Broker Spotlight: Q&A with Christine Hansen of CENTURY 21 Hansen Realty
What are some of the key growth opportunities in the real estate business today?
The way I see it, the more that things change, the more they stay the same. While there have been seismic shifts in the real estate industry and the business of real estate in the last decade due to technology, demographic shifts, multi-generational living spaces, and consumer empowerment, the bottom line is still the same: exceeding the needs of your customers. For brokers and owners, it’s providing a culture of success that agents need to thrive, and for those same entrepreneurs to deliver the same to home buyers and sellers. If you look at the top companies and the very best producing agents they all have that common. We all must have a customer-centric mindset. For my team that translates to our commitment to applying our knowledge, market experience and skills, and fiduciary standards to the betterment of our clients and customers.
How does the CENTURY 21® brand help you and your agents leverage these opportunities?
I haven’t been this excited about the growth of my company and the
CENTURY 21 brand, well, since I started my brokerage 41 years ago. To maximize current market opportunities, my team will leverage the bold moves made by the brand in overhauling one of real estate’s most recognizable icons and delivering to market a new visual identity and mission–Defy Mediocrity and Deliver Extraordinary Experiences. Together, my team here in Florida, and the CENTURY 21 brand worldwide, will tackle head-on what home buyers and sellers should no longer have to endure from their agent and real estate company of choice: mediocre performances, poor experiences and frustration during the overall transaction. Collectively, we are creating a market differentiator that reinforces the industry-leading quality and trust the C21® professional delivers to market and one that truly portrays the CENTURY 21 brand as ‘the gold standard’ in real estate.
What advice can you offer a new agent? A new broker?
One word: culture. For both agents and brokers alike, you need to find people who share the same values, beliefs, and career aspirations. From there, the ‘table stakes’ will likely follow – the platform, support and resources that you need to be productive—and profitable. If you are fortunate, like I have been over my many years in this business, you’ll find yourself working with people who are smarter than you, and more importantly, inspire you to always elevate.
What do you look for when recruiting new agents?
You must be relentless. I look for the self-starters. The midnight-oil burners. I want entrepreneurs who think “complacency” is a strange and foreign word. In today’s digital, always-on world we operate in, I need professionals who always give 121% and don’t understand why others don’t. That’s exactly who we want to join us. My team all think this way, and we must. That’s the best way today to secure the repeat and referral business we all rely on. Otherwise, when a real estate need arises, consumers will choose another agent and or another company.
How is technology driving your business?
It’s all about being innovative and relevant. Consumers are more engaged with technology today than ever, and along with that, come soaring home buyer and seller expectations as well as relationship opportunities. Technology, and the data derived from consumer interactions, together with a comprehensive, state-of-the-art transaction management system, helps us improve efficiency and convenience by better understanding upfront home buyer and seller preferences. That way, we can offer home buyers and sellers a personalized, digital experience that keeps them abreast of where they (we) are in the transaction and to make potentially critical decisions no matter where they are.
About Century 21 Real Estate LLC
The approximately 119,000 independent sales professionals in approximately 8,300 offices spanning 81 countries and territories in the CENTURY 21 System live their mission everyday: to defy mediocrity and deliver extraordinary experiences. By consistently chasing excellence, and giving 121%, the CENTURY 21 brand is helping its affiliated brokers/agents to be the first choice for real estate consumers and industry professionals worldwide. ©2018 Century 21 Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. CENTURY 21® and the CENTURY 21 Logo are registered service marks owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC. Century 21 Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each office is independently owned and operated.
