Malta Sotheby’s International Realty’s top performing associates and directors recently attended the brand’s EMEIA meeting in Madrid, Spain with colleagues from affiliated companies who represent the brand in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa.
It was a productive meeting that connected key leadership to share best practices and learn more about the brand’s vision for growth and new marketing strategies. Here it was reported that Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC recently announced that in 2018 its affiliated brokers and sales professionals achieved more than €98 billion in global sales volume, the highest annual sales volume performance in the history of the brand.
“Experts predicted that 2018 would be a slow year for the global real estate market,” said Philip White, president and CEO, Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. “Despite the forecast, our talented affiliated companies and their sales associates continued to perform at the top of their game to drive a year-over-year sales volume increase that is truly remarkable. We are going to keep the momentum going in 2019 and we will continue to empower the Sotheby’s International Realty network by offering innovative products, tools, and research to provide best in class service.”
The SIR brand also reported growth across its global network. At year end, the network totalled more than 990 offices in 72 countries and territories and more than 22,500 affiliated sales associates worldwide.
The network totalled more than 990 offices in 72 countries and more than 22,500 affiliated sales associates worldwide
This year witnessed continued significant growth by the brand’s existing affiliate companies through talent attraction as well as mergers and acquisitions.
Most notably in Europe, the brand grew its presence in Menorca and Madrid; Sylt, Germany; Kitzbühel, Austria; Bern and Zurich, Switzerland; Cyprus and Slovakia. In Asia, new offices were opened in Colombo, Sri Lanka; and Bangkok, Thailand, and agreements were signed to expand into Jakarta and Bali in Indonesia, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in Vietnam, and the Maldives.
The brand also saw growth in Mexico City; the Metropolitan area of Puebla; Valle de Bravo and Malinalco in Estado de Mexico; and Cuernavaca and Tepoztlán in Morelos, Mexico.
Marketing Innovation 2018 was an impactful year for the brand with the roll-out of new tools and offerings. SIR became the first real estate brand to launch and implement a virtual staging augmented reality app, transforming the home-buying and selling experience for sales associates and consumers with the launch of Curate by Sotheby’s International Realty.
Design Vault, a cloud-based ad-builder tool was also unveiled, allowing companies and agents to create advertising, marketing and social assets with ease. The brand entered a custom-publishing relationship with The Wall Street Journal/Barron’s Group to present RESIDE, a bespoke luxury lifestyle magazine providing affiliate companies around the world with a turnkey solution to creating a customised branded magazine.
The publication’s inception also birthed the brand’s new podcast series.
In partnership with Inman, an exclusive channel called Leading in Luxury was launched, featuring experts from the SIR brand discussing trends, best prac- tices and innovations in luxury real estate.
“As much as it was revolutionary, 2018 was also an affirmative year for the brand,” said Kevin Thompson, chief marketing officer, Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. “The SIR brand has always stood at the forefront of innovation in the industry, but we recognise that in order to maintain this standard, we need to continue to press forward. With the launch of new technology and tools, we continued that tradition, always aiming to provide industry-leading levels of service that sales associates affiliated with Sotheby’s International Realty around the world are known for.”
For more information e-mail info@sir.com.mt or call +356 2010 8070.