[T]echnology: The Name Badge Trick
[E]ducation: Compass Wants to Be Zillow
[C]oaching: You're 3 Up. Now What?
[H]ow To: Treat Your Clients This Holiday Season
[T]echnology: The Name Badge Trick
You know how conferences go. You meet forty people, collect fifteen cards, and by the flight home you can't remember which one owned the brokerage you wanted to call. 🤦
Here's what I did at the RISMedia CEO & Leadership Exchange in D.C. this week.
I met Dean, a REMAX broker from Rhode Island. Great conversation. Instead of grabbing his card, I snapped a photo of his name badge, opened Marlowe, and typed "Research and remind me to reach out to Dean next week."
Look at what came back. Before I reached the next booth, I knew Dean runs a 300-agent, six-office brokerage that he converted to REMAX in March. That he's a 36-year industry veteran. That he was named a 2026 RISMedia Newsmaker. That he brought four independent brokerages into his company last year, launched a commercial division, and bought a local real estate school.
From a photo of a badge.
That's not a reminder. That's a dossier.
Here's why Marlowe can do this and the other assistants mostly can't. Meta knows people. Facebook and Instagram are twenty years of who's connected to whom, what they post, where they work. Plug that into an assistant that can also search the open web and you get a research department in your pocket. Not a summary of a LinkedIn page... the whole picture. 🖼️
Now think about your Tuesday. The buyer who signed in at your open house. The lender you sat next to at the board luncheon. The listing agent on the other side of your next deal. Photo, one line, and you walk into the follow-up call already knowing who they are.
And once I connected my Gmail and Google Calendar, Marlowe started nudging me on its own. Things in my inbox and on my calendar I never asked it to look at. No workflow. No prompt. It just started paying attention.
A chatbot waits. An assistant notices. 👀
Muse has been the number one free app in the App Store since launch, and this is why. Meta didn't build the smartest AI. They built the one that already knows everybody.
You don't need to learn AI. You need to let it in.
The free tier is plenty. Snap a badge this weekend and see what comes back.
[E]ducation: Compass Wants to Be Zillow
Here's a question most agents have never had to answer: what happens when the biggest family of brokerages in the country decides it would rather sue the MLS than follow its rules?
We're about to find out. 👀
On September 8, Compass sent a letter to CRMLS, the largest MLS in the country, with an October 6 deadline. Stop fining agents who publicly market office exclusives, or get sued for millions. Real Estate News covered it this week, and CRMLS's answer was basically... go ahead. They're starting a legal defense fund and the counterclaims are already drafted.
So let's be clear about what's actually going on here. ⬇️
Since the Anywhere merger closed in January, Compass is the largest family of brokerages in the United States. Roughly 340,000 agents under one parent company. And the play is simple. Keep the listings inside the walls, advertise them to the public as "exclusive," and buyers have to come through one of those doors to see them. They want to be their own Zillow. They make the rules, and they benefit more than anyone.
The argument they make is seller privacy. And sure, that's real for a celebrity or a CEO. Those are edge cases. Every seller already has options. List for sale by owner. List with an agent who isn't an MLS member. Keep it completely off the MLS and market it however you want, which CRMLS allows. But if you want the agent with the broadest reach in the market, you follow the rules that make that reach exist.
You don't get the cooperation without cooperating. ❌
Now the part your sellers should hear. Zillow studied ten million transactions and found off-MLS homes sold for a median 1.5% less, about $5,000 on a typical home, a billion dollars in lost equity over two years. In Hispanic and Black neighborhoods the gap was double. Bright MLS and Drexel University looked at a million sales and put the MLS premium at roughly 17.5%. The one study that says private listings sell for more? Compass paid for it.
Fewer eyes on a home means less money for the seller. Every time. 💰
Compass has already said they're prepared to sue any MLS that enforces this. Any. Yours included. And one MLS in California just decided to stand there and take the swing for all of us.
[C]oaching: You're 3 Up. Now What?
Sunday singles at the Presidents Cup. Scottie Scheffler is 3 up on Nico Echavarria with five holes to play. The match is basically over.
On the 14th tee, a fan yells "Go Scottie!" in the middle of Nico's backswing. Mis-hit. Scottie turns to the crowd and says there's no place for that. Then he misses his own birdie putt... and concedes Nico's long par putt to halve the hole. Thirty-plus feet. Just picks it up.
He closed the match out on 17 anyway. Nobody remembers that part. Everybody remembers 14.
You find out who someone is when they're winning. 🏆
Now bring it to your business. Because you've been 3 up.
You're the listing agent. Clean inspection, appraisal came in, and the buyer's lender just called to say they need one more day to close. Your seller is holding every card and knows it.
That's the 14th hole. That's the moment.
And here's what I see too often. An agent who gets in the way of the deal just to get a personal win. Digs in on the deadline. Fires off the email that proves they were right. 🔥🔥 Copies the broker. Scores the point.
Except the decision isn't yours. It's your client's. Your job is to make sure they're making it with their eyes open. So the conversation sounds like this.
"They need an extra day. You can absolutely be a stickler here, that's your right. But if we can't come to an agreement, our next option is putting the house back on the market. New showings, new buyer, new inspection, new appraisal, new lender. That restarts the clock on everything. One day or thirty. Your call."
Nine times out of ten they pick the day. And they pick it because you coached them, not because you caved.
Nobody hired you to beat the other agent. They hired you to get them to the closing table. 💰💰
Scottie didn't give that putt away because he was losing. He was 3 up. He gave it away because being right about the fan wasn't worth being wrong about the moment.
Be the agent who knows the difference.
[H]ow To: Treat Your Clients This Holiday Season
The holiday season is the perfect excuse to remind your clients that you're thinking about them and it doesn't have to mean sending another generic holiday card! Here are a few creative and personal ways to show your clients some love this season:
🎁 "You've Been Elfed"
Put together a small surprise with hot cocoa, popcorn, candy or a local treat and leave it on their doorstep with a festive note.
🏡 First Christmas in Their New Home Ornament
For clients who bought a home with you this year, send a personalized ornament with their address or closing date. It's something they can pull out every Christmas and remember their first holiday in the home.
☕ Coffee Is On Me!
Send 5 to 10 digital gift cards to a local coffee shop with a simple message: "Your holiday coffee is on me today! Thank you for trusting me with your real estate needs."
🍪 Local Bakery Surprise
Partner with a local bakery and have cookies, cinnamon rolls or another holiday treat available for clients to pick up. It supports another local business while giving you a reason to reconnect.
🎨 Personalized Home Illustration
Turn a photo of a client's home into a simple watercolor-style print or ornament. This can be especially meaningful for first-time buyers or longtime clients.
📸 Mini Holiday Photo Day
Partner with a local photographer for a quick client appreciation event where past clients can stop by for a complimentary family or pet holiday photo.
🥧 Skip the Pie
Instead of giving everyone the same gift, keep notes throughout the year about your clients' favorite restaurants, pets, hobbies or milestones. A small gift that says "I remembered" can mean more than an expensive one.
✉️ The Most Underrated Option: A Handwritten Note
Write a genuine note thanking them for trusting you, referring to you or simply staying connected. Mention something specific about your experience working together so it doesn't feel mass-produced. The goal isn't to spend a lot of money, it's to stay connected in a way that feels genuine.
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-Ty Morton + Abby G