitors?
We are a true team. In addition to my partner and myself, we have four REALTORs® and full-time marketing, listing and closing specialists. We feel that we are a marketing team that happens to sell houses. Every client gets a video and a virtual tour of the home for sale on our website. And the quality of our videography and photography is truly excellent; it’s not done as an afterthought. The online sites like Zillow are here to stay, but our services and knowledge are so much better.
How so?
We took a one-day team-building class about how to position our business and learned quite a lot. For instance, we know our stats like the back of our hands—average price, average days on the market, our sell rates, etc. We know that stuff cold, unlike other agents working in the market. That expertise pays off: We did dual-agency listings for about 45 properties last year.
Your website is one of the best we’ve seen—for any business. Why do you go above and beyond on that aspect of your business?
So many people’s websites are just built from a template—and they look it. We wanted ours to make a statement, so that someone coming to the site would see how much care we take to give our clients the information and promotion they need. It really is our online business card.
What would you say to other CRSs?
You should absolutely take advantage of networking and learning opportunities. I was just at Sell-a-bration®, and soon I’ll be flying to New England to give a presentation. There are people at these events who are willing to share their expertise, and it’s purely non-competitive because most everyone is from a different market. If there’s a person there saying, “I want you to get better—here’s my listing presentation,” why wouldn’t you grab that? Yes, it costs money to attend, but I’ve received four or five referrals just this month from CRSs I have met. If you take the opportunity to collaborate with the best REALTORs® in the world, you’ll get more out of it than you can imagine.
Brad Allen achieved his CRS Designation in 2012. He can be reached at 803.348.7780 or at brad@theartteam.net.
