I was working on an MLS consolidation project last year on behalf of a smaller MLS approaching its big neighboring MLS. The CEO had called me in to facilitate the process. The first step was to get the client’s board of directors on board, and I did so in a presentation with two aspects to it. The first aspect was to explain why the consolidation was important strategically – well beyond the “overlapping market disorder” issue. The second aspect of the presentation, that this post will focus on, was to address concerns that the directors and staff might have.
Pre-positioning responses to common concerns is a great approach because one can immediately address issues a group may not even have felt comfortable bringing up but that might have remained in the back of people’s minds as an area of uncertainty. It also allows one to address an issue that might have been brought up during the meeting without getting into an argument with a board member.
Preparation was the key to pre-positioning the potential objections in this case. Before the meeting I had some one-on-one conversations and determined the most likely concerns. In this case I was also able to speak with association executives and other leadership that had already been through a consolidation with the larger MLS and obtain quotes from them to address the concerns directly. By doing that it wasn’t just me telling the board member that potential fears were unfounded or that there was a way to address their fears but someone in the region they might even know was telling them that a fear hadn’t played out or had been addressed.
Following were some of the fears:
- Association:
- Association revenue
- Association/MLS jobs
- Loss of local services
- Loss of control (e.g. local fields, business rules, compliance)
- Broker / Agent:
- “They’ll come sell our inventory”
Here’s an example of how one of my interviewees addressed the inventory concern as part of my presentation:
“I was the President when we went through it with [association]. A few of the Brokers called to let me know they were not happy with the change and that we were going to have our market taken over by the [MLS’s] agents. Never happened and the same brokers are mysteriously silent at this time.” – Patrick W., Broker/Owner, [Brokerage Name]
I confirmed my client’s board of directors were comfortable with how each concern had been addressed and ensured they knew I was there to advocate on their behalf regarding any additional concerns they might have. Ensuring all issues were on the table so they could be addressed is so important! I made sure they understood that if their highest-priority concerns were not addressed to their satisfaction, the consolidation wouldn’t go through – so there was little risk in moving the dialog forward. Of course, the CEO got the board’s approval to move forward and the consolidation was completed successfully.