Primary marketE-Certifications Equals E-Opportunities For Prudential Agents
As part of a comprehensive overhaul of its business development site, Prudential Real Estate Affiliates(PREA) is putting more emphasis on agent Internet-readiness.
Bob Watson, product manager and education director, says that eCertified Prudential real estate professionals will be able to tap into the full power of its publicly-owned mothership, Prudential Financial.
"Prudential Financial went public last year, and there are 11 million shareholders," explains Watson. "If the stock you are holding is going to go up, you have to think about what you can do to make the stock go up and help your own personal wealth."
Investors will be encouraged to use Prudential real estate professionals for their home transaction needs.
"That is a huge win for us," adds Watson. "There is no other company in the world that has that connection."
Real estate professionals who are Internet-trained are in the best position to take advantage of such a lead generation opportunity. Yet, is it a franchise"s job to direct leads to its associates? The new economy says it is.
Leading companies say that Internet leads are growing, but many are being left on the ground. They want to maximize the opportunity to collect those leads. So they are already setting the precedent - give leads to agents who are trained to handle them properly. Why generate leads for agents who never check their e-mails?
Prudential California Realty maintains an active lead-generating Web site for its agents complete with IDX listings where available. But only agents who are qualified, having been through the company"s own Internet training program or as eCerts, have access to those online leads. After spending over $3 million on a lead management and transaction management system called WebTop, PruCal"s management isn"t about to let unanswered leads slip through the cracks. And he doesn"t mind starting over with new sales personnel to do it.
"For a lot of people, this business isn"t fun anymore," PruCal owner Ed Krafchow told Agent News last year. "When you feel that way, it"s hard to get excited about new ways to do things - we want to bring in people who are going to be excited about what we have to offer."
Prudential Fox and Roach Realtors president Chip Roach concurs. His company is also designing a new lead management system. Roach told Agent News last year, that unanswered leads are a "wasteland of opportunity." "The leads are there," says Roach. "But they aren"t being picked up by the agents."
As a Prudential Financial subsidiary, PREA is very concerned about lost leads. "The numbers are indeed dismal," says Watson. "An Internet study done by RealNet showed agents" response time to Internet requests. It was just nauseating to look at the numbers - only 17 percent of agents responded within 48 hours."
PREA decided to do something about it, beginning its eCertifications about two years ago. The eCerts learn online communication skills with the emphasis on the proper and timely use of e-mail.
More than 11, 754 agents out of 42,000 throughout the PREA franchise network have been eCertified.
"As the first eCertified agent in the Prudential network, I am a strong believer in the designation," says "eCert" Rob Levy.
"When I do a listing presentation, I tout all the "techy" things I will be doing for them - virtual tours, this website, that website, e-mail marketing and more. But when I show them a copy of my eCertified certificate, then I have third-party credibility. I am able to tell the seller that this certificate proves that I can do what I say I can do."
Internet certification programs have yet to prove their mettle in whether or not they help agents produce higher income, but according to Watson, that"s putting the cart before the horse. "We haven"t done a study on it, but I can tell you that the real estate professionals who are motivated to get this training are among the top Prudential associates."
Adds Levy, "There is no doubt in my mind that this has helped my business tremendously since I earned the designation."
Watson expects the eCertification program to benefit brokers in recruitment.
"I know a lot of brokers who use the eCertification program for recruiting," says Watson. "If you are tying to recruit an agent from the Gen X or Gen Y group, you have to have a technological certification program to attract them. If you tell a 25-year-old that you have to stuff envelopes and fold fliers to get business, they aren"t going to thrilled."
Is life for eCerts all about the Internet? "The smart eCertifed real estate professionals are balancing their online presence with the business things they need to do everyday like networking," says Watson.
Still, he plans to support the eCerts with unique privileges. A new redesigned PREA Center will have business applications as well as transaction management capabilities. While PREA Center will be open to all Prudential agents, special offers will be reserved for eCertified professionals only.
"The eCertified real estate professionals are just one piece of the puzzle," says Watson. "It"s about Internet access and accessibility for our agents. Its part of the puzzle that fits in with new PREA Center, that they have the ability to go there, and customize and personalize their home page. We will have the ability to target messages to Relo groups, eCertified real estate professionals, and more. And that is a differentiator for us.
"The real estate business needs to have the Internet, and the sales pros need to know how to use it and work with customers who go to the Internet for information and unless they have the ability to work with a company that allows them custom features, it isn"t going to work out well for them."