If 2020 has shown us anything, it is that many of the ways that we have done things in the past can change in a heartbeat. Although real estate sales continue to stay strong, we have learned new ways of marketing, communication, and getting through a real estate transaction.
The Discount Real Estate Brokerage
In 2015, 1 Percent Lists was formed and immediately disrupted its local real estate market by providing a full-service experience for listing clients while only charging one percent commission. This re-envisioned the discount real estate broker model that had been done for years.
The logic behind this move was to grab a massive listing market share and use that as leverage to generate a much larger pool of buyers for their agents. The company was built from the ground up to be extremely efficient and is modeled after companies such as Amazon, which dominate by reducing their margin and focusing on a higher volume and better company efficiency.
Though their listing-side commission is heavily discounted, the company offers a buyer agent commission that is well inside industry norms to draw maximum activity for their listings. The brokerage handles all aspects of the transaction, just as other traditional real estate brokers do, but it has simply reduced their margin to provide more value to the home seller.
In a similar fashion to other tech-based retailers, the focus on customer experience, and especially value for the client, has created an exponentially growing sphere of past clients who are extremely loyal to the company.
Agents at 1 Percent Lists quickly find that they do more deals with less effort, and their work/life balance greatly improves. In short, they gain a competitive advantage that has clients chasing them rather than they have to spend countless hours chasing the client. Due to these factors, the agent retention rate at 1 Percent Lists has been extremely high.
History
When founder and current CEO of 1 Percent Lists Grant Clayton decided to try this new way of running a brokerage, he had no expectation of expanding into a real estate franchise. The overwhelming success was followed by explosive growth into new markets. Further success convinced Clayton and his team to invest in building this model into a franchise.
Grant’s point of view is simple, “Most agents and brokers exhaust countless dollars and time trying to convince their clients and other agents that they are superior, despite having similar fees, marketing strategies, and commission splits,” he explained. “Our goal is simply brand awareness, to show potential clients that we can do so much more while charging so much less, and showing agents an easier and actually more profitable way to do business.
And while agent turnover at traditional brokerages remains high, almost all of 1 Percent Lists initial franchises were purchased by their own agents. That simple fact speaks volumes of not only their personal level of success, but their belief in the product.”
Digital Marketing
Clayton believes that the biggest pain-point of many brokers is digital marketing. The company’s focus from its inception has been branding in the digital domain both locally and nationally. 1 Percent Lists has partnered with a leading real estate SEO and digital marketing company, One Click SEO. They bring to the table over 20 years of experience in the real estate vertical to provide professional, cost-effective digital marketing efforts for their agents and franchisees.
To Clayton, this is crucial because, “We want our agents and franchisees to focus on what they do best, which is to build relationships and do deals. Digital marketing is extremely important, but very complex. Our proven process provides a cost-effective option so our people don’t have to figure it out for themselves and they can focus on what they do well, which is grow their business.”
1 Percent Lists has seen incredible success with their franchise sales within the first six months expanding into multiple states with more in the pipeline. Learn more about franchise opportunities.