Sam Kamoutsis
By Melanie Epp
Planit Real Estate, launched in 2009, is the most technologically advanced brokerage in the marketplace, says founder and managing broker Sam Kamoutsis.
Kamoutsis says that Planit is unique because it focuses entirely on the local Internet market, something that other brokerages do not do – at least not to the extent that Planit does. Planit’s marketing is done entirely online through “virtual real estate offices,” offering agents “the best marketing in the business, experienced support, thorough research, incredible business generation systems and a great company reputation.”
Planit prides itself on being different from other brokerages. It has over 18 real estate websites (most of which are found of the first page of Google) and over 300 syndicate sites.
“Planit is all about lead generation and conversion,” Kamoutsis says. “We learn continuously and explore new ways to capture today’s consumer. Consumer psychology has changed forever. In the past, lead generation was fairly easy. Today the effort is greater. We employ a large number of staff, affordably, and test techniques and methods based on Internet marketing, not real estate principles.”
The Toronto-based company currently has 19 sales reps, but Kamoutsis says he hopes to begin expanding his concept across the country – perhaps as soon as this year.
With all of the changes taking place, the industry can be difficult to keep up with. Ermina Tsounis, a commercial real estate professional, recently returned to the industry to find that the game had changed considerably. “When you leave something for 10+ years, you’ve got to get back into it again,” says Tsounis. “And things are very different now than when I exited the industry before.” The change she’s referring to is the Internet, which has altered the ways in which real estate professionals market themselves and their properties.
To help keep up with consumer demands, agents are offered ongoing educational and training opportunities, particularly in web-based technology. Planit sets up agency networking profiles, including a Facebook page, and Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube profiles. Agents’ profiles are then connected to a primary site, which is constantly updated. Content is fed out to all accounts, effectively drawing potential clients back to the primary site. The primary site receives a steady stream of traffic, which generates viable leads for its agents. “For someone like myself, to have this kind of assistance is a saving grace,” says Tsounis. “Otherwise, I’d have to be taking more courses.”
Sales rep Kevin Lee says he is glad he made the switch too. He was especially impressed by the sense of equality at Planit. “Newcomers have a chance,” he says. “The previous company I was with, if they got a phone call, they were most likely going to give it to someone higher up, someone that’s been with the company for a long time. But what Planit does is they distribute them equally, no matter if you’ve been there for a long time or you’ve just come onboard.” Kamoutsis says their office receives hundreds of leads daily.
After hearing about the “dead ends” experienced by agents in other, more traditionally operated brokerages, sales representative Christina Aivalis says she is impressed with the amount of support she gets through mentors and professional training. “For someone who’s so new,” she says, “I’m very busy. In fact, I’ll be honest with you,” she continues, “Just yesterday I had to message Sam, the broker, and let him know to ease up on my leads. I’m a little behind.” She says, “I don’t know if any agent has had to say, ‘Okay, stop with the leads, because I’m too busy.’”
Broker Eric Wyckoff comes from a background in commercial real estate, specializing in apartment buildings. He joined Planit because of its “forward thinking.” Like the others, he recognizes that the industry is changing, particularly with all the new rules and regulations, the Competition Bureau and the Privacy Act. “The Privacy Act has completely changed the way we can act as a real estate representative,” he says. “We’re no longer allowed to make cold calls. Everyone is on the no-call list.”
Wyckoff knows that although he’s a seasoned professional, understanding technology is his weakness. “I recognize the fact that the best way to be able to make a living in this particular industry is to have technology at your fingertips,” he says. “And I haven’t met anybody – not that I’m a guru or have a wealth of information about technology myself, but I recognize somebody that has this information – and Sam is clearly above anybody else that I’ve ever met in my business associations.”
