Why ZRE?
Welcome to my first blog as Zane of ZRE!
Does it feel strange to be writing this? No, not at all as it actually feels like I never really left the industry - and in many ways I didn't as during my 'down time' I was still helping other sales people with their careers, meeting with Vendors and connecting them to active agents in the marketplace, engaging with valuers and landlords and generally just watching the market, waiting to see its next trajectory.
There are moments where I physically feel like I went on a weekend break and now I have that feeling of 'well that's over - back to work to work I go' - so here I am, feet under my desk, with fingers on my keyboard, talking about property but with a mind so full of fresh ideas about real estate that I can't verbalize them all fast enough.
I have spent my time out of the industry doing everything I said I would do - connecting with friends, spending time with family, traveling, learning Italian (ok ok thats a work in progress i miei amici!) and of course to get in better physical shape. So that's pretty much a Tick, Tick, 3/4 Tick and Tick.
As we traveled around the world we began to look at property in various places and this process opened my eyes to a range of things - how people perceive salespeople, how real estate companies engage with the public, how and where buyers truly find property to buy and an overarching understanding of everything else in between that ties the real estate experience together. And this made me think - what if.....
I have been asked several times about why I chose to launch my own new brand rather than align myself with a legacy real estate franchise? I looked at brands across the nation and indeed across the world and its apparent that they are quite similar (with a few exceptions) in many ways. Successful - yes, admirable - 100%, professional - without question, but when it comes to defining their points of difference from each other it becomes more challenging. They are all in their own lanes doing real estate as they have always done and it could be argued that if it isn't broken why change it? And the industry isn't broken but it is certainly changing and sometimes we are reluctant to bring about change, let alone embrace it. I seek to help it migrate to its natural future.
So what has changed? Certainly print media is in the final death throes of its cost-effective lifespan due to an increasingly lacklustre audience reach. Radio is falling to a similar fate as that industry sheds listeners across the board. Meanwhile the digital space rises. Cost effective and far reaching as a tool, businesses can leverage digital channels such as search engines, websites and social media to connect product to current and prospective customers like never before. And then there's the added tools of emails, multi-media, Whatsapp, Messenger and text messaging amongst others which provide wrap around support for profile building in industries such as real estate.
Real estate offices are also becoming the Blockbuster Video of yesteryear as agile forward thinking managers and salespeople recognise that these are no longer the places to conduct business. Foot numbers to offices are at all time lows as buyers and sellers increase their time spent on devices. Phones are the number one tool for real estate - on this there can be no debate. It's time to elevate that office mindset from bricks and mortar toward informal meet and greets, zoom calls and teams working in the ether.
And this is why I opted to launch something new - I sought to create a platform for success, where salespeople could create, be innovative and grow as professionals, a place where Vendors could have the best technological tools at their fingertips to showcase their properties and to have as many potential purchasers eyes focused on those properties as is possible.
The future of real estate is energy and rich visuals - all underpinned by creativity and technology. Real time vendor reports, out-of-the-box automations, AI, digital marketing, neon, lights, sound and action.
But all of this means nothing without real people working with you, developing relationships and affording professional and experienced advice. Nothing can replace that human experience - and I mean nothing. And that is the single most important asset for all those who work at ZRE. People. And for me, the one thing I missed the most whilst taking a break was people.
Geez it's good to be back.
There is so much more I have to share with you - but let's save that for later. For now I will leave you with two words of what's coming next..... Digital Cube.
Till next time,
Zane
