This episode of RealTrending podcast features OB Jacobi, president and CEO of Windermere Real Estate, a family-owned Seattle real estate company. He and his family have learned a lot from the second generation and these lessons are being applied to the third generation of Windermere family members.

Here’s a preview of today’s interview with OB. This transcript has been lightly edited to improve clarity and length.

Tracey Velt – The industry has changed from needing a platform that does everything for agents to realizing that they don’t want that. They won’t take on anything that is too complicated. You can increase adoption by simplifying the process and giving them a few things you could do really, really well that could be used. Let’s now talk about adoption. It can be so difficult, especially if you are a company that has experienced agents.
OB Jacobi: You can’t be everything in your business. You also need different tools for different times in your business. Email is one of the easiest things that will always be adopted. If you say that I have a platform but I need to go to my MLS, my CRM, and then I have to leave the platform, you’re going to struggle with adoption. Agents have different tools that they need to handle all types of transactions. It’s easier to keep everything on one page if we can simplify it. I don’t think we have solved the adoption problem. It’s just not going away. It is certainly helpful, I believe, to not have your platform leave.

RealTrending is a podcast that features the best minds in real-estate. Every Monday, top brokerage leaders, top agents, team leader, and industry experts share their success stories, trends, and lessons learned in this ever-changing field. Tracey Velt hosted and Elissa branch produced.