Rental brokers were handed the keys to unlock their full potential at the Real Estate Board of New York’s (REBNY) first ever Residential Rental Clinic Breakfast Roundtable organized by the Residential Division’s Rental Committee on March 18.
The new roundtable event – sponsored by Basic Moving, Wheaton World Wide Moving, and Bekins – featured discussions led by industry experts.
Daniel Marrello, of TOWN Flatiron, LLC, who served as the moderator for the event, led discussions on marketing.
Marello shared examples of ways that brokers can consistently build and connect with their social and professional circles.
Gary Kiyan, of Perfect RE Solutions Inc., spoke about the importance of building customer loyalty to create supplemental income streams.
To do this, he likened a real estate agent’s ability to create and maintain strong relationships while always looking for opportunities to personally learn and grow, to a farmer who plants seeds for the future.
Kiyan also stressed the need for fiduciary responsibility, demonstrating trustworthiness and putting customers first, listening to what they really want and making it a point to always stay in touch.
Karla Saladino, of Mirador Real Estate LLC, provided insight on personal and team branding with a focus on utilizing tools that are cost effective and provide quality.
She recommended that brokers utilize LinkedIn and their own personal accounts on other social networking platforms for finding, reaching and connecting with clients.
While Saladino advised agents to look at other teams’ social media accounts to gather ideas for how they want theirs to look and feel, she also emphasized the need for brokers to stay true to who they are when developing their accounts to enhance their overall interactions with clients and resulting achievements.
Jesse Rhiner, of DSA Realty Services, led a discussion on how to secure personal rental listings to grow a solid base of leads for the rest of one’s career.
He noted the critical importance of being an honest and trustworthy business person, politely relentless, and always professional.
Rhiner encouraged agents to look out for the landlord first and earn their trust by helping to make their job easier, while also forming relationships with building supers who are gate-keepers to personal listings.
Dmitry Daniel Itingen, of Platinum Properties, explored best practices for generating leads, which included agents getting to know their target demographic and becoming an expert on a neighborhood.
He also discussed how to effectively utilize ads on rental websites, advising that agents should always include high-quality photos and cut the fat out of apartment descriptions to hold the apartment seeker’s focus on the best features.
