Archive for the ‘The Company’ Category
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Posted by Michael Saunders & Company on June 11, 2010
Punta Gorda has faced hardships and overcome them with strength and unity. That same strength and unity has shaped their community into one that is entirely unique in the Southwest Florida area. It is a close-knit community that believes in hard work and teamwork – values it shares with Michael Saunders & Company. We are honored that our company has been welcomed into Punta Gorda with such open arms, and we look forward to a long and lasting relationship with its outstanding family of residents.
Click on the image below to read the Charlotte Sun Herald article written by John Wright:
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Posted by Michael Saunders & Company on April 30, 2010
Southwest Florida Brokerage Joins 11 of the Nation’s Most Progressive Real Estate Firms in Expanding And Improving Its Social Media Presence
SAN FRANCISCO, California—(April 20, 2010)—Roost Inc. (roost.com), a real estate technology company that displays over four million real estate listings and provides advertising solutions to real estate agents and brokers, announced today that Michael Saunders & Company—along with 11 other of the country’s top real estate brokerage firms—have signed on to its Facebook-based platform, Social Real Estate. Roost’s brokerage solution is an extension of its free Social Real Estate Toolkit, released earlier this year; and is the first Facebook application to integrate a full, MLS-compliant property search.
In addition to MS&C, companies that have executed agreements with Roost include Intero Real Estate Services (CA), Surterre Properties (CA), Real Estate One (MI), Houlihan Lawrence Real Estate (NY), RE/MAX Alliance Group (AZ), Amelia Bullock Realtors (TX), Century 21 Advantage Gold (PA), Zephyr Real Estate (CA), FresYes Realty (CA), Seven Gables Real Estate (CA) and Jordan Baris Realtors (NJ).
Michael Saunders & Company is the only Florida-based brokerage to sign-on to Roost’s innovative new Facebook-based real estate platform.
“It became clear to us quite some time ago that Facebook, chief among other social networking platforms, was filled with strategic marketing opportunities for our company; but we wanted to make sure we approached it properly and in a way that was at once effective, efficient and coherent from a brand perspective,” said Michael Saunders, founder and CEO of the 34-year-old Gulf Coast brokerage that bears her name. “Roost made it very easy to move forward with confidence because it disseminates real estate content we know consumers want; then customizes it to reflect the values of our brand.”
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Posted by Michael Saunders & Company on June 4, 2009
Michael Saunders & Company has won the Excellence in Customer Service award for June, presented by the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce. The award, sponsored by The Bank of Commerce, was bestowed today at a well-attended chamber networking event held at Southpointe Land Rover. Tom Martin, senior vice-president of lending for the Bank of Commerce, introduced company founder and CEO Michael Saunders and made the presentation.
Accepting the award on behalf of her 33-year-old company, Saunders was effusive in attributing the honor to her agents and staff. “I wouldn’t be here without the diligence and hard work of all my agents, who are on the frontlines every day making sure that each customer’s experience is as memorable as it can be—for all the right reasons,” she said. “Coming as it does in the midst of such an unforgiving market, this award is all the more gratifying and I accept it on behalf of the entire company.”
Photo cut line: Michael Saunders proudly displays the award for “Excellence in Customer Service” from the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce. Joining her is Tom Martin, senior vice-president of Sarasota’s Bank of Commerce, who sponsors the award.
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Posted by Matthew Haber on May 20, 2009
Over four hundred of the best and brightest Michael Saunders & Company agents, partners and speakers at the Reinvent Yourself 09 event held last week at the Chelsea Center in Sarasota, FL:
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Posted by Matthew Haber on May 19, 2009
Much of the Michael Saunders & Company Reinvent Yourself 09 conference held last week pushed the notion that the fundamentals of the real estate industry, specifically the way we market property is and will be changing drastically over the near future. In fact if there is a bright spot to the housing and economic turmoil it is that it forces these changes to happen all the quicker: in the same way that higher fuel costs prompt more efficient vehicles, the evolved real estate agent is now leaner and smarter when it comes to marketing your home.
Out, are the single property advetisements in the newspapers and magazines – a quick appeasement for a seller, and not much else. Why would a potential home buyer wait until Sunday to look at one property in the newspaper when they can get instant gratification and look at all available properties on the market at once on the web?
