Top Take-Aways from the NAR Convention

In November, REALTORS® from around the country descended on the streets of Orlando, Fla., for a week of learning, networking and socializing at the National Association of REALTORS® Annual Conference and Expo. Here’s what some of your fellow Arizona REALTORS® and AAR staff learned while they were there:

“I really enjoyed the opening session with the Flawless Execution presentation. I find their approach to business refreshing and spot-on.”

This session featured American military fighter pilots from Afterburner, who show the parallels between success on the squadron level for F-15 and your own business success. . By analyzing the work environment and attacking its centers of gravity in parallel, Afterburner touts a Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief-Win cycle that can impact your business’s future success.

To find out more about Flawless Execution, James D. Murphy’s book is available on Amazon.com.

— Bill Asker, Designated Broker/Owner, REAL LIVING  PROPERTY FOR YOU. Listen to Bill on  “Real Estate from A to Z” on Money Radio 1510AM every Saturday from 9am till 10am

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“The best application I saw at NAR was this one http://dreamcommerce.co/ sexy, sexy IDX and  they have VOW too I’m told.

Best tool from NAR Orlando remains my ears. I learn more by listening to some amazing people I’ve known from years and the new ones I meet year after year. Also am reminded when I get back how grateful I am for the ears that take the time to listen to me.”

— Kerry Melcher, The Melcher Agency, Phoenix

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“The best tool was one that we already know of, and that was getting back to our grass roots of the industry. In other words your customer service had better be at its all time BEST! Personal contact with past clients and letting them know that Arizona is leading the recovery to the housing market. Plus, really know who and what your clients’ needs are. Customer service, customer service!!!!”

— Cami Elliott,  Broker/Owner, The Cami Elliott Team and 2013 President Phoenix Association of REALTORS®

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“One of the most interesting sessions I attended in Orlando was the REThink strategic planning meeting.  REThink is an effort by NAR’s Strategic Planning Committee to ‘crowd source’ strategic input from all over the United States. Their approach is a sophisticated scenario planning method with some excellent technological twists.  In the session I attended, facilitators presented five different scenarios regarding the real estate industry and US economy in five or ten years.  We, the participants, were grouped in tables of four to eight people around the room.  For each scenario, we walked through a PowerPoint which included facts and diagrams supporting the assumptions in the scenario, then dove into the scenario itself.  Finally, to make the whole thing more real, a four to five minute video was shown which depicted a REALTOR® of the future talking about how things had changed and how they had successfully adapted to it.  With the scenario firmly in mind, the participants at the tables discussed how likely the scenario seemed to us and gave pro and con evidence about our opinions.  A designated scribe at each table entered our comments into a site which gathered information from the entire room and plotted it on an ‘idea cloud’ which mapped out relationships among key words. 

The process was absolutely absorbing, as the three hours passed almost before we noticed.  REThink sessions are scheduled across the U.S. and NAR’s goal is to have at least 20,000 participants take part between now and May 2013.  To see the scenarios (fascinating!) and find out more about REThink, visit http://rethinkfuture.com/.”

–Ron LaMee, senior vice president, Information Services,  Arizona Association of REALTORS®

What did you learn at the NAR Convention in Orlando?