The
HousingWire
award
spotlight
series
highlights
the
individuals
and
organizations
that
have
been
recognized
through
our Editors’
Choice
Awards.
Nominations
for
HousingWire’s 2024
Marketing
Leaders
Leaders
award are
open
now
through
April
30th,
2024.


Click
here to
nominate someone.

The
recent

commission
lawsuits
have
had
a
profound
impact
on
real
estate
agents
and
brokerages
as
they
face
increased
scrutiny
and
pressure
to
provide
more
transparency
in
their
commission
structures
and
potential
conflicts
of
interest.
The
lawsuits
have
prompted
a
reevaluation
of
industry
practices,
leading
agents
to
adopt
more
client-centric
approaches
with
a
heavy
focus
on
demonstrating
the
value
they
bring
to
the
transaction
process.

“The
public’s
reaction
to
NAR’s
recent
lawsuit
settlement
has
shown
that
the
perception
of
agents
has
been
significantly
diminished,”
said
Brian
Icenhower,
Founder
and
CEO
of

Icenhower
Coaching
and
Consulting.
“Agents
and
teams
now
must
alter
their
processes
and
marketing
messages
to
be
more
transparent
and
add
more
value
to
the
consumer. It
is
crucial
that
agents’
marketing
and
branding
is
more
“consumer-centric”
and
less
focused
on
agent
success,
wealth
and
income
levels.”

Icenhower
was
selected
as
a

2023
Marketing
Leader
for
revolutionizing
the
way
real
estate
agents,
teams
and
brokerages
can
access
high-level
training
on
marketing
through
his
latest
creation,
the
ICC
Custom
Training
Suite.

HousingWire
reached
out
to
Icenhower
to
learn
more
about
how
he
started
Icenhower
Coaching
and
Consulting
and
what
he
sees
as
the
greatest
need
in
the
industry
in
today’s
market.

HousingWire:
What
was
the
catalyst
for
starting
Icenhower
Coaching
and
Consulting?

Brian
Icenhower:
While
owning
and
operating
various
real
estate
brokerages
and
affiliated
companies
over
the
past
30+
years
I
witnessed
a
steadily
decreasing
amount
of
parity
in
agent
success
levels.
Today,
a
very
small
percentage
of
agents
conduct
the
vast
majority
of
the
business,
while
more
than
50%
of
agents
in
most
local
communities
haven’t
even
closed
a
transaction
in
the
past
year.
I
started
ICC
to
help
close
this
gap
by
providing
agents
and
industry
leaders
the
educational,
training
and
coaching
support
they
need
to
be
successful.

HousingWire:
Where
are
you
seeing
the
greatest
need
for
coaching
in
real
estate
agents
and
teams
right
now?
What
has
changed
the
most
in
the
past
12
to
18
months
within
the
industry?

Brian
Icenhower:
A
decrease
in
overall
sales
volume
due
to
higher
rates
and
low
inventory
has
created
a
need
for
agents
and
teams
to
further
diversify
their
lead
generation
sources
since
agents
are
now
competing
for
a
reduced
amount
of
clients
and
sales.

The
public’s
reaction
to
NAR’s
recent
lawsuit
settlement
has
shown
that
the
perception
of
agents
has
been
significantly
diminished.
Consequently,
agents
and
teams
now
must
alter
their
processes
and
marketing
messages
to
be
more
transparent
and
add
more
value
to
the
consumer. 
It
is
crucial
that
agents’
marketing
and
branding
is
more
“consumer-centric”
and
less
focused
on
agent
success,
wealth
and
income
levels.
The
public
has
clearly
spoken
.
.
.
and
they
want
a
bit
more
humility
and
a
little
less
arrogance.   

HousingWire:
The
coaching
world,
particularly
in
real
estate,
can
be
competitive.
What
marketing
techniques
or
strategies
do
you
use
to
differentiate
your
offerings
from
your
competitors?

We
view
ourselves
as
the
graduate
school
of
the
real
estate
coaching
industry
since
we
represent
so
many
leaders
of
the
highest
performing
real
estate
teams,
brokerages
&
national
brands
in
North
America.
Not
only
do
these
types
of
clients
need
individual
coaching,
they
also
need
scalable
education
&
training
systems
to
help
all
of
their
agents
succeed
too.
We’ve
responded
by
revolutionizing
&
elevating
the
way
real
estate
coaching
&
training
will
be
conducted
moving
forward.

ICC
developed
its
own
Learning
Management
System
(LMS)
that’s
loaded
with
ICC’s
vast
library
of
training
courses
that
also
enables
clients
to
easily
create
their
own
custom
courses
for
their
local
training
needs.
They
can
host
live
video
conferences
&
classes,
get
manager
dashboards
&
reporting
for
agent
accountability,
print
course
completion
certificates,
award
degree
designations
to
agent
graduates,
and
print
student
workbooks
&
teaching
guides
to
conduct
in-person
classes
in
their
own
offices.
ICC
creates
this
custom-branded
hub
that
seamlessly
integrates
all
our
clients’
online
systems
(MLS,
CRM,
DocuSign,
Zoom,
etc.)
together
much
like
Roku
or
Fire
Sticks
bundle
different
streaming
services
for
consumers.

This
way
ICC
is
able
to
permeate
entire
organizations
by
coaching
our
clients
and
all
of
their
agents
simultaneously.
ICC
coaches
are
also
able
to
advance
their
clients
forward
more
rapidly
than
traditional
coaches
who
just
communicate
on
weekly
calls
since
our
clients
are
learning
on
their
platforms
in
between
calls
as
well.
Finally,
our
extensive
learning
portals
enable
coaches
to
diversify
&
customize
coaching
content
based
on
different
client
needs
rather
than
just
coaching
each
client
on
a
single
system.

HousingWire:
What
is
one
habit
that
you
swear
by
personally
and/or
encourage
your
clients
to
adopt?

Brian
Icenhower:
Be
humble
and
always
seek
out
accountability.
The
highest
performing
individuals
are
self-aware
of
their
need
to
embrace
accountability
in
all
things
that
are
important
to
them.
Whether
it
be
their
health,
relationships,
business
success
or
otherwise,
they
always
find
someone
skilled
to
help
overcome
obstacles
and
do
the
uncomfortable
stuff
that
gets
them
where
they
want
to
go.
Relying
on
their
own
personal
trials
and
errors
always
leads
to
burnout
and
settling
for
much
less
than
they
could’ve
otherwise
achieved
in
a
much
shorter
period
of
time.  

Related