The business leaders need to be relevant to succeed in the ever-changing business world. They need to be relevant in offering their services to the clients, adapt latest trends and incorporate latest offerings in their services to benefit the clients, and understand the perspective of their clients and be in harmony with their expectations. Moreover, they need to connect with clients from different backgrounds and have good empathy skills, communications skills, negotiation abilities to drive the success of their businesses.
Trustworthy, empathetic, innovative, and transparent leaders are able to lead any business in growing direction. One such empathetic, relevant, innovative, and transparent business leader is Roy Almog. He is the Founder of 3% Realty. While working full time in the Telecom industry, Roy dabbled in real estate investment – buying, renovating, and renting properties. After numerous transactions and tens of thousands of dollars paid in REALTOR commissions, Roy realized the gap in the market for a full-service Real Estate Brokerage, offering MLS exposure without higher priced REALTOR commissions. That was his ‘a ha’ moment. Roy became a licensed Real Estate Agent and Broker and 3% Realty began its adventure!
3% Realty started with one office in Alberta and has now grown to over 50 locations across Canada, the US and even as far as New Zealand. Within a few years of tremendous success, Roy realized the opportunity to franchise the 3% Realty model. True to his commitment to innovate the real estate industry, franchise system was born – a system that enables franchise partners to spread the 3% love, unprecedented service, and savings.
In an interview with The Franchise Universe, Roy Almog shares his journey and about his noteworthy contribution to the real estate industry through the 3% Realty.
Below are the highlights of the Interview:
Please list your strategies and services that make you and your company standout from the competition.
We stand out from the competition by offering our clients a truly clear and transparent model. No fine print, no asterixis, just 3% of the sale price of their home. We also back that up with the full suite of services such as dedicated licensed REALTOR to help every step of the way, we look after all the paperwork, the MLS listing, Signage, and negotiations; we are not a DIY or hybrid system of any kind. Organizationally, I have a tight-knit group that is always ready to pivot when we need. The management group is often involved, but to a slight degree, in our other departments’ projects and tasks, so that each team member can step in to help if needed in another department.
As the Founder what is your opinion on the impact of the current pandemic on the Real Estate and Franchisee Industry?
The ongoing pandemic created a lot of interest in our franchise model. There are a lot of people these days, that for one reason or another, are looking to make a career change. Real Estate appeals to an exceptionally large audience, the barrier of entry such as licensing is not too difficult or costly, and we have been flooded with franchise applications. We quickly adopted the technology that is currently out there like ZOOM, or FaceTime to connect with our franchise applicants.
What people, what books, what life factors have influenced and impacted you?
A big influencing factor has been the support of my family. Starting a business from scratch is no easy task, but with my family behind me, I was able to take any challenge head-on. I come from a long line of entrepreneurs and have seen first-hand the work and effort it takes to make a business successful. As my schedule doesn’t always allow me the time to read, I’ve been listening to Podcasts such as ‘Entrepreneurs on Fire’ and ‘How I Built This’ to get some insight into other companies and their path to success.
What is your thought on the necessity of a positive work culture? In what ways do you implement it at your organization?
A positive work culture is an absolute pilar in the success of our company. If people are happy to come to work every day, it shows; It is not really something that people can fabricate, and our clients feed off that positive energy.
What is your opinion on the necessity for businesses to align their offerings with newer technological developments, especially when it comes to building value added services?
We lean on technology a lot! More than ever since the pandemic changed the way we interact with our clients. We put a heavy focus on our REALTORs being well trained, and well positioned to keep up with the fast pace of any real estate market.
In what ways do you or 3% Realty contributed to the community? If given a chance, what change would you bring to help other Real Estate start-up?
We put a big focus on the community. We have various programs and special offerings for First Responders whereby we waive our selling commission altogether. These programs run in various offices a few times per year as our way of saying ‘Thank You’, to all the first responders that help keep our communities safe. Our offices also participate in Food Drives, Christmas Toy Drives, as well as gather supplies and donations for kids as they head “Back to School.
How do you envision to sustain your franchisee competency in a cutthroat and volatile world of business? Where do you see your franchisee business in the next five years?
This all goes back to our clients. Trust and transparency are at the foundation of 3% Realty. We often deal with our client’s single largest dollar transaction when helping them sell or buy a home. Our clients need to be able to trust our REALTORs completely every step of the way. Our REALTORs are well trained and equipped to instill confidence and earn our trust of our clients. This will help our business thrive in any market and ensure our continued growth is not stagnated by the volatility of the Real Estate market. In the coming years we plan to strengthen our existing markets, as well as launch into new markets across North America.
As an established business leader, what would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs aspiring to venture into the real-estate and franchise Industry?
Be involved in every facet of business if possible. I wore many hats when I started, from Marketing, Advertising, Sales, Payroll, IT, etc. and I communicate with the department heads regularly. Having been in their shoes before, helps me be that much more connected and understanding of the tasks and challenges they are undertaking every day.
