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Prudential Tropical Realty Positioning For Recovery

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By Kenneth Hall

Special Sections correspondent

Published: June 8, 2008

At a time when many real estate agents are leaving the industry and many real estate companies are scaling back, Prudential Tropical Realty has been in an aggressive growth mode, according to Dewey Mitchell, co-owner.

"We are very excited about the long-term prospects of the real estate marketplace in the Tampa Bay area," Mitchell says. "We've been on an aggressive growth campaign within our company."

According to Robert Hilliker, vice president of sales and marketing, Prudential Tropical Realty has acquired five companies within the past seven months, which has added 100 agents to the firm.

"Anyone who has been through the cycles knows that the market will recover," Hilliker adds. "We see good economic indicators and we believe that, in time, the market will return and there will be continued growth in the area. We are trying to acquire companies and increase our agent count to be in a better position when the market does return."

Prudential Tropical Realty is focused on acquiring companies with a compatible culture, not only to ensure a seamless transition into the firm's way of doing things, but also to create a win-win situation.

"In every instance, we believe that the company that has been acquired is better for being with us and we feel we are better for having them with us," Mitchell says.

The growth of Prudential Tropical Realty has included an expansion of its Internet presence and incorporating technology that not only makes it easier for the company's agents to do business, but also for consumers to shop for a home, Mitchell says.

He adds that market conditions have made lead generation even more important.

"Prudential has a national alliance with several of the major lead generators," Mitchell says. "In addition to that, our company has committed to Realtor.com. With their Showcase package, we provide 25 photos for each of the listings, which helps to bring our listings to the top of the results on search engines."

Mitchell says each of the company's sales executives subscribe to Realtor.com, which generates an enormous number of leads, in addition to the other lead generation initiatives the firm has in place. The company also has contracted with a new Internet service provider, Reliance Network, which services more than 40,000 Realtors nationwide.

"Reliance Network stays current with the best practices in the industry, and our Web site is very functional and user-friendly," Mitchell says. "It provides for each individual sales executive within the company to have a personal Web site.

"The new technology enhances the experience that consumers have when they look through our Web site," Mitchell says. "We are able to capture more consumers because they like what they see when they visit our site."

Hilliker adds that consumers are not required to register on the Prudential Tropical Web site. "We allow them full access, so they can search real estate listings and register if they find properties that interest them."

The growth of the company and the new technology initiatives benefit Prudential Tropical Realty customers in several ways, Mitchell says. For one, sellers have more opportunities for their listing to be seen by interested buyers. Plus, buyers and sellers have more than 500 experienced residential and commercial agents throughout the Bay area from which to choose.

Along with its mortgage and title companies, Prudential Tropical has 15 locations in the Tampa Bay area, putting the company in a position to both excel when the market recovers and serve customers effectively today, officials say.

For information, visit www.prudentialtropical.com or call 1-888-778-8258.

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