What a country of immigrants should consider.
I was deeply concerned on Friday evening when I learned of the executive order to suspend the travel of refugees to the United States and blocking entry for citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
I believe this was a dangerously misguided and fundamentally un-American decision.
On Saturday, I was inspired to watch as people from all walks of life stood up and spoke out in protest of the President’s actions, and in defense of our shared American values. …
Why agent retention is our most valuable accomplishment.
It used to be that employees might work at the same company for decades, if not the duration of their careers, but that was 50 years ago. In today’s fickle economic landscape, staffers cycle through offices in rapid succession — not least of all independent contractors such as real estate agents. At Compass, our agents tend to stick around — in fact, a staggering 99 percent of the agents we’ve hired since our 2013 inception are still with us. And we consider this agent retention rate the truest measure of our achievement.
Why do we feel that retention is so…
To create a modern brokerage, you can’t buy an identity — you have to build it and live it every day.
Words: Robert Reffkin
Images: Ryan Mikail and Lauren Naefe
As founder and CEO of technology-driven real estate platform Compass, I can tell you that many of the real estate brands you know are a façade. Most brokerage firms offer their agents little more than a company logo, outsourced technology, and limited support.
Although plenty of people subscribe to the belief that advertising spend directly informs brand strength, a cultivated veneer alone has limited impact. As our head of design and marketing always reminds me, brand is not just a logo or slogan. It’s the sum of a company’s actions and…
Our CEO responds to a common, but outmoded real estate industry practice: the non-compete clause.
As I’ve navigated the real estate industry, my guiding principles have stemmed from my mother. A single parent who for many years earned her living as a real estate agent, she often felt the brokerage structure, headed by people much more powerful than her, took advantage of its agents. As a result, she rarely felt she had great options or opportunity.
Since launching Compass, I’ve asked myself several questions over and over (many of the same ones I heard my mother wonder aloud throughout her own career). …
Why agent retention is our most valuable accomplishment.
It used to be that employees might work at the same company for decades, if not the duration of their careers, but that was 50 years ago. In today’s fickle economic landscape, staffers cycle through offices in rapid succession — not least of all independent contractors such as real estate agents. At Compass, our agents tend to stick around — in fact, a staggering 99 percent of the agents we’ve hired since our 2013 inception are still with us. And we consider this agent retention rate the truest measure of our achievement.
Why do we feel that retention is so…
You can’t buy brand — you have to build it and live it every day.
Words: Robert Reffkin
Images: Ryan Mikail and Lauren Naefe
As founder and CEO of technology-driven real estate platform Compass, I can tell you that many of the real estate brands you know are a façade. Most brokerage firms offer their agents little more than a company logo, outsourced technology, and limited support.
Although plenty of people subscribe to the belief that advertising spend directly informs brand strength, a cultivated veneer alone has limited impact. As our head of design and marketing always reminds me, brand is not just a logo or slogan. It’s the sum of a company’s actions and…
If you have $2 million invested in stocks at a wealth management firm and your personal adviser leaves the company, your nest egg is still in safe hands — because you can follow your adviser.
So it makes sense that if you have a $2 million home you want to sell and your representative leaves his or her brokerage, your transaction should still be secure because you can follow your agent.
But in the real estate industry, that’s not legally the case.
In our business, the standard exclusive agreement is a contract between the brokerage and the individual client, with…
Robert Reffkin
Founder @CompassInc / Founder @NewYorkNeedsYou / White House Fellow / Running 50 marathons to raise $1mm for nonprofits
