Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Platform right for?

Although we’ve had new agents hire us (and get incredible results), as well as long-time veterans who already sell tens of millions, we’ll be honest. The agents who thrive the most with Platform are usually somewhere around $5m – $10m in sales production, and they’re ready to double or triple. Most agents can grow to at least $5m by working their SOI/referrals, but in order to take their GCI to the next level, it typically requires more intentional marketing. That’s where we come in.

Who should NOT hire Platform?

If you’re the team lead of a mega team, and you’re just looking for new sources of leads for your agents to work, Platform really isn’t designed for you. Our program is hands-on and personal. It’s designed for one agent, or a micro-team where the team lead is still producing, and is the face of the brand. We will build a personal brand for you in your community. Building a “personal brand” for a big team is a logical contradiction.

Platform is market exclusive. What does that mean, and how do you define a “market?”

We’re preaching to the choir when we tell you real estate is incredibly competitive, and you need to have an edge that none of your competitors have. So to us, market exclusivity means we’re not working with two realtors who regularly compete for the same market share. We don’t want an audience regularly seeing the same ad from multiple Platform agents and wondering who copied who. And we don’t want our ads to be competing against each other, effectively watering down your results.

We will draw your market based on where you’d like to do 90% of your new business. All of your ad spend should go in the area where you’d like to see most of your growth happen. It’s usually about a 15 mile circular radius depending on how populated your market is. Realistically, where could you drive in about 30 minutes? That’s approximately your market area.

How often will I talk to Platform?

You’ll have a dedicated, one-on-one phone call with your Platform marketing manager every 2 weeks! This is one of our favorite parts of the entire marketing program. It truly makes Platform different from other companies, and is one of the secret reasons we’re able to get our realtors such amazing results. These calls are NOT a group Zoom call with 50 other agents. It’s a personal one-on-one phone call. In addition to this, you’ll also have your marketing manager’s direct cell if you have quick questions between the calls. Talking regularly is important because it’s how we’ll get to know you, your brand, your tone, your values, your town, and therefore be able to craft custom ads that sound like something you’d actually say.

How much time does it take each week to implement the Platform strategy?

You can think of us as your full blown marketing department! We take everything off your plate that we are able to: video editing, planning new ad ideas/content calendar, copywriting, launching and managing ad campaigns to ensure everything’s performing well, setting up workflows for the leads we generate, etc. It’s more than just having a marketing employee, it’s like having an entire marketing department. We’ll want to talk to you on the phone at least every other week, for about 20-30 minutes. Plan to spend about an hour a week for content creation, and we recommend spending 20 minutes a day calling your warm leads. Although you don’t hire Platform for leads, you will receive some, and we absolutely recommend calling them. This is, after all, a sales profession. We’ll share our followup best practices with you and coach you on this.

What is the PlatFam community like?

The PlatFam is an intimate, inspiring, tight-knit community of agents. At the time of this recording, we’ve got around 350 clients total. We have a VERY active private Facebook community where our agents get to know each other, attend Zoom masterminds every month, share encouragement and success stories, share best performing ads, buyer/seller referrals, client appreciation event ideas, random memes, and sometimes just venting with each other. We call it the PlatFam because once you get to know us, you’ll realize it really is like a family. Many of our clients become literal friends with each other. Their families get to know each other. They vacation together. We’re more than just a marketing company, it’s like joining a mastermind group of the coolest and most ambitious agents in the country.

Because of our one agent per market policy, none of your competition is in the group, so the culture is the opposite of gatekeeping. Everybody has an abundance mindset, and will often go to the group with business and life questions because they know it’s a group of high-level, ambitious, rockstar agents that truly all want to grow and scale together. Our clients are the best of the best.

We also have an annual Mastermind event that most of our clients attend. We bring in amazing guest speakers, we host cocktail hours, we invade Seed To Table if we’re in Naples (IYKYK), and just have an amazing overall time. 90% of our clients attend this event. Our clients have often told us it’s the most impactful conference they go to. It’s a closed, private event only for the PlatFam community. Tickets are not for sale because it’s free…as long as you’re in the PlatFam.

My market is taken, can I take a neighboring market?

Sorry, no. Imagine a plumber hiring a marketing company to market him in a town that’s an hour from where he’s based. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense. Real estate is local. We only work with agents in markets where they spend most of their time, and do most of their business. We’ve had a lot of agents try to utilize us in neighboring markets over the years, and it’s just never gone well. So we’ve stopped doing that. Our reputation (and yours) is too important to water down the results.

We only feel comfortable allowing you to invest with us if we’re confident you’ll get an ROI, so using us in the primary area where you spend the majority of your time is a requirement.

How long does it take for Platform to work?

This is a great question! The safe answer is probably 6-12 months before your phone really starts ringing a bunch, you start to get way more referrals, random emails or DM’s, people around town recognizing you, etc. Usually at first it’s pretty quiet, and then “all of a sudden” you start seeing obvious signs that the marketing is working. Again, usually this happens somewhere between the 6 and 12 month mark.

However, every situation is unique, and there are so many variables that can either speed up or slow down that timeline. It will depend on the answers to questions like: How long have you been selling real estate? Is your brand already pretty strong, or are we building it from scratch with you? Will you call your leads? Will you show up, and create all of the content we ask you to? Are you known by your community? Are you down to invest what we recommend into ad spend? Are you willing to host client appreciation events for your sphere? We will talk through all of these factors with you, and let you know what someone in your scenario can typically expect on estimated time to see an ROI. We also give a very generous discount the first 10 months you’re with us to help you get to that point.

You can also expect that the longer you do Platform, the more your business growth will snowball and compound. Year one, you’re nurturing people who may work with you that year, but also people who will need a realtor in 1 year, and people who will need a realtor in 2 years. So your efforts truly do provide a compounding return.

How long do agents usually spend with Platform?

Well, we still have our first client from almost 12 years ago, and tons of other agents who have been with us for a decade. So usually many years 🙂

What is your success rate?

About 97% of our clients stick with us month-over-month! Most marketing agencies are thrilled if they only lose 10% of their clients each month. We average 3%. So, our client happiness is about triple the average of most marketing programs. We do not lock our clients into long term contracts, so this loyalty from our clients is a true signal that they know the marketing is working. We’re proud of that.

Our entire business model from start to finish is based around quality over quantity. We have no interest in only working with an agent for just a year. We want lifetime clients just like you do!

And if we don’t think it’ll be a fantastic fit, we’ll be honest about that. Our goal is not to get as many agents to hire us as possible. Our goal is that the agents who do hire us spend many years with us. BTW, that’s a big reason why we only work with 1 agent per market.

We can’t wait to talk with you and help you figure out if the Platform marketing strategy is right for you!