Prudential California Realty
Where Top Producers Go To Grow!
In the highly competitive field of real estate, top-producing agents consistently account for the largest percentage of sales within the industry. Rich Cosner and Prudential have a simple but deadly effective strategy: Hire the best of the best and show them how to further grow their businesses. Rich Cosner has mastered the methods necessary to teach already successful and experienced agents to take their games to new heights. Using these strategies, Prudential California Realty has substantially grown its market share within its core markets.
At Prudential California Realty, the focus is on building the existing businesses of accomplished agents. While the firm will hire individuals who are new to the industry, those agents must demonstrate some outstanding characteristics. “The vast majority of our competitors,” says president and founder Rich Cosner, “focus on hiring and training new agents. Our focus is one hundred percent in the opposite direction. We take already successful people in the business and show them how to dramatically increase their business. A firm who majors in training new agents inevitably leaves its most experience and successful agents to fend for themselves.”
Today’s Top Producers are an Endangered Species
Prudential California Realty believes it must lead its already highly-producing agents to a new model of doing business. According to Cosner, if today’s top producing agents do not adapt their business practices to a changing market, they will not be relevant within three to five years. “Some of the biggest names in the business are becoming more obsolete by the day,” he observes with candor. His message is simple. “If you want to maintain your top producing status, you need to be with our firm…the firm that can lead you into the future. I believe that most top producing agents are at their current firm because of habit. If they really looked at the choices and evaluated those choices in the market today, most would not pick the firms they belong to now. People are at their current firms because they feel comfortable,” he explains. “That is not the right reason to be there. Comfort and no leadership to help you grow will only lead an agent to irrelevance in a few years.” His passion for the topic is reflected in the roster of top-producing agents within his brokerage. They are winning in the market, he says, because they share in his vision of longevity and success.
How do they do it?
According to Cosner, the training programs at most real estate agencies are designed to meet the needs of inexperienced agents. Because Prudential California Realty focuses on working with established sales professionals, the brokerage requires something more substantial than a cookie-cutter training program. The company provides an opportunity for each experienced agent to work hand-in-hand with the brokerage’s leadership team, developing a personal and individualized program for growth and business development. “The days of having every agent focus on FSBOs, expired listings and geographical farming has gone the way of flip phones!” exclaims Cosner. “At Prudential California Realty we work one-on-one with our agents to determine their individual assets and resources. We then create a plan of action that enables agents to utilize their strengths and resources to vastly develop their businesses.” Cosner asserts that his Prudential franchise is home to the finest managers in the industry, and these managers are experts at helping their experienced agents grow their businesses. “The managers today in many offices are not qualified to show experienced agents how to grow, so these managers spend their time with the new agents,” he observes. “At Prudential California Realty, we remain focused on building the already-successful businesses of our established agents, helping them to grow to new professional heights.”
Rich Cosner has been in the real estate business for over 35 years. He reveals that every single office and company that he has managed or owned, and every region he has developed, has become the marker leader by a wide margin. He attributes his success to his passion for his agents. Recognized on a nationwide basis as an innovative leader in real estate, he remains accessible to every agent in the firm. His name and contact information are listed on every office roster within the Prudential California Realty franchise, and he makes himself available to agents and clients alike. Cosner is involved with his agents at the street level; five times a year he personally conducts “action groups” in which he will work for six weeks with a small group of 15-20 agents helping them grow their businesses.
“This enables me to understand exactly what challenges our agents are facing in the field every day,” he explains. Cosner makes regular appearances at sales meetings within his branch offices, sharing his insight about how to deal with the challenges facing agents today. Over the years he has also written lengthy letters to clients of his firm to help them understand current market conditions and how to take advantage of whatever market has presented itself at that time. A portion of his time is devoted to one-on-one meetings with his top producers, whom he helps to build powerful business plans designed to maximize their growth and productivity. He is extremely competitive and watches his competitors closely, learning not only from other firms’ successes, but also counseling his agents on how to successfully compete with top producers from other brokerages.
The Bottom Line
Says Cosner, “It is really pretty simple. If you are an experienced real estate agent who would like to grow your business, you owe it to yourself, your family and your clients to check out what other experienced agents checked out. If you want to have the most dynamic listing presentation that will win at the table virtually every time, you should talk to Prudential. If you wish your income was more consistent and reproducible you should talk to Prudential. If you want your clients to have the most advantages when they are selling their homes today, you should talk with Prudential. If you are tired of working with countless buyers and writing offers and losing out, you should talk to Prudential.” Cosner acknowledges that his brokerage isn’t perfect; the leadership team is always on the lookout for improved systems and techniques that will better meet its agents’ needs. Still, when he recently addressed a group of agents considering joining his firm, he was incredibly candid and optimistic about his brokerage’s strengths. “I assure you that any of you who are willing to do your part to grow your business will find Prudential California Realty a place that can lead you and show you how to make your business substantially better than it is today,” he asserted. “If you are looking to do the same amount of business you already do, stay at your current firm. However, if you wish to find yourself in a place that puts a premium on your individual success, I assure you that no firm will work harder on your behalf than our firm.”