In, are the targeted effects of social networking, otherwise known as the larest ongoing cocktail party on earth. Facebook, with over 275 million active users, now has a population greater than the 4th largest country on earth and is trailing only China, India and the United States in citizens. Bob Corcoran of Corcoran Consulting Inc. outlines some great techniques in a recent article on his website: (more…)
Posted by Matthew Haber on May 18, 2009
Drew Thomas interviews Drayton Saunders prior to Reinvent Yourself 09
Updates from Reinvent Yourself 09:
Drayton Saunders discusses tactics with Drew Thomas of 107.9 WSRZ prior to the event in Sarasota, FL. Hear Drayton’s views on keeping customers on the pulse of the market through new communication methods below:
Drew Thomas interviews Drayton Saunders at Reinvent Yourself 09
Has Florida coming through the worst of the housing crisis? Listen to Steve Harney share his views on the market’s outlook and his call for leadership under difficuly circumstances:
Drew Thomas interviews Steve Harney at Reinvent Yourself 09
Michael Saunders and Matthew Ferrara discuss the connection between the marketplace, the consumer and the agent and what it means for the future of real estate:
Drew Thomas interviews Michael Saunders and Matthew Ferrara at Reinvent Yourself 09
Posted by Matthew Haber on May 15, 2009
Thursday’s ‘Reinvent Yourself 09′ conference was a huge success. With over 400 Michael Saunders & Company agents in attendance this company is now positioned for a huge leap forward. “Every year, we try to bring the best information to our agents,” said company president, Drayton Saunders. “Technology is changing the way business is done, and today is all about that change.”
What's so funny? Michael Saunders, Steve Harney, Matthew Ferrara and Drayton Saunders connect at 'Reinvent Yourself 09'
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Posted by Matthew Haber on May 15, 2009
To complete the conference, Matthew Haber—Director of Interactive Marketing—and David Gumpper—Director of Technology—moderated panels of breakout sessions to address the rising significance of social networking and technology in real estate.
Titled “Expanding Your Friendly Future,” Matthew’s panel included panel speakers Eric Bryn, Marc Rasmussen, and Anand Pallegar. Together, the panel discussed the importance of managing your online reputation through your social networking channels by touting the effectiveness of today’s most popular technology options: blogging, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. “You don’t have to understand the technology,” said Eric Bryn to those who may be unsure of transitioning to a technology-based business. “You have to understand the application of the technology to get the most out of your profession.”
Eric Bryn gestures during the Social Networking panel
David Gumpper’s session, titled “Connecting With My Customers,” highlighted the advanced new features of Outlook 2007. The Contacts feature in Outlook 2007 is actually a full-featured database, where each client contact can be tagged with categorical information, allowing useful mail merge lists to be quickly and comprehensively compiled in short notice. With this, our agents can take advantage of technology to keep in close contact with their clients and enhance their relationships electronically.
Posted by Matthew Haber on May 15, 2009
“In order for the world’s economy to come back, we have to bring it back,” said second speaker Steve Harney about the task ahead of the agents in the room. Also a sought-after national speaker, Steve authors a monthly informational presentation for top professionals titled “Keeping Current Matters.”
Michael Saunders and Steve Harney share a moment at the 'Reinvent Yourself 09' event
Speaking at the Michael Saunders & Company ‘Reinvent Yourself 09′ event at the Chelsea Center in Sarasota, Steve’s dynamic, vocal approach reaches the very back of the room with the strength of his message, which proves both eye-opening and straightforward. “While all other brokers are cutting back on their resources, Michael Saunders & Company is having a conference on enhancing their services. You have proven you are the best.”
Further, Steve challenges the room to work with their customers to price properties with consideration for the market demands. “We have seen a disparity between the sold price and the listed price of the homes in this area,” said Steve. “It is up to you to price your properties realistically to turn this market around.”
“This was the best titled conference I’ve been to in two years,” added Steve in his closing remarks. “We all need to reinvent ourselves to steer through this market.”
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Posted by Matthew Haber on May 15, 2009
Renowned national speaker and trainer, Matthew Ferrara is known for his enthusiastic style. A driving force for applying real estate technology innovation, Matthew has helped thousands of real estate professionals reinvent how the real estate industry works as they take advantage of new and existing technologies. To further complement the day’s theme, Matthew expressed the importance of recognizing the fundamental differences of today’s consumer, and the value behind utilizing technology and social networking channels to reach them.
Matthew Ferrara gets dramatic
In today’s event, Matthew stressed the importance of recognizing the transition from traditional marketing approaches to the more technology-based consumers of today. “One of the most fundamental changes in the market is to always follow the consumer,” said Matthew about the. “When the consumer changes, market conditions change as well.”
In the presentation, held at the Chelsea Center in Sarasota, agents learned how it is now necessary to leverage technology to create competitive advantages in the real estate market. “Social networking is the new prospecting,” added Matthew, “Relationship management is the modern method to gaining the trust of your customers.”
