As a broker it's important to keep your firm's expenses low. It’s easy to let agents get carried away with office goodies, but business is business. Keep an eye out for unnecessary expenses before you start noticing a hole in your company’s pocket.
Here are 12 expenses brokerages waste money on:
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Swag Items
Unless you're passing out personalized coffee thermos, pens, notepads, etc. to potential leads, having a ton for the office is nice, but does not increase your client base.
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Magazine Subsciptions
Make sure all your office’s magazine subscriptions have a purpose. Are agents reading articles they could otherwise access for free? Do clients care that you have a copy of NAR in your waiting room?
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Microsoft Office Suite
Cloud based services such as Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets, are a great free alternative. We wouldn’t say Microsoft Office, PowerPoint, and Excel are worthless, but Google Drive automatically saves your changes and can be accessed anywhere with internet connection.
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By writing generic impersonal email campaigns you are teaching leads to delete or spam mark your emails. If you are currently using a drip email service, run the numbers. See if cost of the service is worthwhile.
Zurple developed a solution for drip email campaigns. Unlike other lead automation services, we send leads intelligent, personalized emails that reference their previous online search history.
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Dinner for Clients/Leads
Before footing an expensive dinner, offer to take a past or potential client out to coffee or lunch. Also educate agents on the importance of not taking advantage of the company. Dinner bills can escalate quickly and you never know when someone will take full advantage of your brokerage’s credit card.
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Under Utilized Subscription Based Services
Many brokerages have CRMs, social media management platforms, and accounting software that they do not know how to use. It’s important to run quarterly cost analyses to see if keeping these accounts active is healthy for your brokerage.
At Zurple, we want all of our clients to be successful. Our most satisfied clients are those that understand how our product works and who use it on a consistent basis.
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Trade Shows
Trade shows are expensive. Many shows require agents to buy space, booth movers and even water. Many brokerages and other businesses fail to do post-event analysis before purchasing their tickets for next year.
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Paid Social Media Followers
Paid social media followers are almost always a waste. Quality of followers is better than quantity. You won't be fooling anyone with thousands of followers, but only two likes per picture.
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Not all brokerages need a physical office. If you find yourself meeting clients at their homes more oftne than your own office, calculate how much you could save by working remotely.
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Paper Cups & Plates
Certain items like tissues and coffee silverware is important to provide. Others such as paper coffee cups and plates can be wasteful since employees can bring their own coffee cups and plates.
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Full Time Receptionist
Why hire a full-time receptionist when agents can also take turns managing the front desk. Plus, it’s a great way to get leads. Instead of staffing front desk receptionists 7 days a week, have agents manage the desk when you’re expecting guests.
What else do brokers WASTE money on, but shouldn't?
Need to Cut Even More Expenses in 2017?