While some companies are cutting back on their awards programs due to the economy, we’re expanding ours.  Now, more than ever, agents can use a little pat on the back for hanging in there in the toughest market that many of them have experienced in their careers.  The challenging economy has forced too many agents out of the business, while we are attracting and holding on to more agents than ever.

Fillmore Awards Dinner Badges

What we’re doing  a little differently is spending the time and resources to help the agents to adjust their attitudes and strategies to compete better in this market.  Agents that are focused on the customer experience are thriving today.  Agents that are using the tools that technology offers are also getting a leg up on the agents that have been resisting all along.  Our message is to show the agents what is working best and the Awards Dinner is a perfect opportunity to further push the message and show agents the way to succeed.  Here’s how we’re doing it this Wednesday evening.

In addition to our regularly scheduled awards, we are doing a few things differently:
1) We are having 3 actual Fillmore agents/managers get up and tell their story of motivation and success
———-A.) The first agent is  a new agent in the real estate business.  During his first year he went to our training, and used our technology to earn him 6 figures.  This person is new to real estate, but he formerly had a career with Lehman Brothers and applied his selling techniques to real estate.

———-B.) The second agent is an agent that was with our firm for a few years and was ready to quit.  The agent went back to training and created a business plan that helped her to become a top producer over the past year.  It shows agents that want to really take this seriously that they can succeed.

———-C.) The third speaker is a manager and vice president with our company for ten years. This person quickly moved up the ladder and has always supported company programs and initiatives.  When we were faced with difficult times and decided to merge her office with another, she took the challenge and helped make her new team one of the top three in the company.  She will show growth and opportunity to the agents that want this to be their career.

Instead of a long and boring talk from me again, I will cut my comments shorter and allow for the real people to get up and tell it like it is as only they can do it.

2) The next thing we’re adding this year is BADGES.  We are calling the program MORESquare; which is a takeoff from the badges used in the popular Foursquare.com site.  Each attendee will have a name badge and they will earn separate emblems for the activities that they accomplished.  For example, agents will get badges for time with company, being involved with social media, blogging, sending referrals, and lots of other items.  Charts will be around the room and agents will be able to see what others have earned and they will be motivated to earn more next year.

We wanted to show agents how many of the successful agents were actually using social media, sending referrals, and doing other important actions that made them successful.

3) The Third and most important thing that we’re doing is that we’re having fun. We have a DJ and the best food from Gargiulos Italian Restaurant in Coney Island…now that’s the ingredients for a nice evening.

I’ll let you know how it all turns out.