When inventory is high, interest rates low, bidding wars common and there are no lawsuit judgments potentially depressing buyer-agent commissions, brokerage executives are often mostly concerned with simply keeping tabs of who sold what and for how much. Now? Amid all the industry uncertainties, it’s never been more crucial for those at the top to guide their troops in all kinds of ways.
The more than 42,000 members and subscriber agents under the auspices of Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie REALTORS® and BeachesMLS can be thankful that Dionna Hall is proactively leading the way. The CEO, who for eight years has overseen what are now 75 staff members in eight offices spanning 130 miles of Florida coastline, is such a force that she even conceived and launched television commercials to educate the masses—along with much more.
Don’t miss Dionna Hall speaking at RISMedia’s 36th Annual CEO & Leadership Exchange Sept. 4 – 6 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., during a session titled, “POWER HOUR: How MLSs Are Adapting in the Commission Lawsuit Era.” Hall and other MLS leaders will share how they are adapting their policies and overall organizations to respond to the current legal climate and address future broker needs.
While recognizing that real estate sales are cyclical, it is the legal ramifications from the Burnett case that agents and consumers must be abreast of, so Hall has concentrated her present efforts within that realm.
“We’ve used a variety of communication and educational efforts, including creating our own resources for our members,” she says. “We produce a weekly email series called ‘Navigating the Settlement,’ within which we grab all the important information from the week, everything from breaking news to best practices. We’ve numbered the series, so if anyone misses one, they can go look through the archives to make sure they’re up to date.
“Then we created a resource called ‘Navigating the Settlement: Broker Roadmap,’ and it includes broker best practices, things like making sure they have an antitrust policy in place, that their policies are consistent and all of the various things a brokerage needs to navigate the settlement to the best of their ability.”
Hall doesn’t just sit in her office directing traffic and programs remotely. She is constantly on the go, traveling to meet with agents throughout her territory, feeling that the face-to-face interactions are as valuable as the information.
“We are personally going into brokerages and conducting legal presentations and town halls,” she explains. “We’ve presented to over 8,000 agents in the last three to four months. There was really nobody at the beginning of the year in our area that was willing to come into our brokerage offices and talk about what the lawsuits were, what they looked like and what were the possible outcomes. Me and my leaders had been scenario-planning and put together a great presentation so our brokers and their agents could start to get their arms around the facts. It has been very, very popular.”
Hall recognized that it’s not only agents who need to understand the lawsuit ramifications, but homebuyers and sellers as well. Those not in the industry may not have paid much or any attention to what the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and agents nationwide have faced over the past year. Educating them about an agent’s value when they decide to buy or sell a house was the thought behind an innovative approach.
The commercial campaign
“Something I think is super out of the box that we created is a local TV commercial campaign called ‘Only a REALTOR®,’” says Hall. “There’s a robust social media following for the spots as well. The commercials are to help ease the conversation between REALTORS® and consumers about agent value. Right now we are producing our fourth commercial, and it is going to focus on the importance of having buyer representation.”
Each commercial targets a specific segment of the market important to the area, from first-time homebuyers to multi-generational Hispanic families to empty nesters.
“We’ve also produced collateral materials for our REALTORS® to use in their listing presentations and even put the commercial on a television when they’re doing an open house and consumers are walking through the property, to help reinforce the name brand of REALTORS® and the value that comes with using a licensed professional,” says Hall.
“The campaign has a lot of momentum, so much so that other local REALTOR® associations have asked if they can license it in their areas, and we have allowed them to do that. We know that once we are done, probably in early November, there are probably going to be several other local REALTOR® associations that would like to use it as well.”
Hall also related that newly created podcasts are available for members.
“We developed a series because people love podcasts these days, so if members want to listen to what’s going on, we release a new podcast every Friday,” she says. “We keep them short, about 20 minutes, so they can easily get through it on a car ride somewhere. They cover a variety of topics, but lately, many have been about the newest legal updates, MLS compliance and best practices.”
Creating residential real estate-related commercials, podcasts, town halls…not bad for someone who has never been an agent herself.
“I actually started out briefly as a local lobbyist with a REALTOR® association,” Hall says. “Then I became the senior vice president and chief operating officer. When they made me CEO, I conducted the largest merger in NAR’s history. I was with the REALTOR® Association of Palm Beaches, and was able to put together a merger with the Greater Fort Lauderdale REALTORS® Association, and that’s how we became so large. Then we conducted a couple of smaller mergers, which was basically the last REALTOR® association remaining in Broward. So we have complete jurisdiction in that area. Before we did the really large merger, we had merged with the St. Lucie REALTOR® Association, which gave us the Treasure Coast market.”
Hall noted that constant change is about the only thing real estate professionals can be sure of over time. This year’s market is different from last year’s, and no one knows how next year’s will be. Staying prepared for all eventualities and keeping educated is the key.
“If you’ve been in real estate for a long time, you know there has always been continuous change in the industry,” she says. “Obviously we just had a pandemic. We expected that it was going to depress the real estate industry, but actually, we ended up having some of the best years after that pandemic. Real estate is very cyclical. It’s just about remaining flexible and optimistic and getting in there and doing the real hard work to make sure we have all the information and the best tools available.
“One of the great ways that we keep our members informed is being able to provide them with free access to RISMedia, and that has helped us really round out the information going out to our membership. We’ve really enjoyed that partnership, and so have our members.”
Like any industry leader, Hall tries to look forward, but admits it’s the present she’s most concerned with.
“I think what’s next is continuing to execute and be strategic, forward-thinking and compliant,” she says. “We need to make sure we are abiding by these settlement terms to keep our liability at a minimum. That really has our full focus, while also remaining flexible, because as soon as we hear whatever issues our members are facing or going through, we want to be able to make sure we are responding with either education or a resource to help them push forward.”
