Prudential California Realty has been a Real Data Strategies client since 1994 and Rich Cosner, CEO & President of Prudential California Realty / Cosner Group, openly admits that he has built his company around RDS data and consulting thought processes.
“The data has guided us in making strategic decisions, has minimized our risk in growing our company, and allows us to carry out our concept of Strategic Demolition. The payoff has been tremendous.” Today, Prudential Cosner has over 882 agents, 8 offices and is ranked as the 11th largest Prudential firm in the nation.
The term “Strategic Demolition” was first coined by the firm’s Vice President of Sales, Brad Pearson. In a nutshell, Strategic Demolition is a systematic approach to growing the firm into strategic markets after evaluating the weaknesses of competitors in each market. First, Cosner identifies which markets to enter. “We look at all of the most important metrics, such as competitors’ market share, average sale price, and entrenchment of the players to determine if we can be profitable in that market,” states Cosner. That’s where the analysis and distribution of rank and share come into play, and the identification of key agents to target in each market. “We recently had an owner of one of the largest firms in Hemet, California, ask us to come in and take over his office. There would have been no charge. We simply had to take it over. We declined the opportunity, because using RDS data we were able to determine that even if we achieved an unheard of 50% market share, we would not have been able to be profitable. Frankly, we wouldn’t have been able to make this educated decision without Real Data Strategies’ data and analysis”, points out Cosner.
The second phase of Strategic Demolition is looking for the weak offices in a new market, states Brad Pearson, VP of Sales. “Often times, we are not initially looking to recruit agents from the top two or three entrenched offices, but many times we find significant weaknesses in other offices beyond the top three in any given market. Many times the management and leadership of these offices is less than optimal. Once a few agents leave many more agents often follow” says Pearson. “We analyze the skyrocketing and crash & burn reports to determine who we should meet with first. Usually an office’s profit will be wiped out totally if you just take a few of their most productive agents. Pearson admits that they have had much success with this strategy. “Sometimes, we recruit the manager, which often leads to a discussion with the owner to buy the rest of the company. We can make these decisions because we have accurate and trustworthy data to rely on.” says Pearson.
Pearson states that Data Doorway, the web-based recruiting application offered by Real Data Strategies, is where the recruiting process starts. As soon as the new quarter’s data is released, managers are analyzing the production of offices and agents they want to target. The managers make their lists and prepare their recruiting objectives. “Managers initially spend a couple of hours on Data Doorway, and then they mine the data 15 to 20 minutes a day a couple of times a week,” says Pearson. Because the activity of recruiting has no set season or timeframe, it can take anywhere from thirty days to a couple of years to recruit a good agent, so consistency and follow through becomes the order of the day. “We know which of our managers are accessing the system and which ones are not because we can monitor managers’ activity on Data Doorway. The checks and balances are in place which has been lacking in our industry for years”, states Pearson. “So, Data Doorway is more than a recruiting tool; it is a management tool for accountability.”
Cosner points out that “we don’t lose listings to competitors; we lose listings because we are not sitting at the kitchen table.” It is hard to argue with that statement given that Prudential California Realty / Cosner Group is the #1 company in North Orange County and North West Riverside County. In North Orange County, which is a large market, Cosner’s firm has more market share than its second and third competitors combined. With those strong stories, it is hard for agents to turn down an opportunity to affiliate with the firm. Who wouldn’t want to be part of a company that is #1 in the agent’s market? Moreover, who would want to compete against the #1 firm? And, it is not just words; Cosner’s agents’ carry the evidence with them on every listing appointment. The fact that the data is generated by an independent third party, Real Data Strategies, and not Cosner’s firm or a software company which allows users to pick and choose their competitors, lends credibility to the results.
Pearson admits that being the #1 firm in over 18 zips codes hasn’t been an easy road. Pearson remembers that it took three years to be the #1 firm in North West Riverside County. Prudential acquired an office there and instantly took the 23rd position of 26 players. “We had the worst facility, worst parking, and no desks, though we knew there was opportunity in that marketplace based on the data. We had to start building from the ground up,” says Pearson. With the combination of a vision, a commitment to recruiting and good strategic data, Prudential went from #23 to #1 in three years. “We went from twelve agents to one hundred and sixty agents, and we are now flourishing in our 16,000 square foot office building”, says Pearson.
The real beauty of Real Data Strategies’ data and thought process is that they have allowed us to make educated decisions based on quantifiable data, and to distinguish between opportunity and disaster that so often knocks at our door”, says Cosner. “The investment we made and continue to make in Real Data Strategies has paid for itself many times over, and our partnership continues to flourish.”
About Prudential California Realty
Prudential California Realty is a market leader in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. With almost 1,000 agents, we are one of the nation's premier real estate companies. Serving Orange County with offices in Anaheim Hills, Yorba Linda, Orange, Fullerton and Brea and The Inland Empire with offices in Riverside, Corona, Moreno Valley and Rancho Cucamonga. Our expert real estate agents can help you find the right home in the right neighborhood.
About Real Data Strategies, Inc.
Founded in 1992, Real Data Strategies, Inc., gathers real estate industry and market data from MLS systems throughout the U.S. and Canada to provide strategic, customized and highly-actionable analysis and consulting services. Real Data Strategies helps organizations to grow their revenue base, streamline back office operations, improve profitability by applying analysis to their current and future plans, positively impacting the long-term success of their businesses.
