The next installment of the Future of Real Estate series on Union Street Media’s YouTube channel features Jon Larrance, CEO and Owner of Corcoran Perry & Co. Larrance is an experienced leader and a member of the Forbes Real Estate Council who’s helped grow Corcoran Perry & Co. into one of the fastest growing and well-known boutique brokerages in the Denver, Colorado area. Click the video about to watch the interview in its entirety. 

Jon Larrance was working in the video production industry, with “no desire to get into real estate” when a request from his father, one of the founders of Corcoran Perry & Co., brought him back into the fold. Though he didn’t know it then, that initial request for Larrance’s help with the company’s technology led to Larrance officially joining his father in 2002. Larrance figured he’d “see how it goes and if I like the industry then I’ll stick with it.” 

Almost two decades later, Larrance is now leading Corcoran Perry & Co. On his path to taking over ownership of the company, Larrance “did whatever needed to be done at the company.” This included launching the relocation department, which grew to be a large portion of the company, and taking over staff management.

With all of Corcoran Perry & Co.’s success, Larrance notes that one key aspect that’s worked for them is networking. Especially with relocation, “it was always about that relationship first – how we got to know people in the network and strove to have personal relationships with companies around the world, so that they would know and like and trust us when it came time to send business into our market,” Larrance explains. He’s also always valued marketing as a means to “look bigger than we are” and invested in a strong marketing presence to ensure when he’d meet people in person, they’d already have heard of Corcoran Perry & Co.

Larrance leans on technology to ensure he can spend the necessary time on building relationships with his agents and his network. Corcoran Perry & Co. has been successful with the hands-off systems that they’ve adopted. As one example, Larrance says, “We’re big users and proponents of HomeBot – it’s a home evaluation asset management tool that was developed by a home management team here in Denver and we were instrumental in the development of it.” Larrance believes that “automated systems are really going to be the game changer…and be the future of what’s going on,” but he also recognizes that “our sales people are best when they’re out selling, when they’re out talking to people and meeting with clients.” 

Because of that, Larrance is deliberate in the new technology he implements now, as opposed to trying to find quick wins. After having gone through six CRMs to try to find the one his agents would adopt and “still have horrible adoption on it when we know it would be great for their business” he concludes education and waiting until his agents ask for something to be better to invest in that area are key. “I do think the one technology we’re about to put in place is single sign on technology so that every area that they have that they can log into for different things can be done through one place,” Larrance says.

Though Larrance has been through several highs and lows along with the entire industry, like so many of us, he didn’t know what to expect from a global pandemic. Corcoran Perry & Co. is doing well and he’s recognized there’s an increased sense of urgency in the market. Larrance has also doubled down on supporting and helping his agents. “We’re just trying to maintain that support and that security and be a safe place where they can call us,” says Larrance. 

Being part of groups with other CEOs is extremely valuable to Larrance and he’s missed having as much of that. “We talk all the time and share ideas about what’s working and what’s not working. That’s been hugely helpful to me,” Larrance says. He recommends that new brokerage owners get involved in a similar group – whether it’s in the real estate industry or for CEOs in general – because it’s a great way to gain perspective and bounce ideas off of other leaders. 

Larrance has two pieces of advice for anyone looking to start, or grow, their business. The first is to “really try not to react and make decisions or form opinions or interpretations too quickly – take some time to sleep on it, nothing is that urgent.” He prioritizes making informed decisions with data to back them up instead of acting on an initial response. 

“Let the information come as you take some time to take it in and react to it later in a very deliberate manner, rather than an emotional manner.”

– Jon Larrance

The other piece of advice that Larrance follows at Corcoran Perry & Co. is to “let our company follow its own destiny and let it go where it is going to go naturally rather than listening to outside voices.” For Corcoran Perry & Co., where it’s going to go is up. 

Larrance is bullish about their need to, and ability to, grow significantly. “I think it’s going to actually be harder and harder to survive as a small boutique company and that’s why we’ve focused on opportunity and growing because with so much big money in the market margins are shrinking and I do think it’s going to get really tough for boutiques,” says Larrance, adding “for companies that are 10 to 70 agents, it’s going to be hard to maintain profit.” “We need to grow to survive so that we’ll still be relevant in the marketplace,” Larrance concludes. 

To learn more about Jon Larrance and Corcoran Perry & Co. visit: https://corcoranperry.com/

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