An agency that refers to its staff as “Hookers” is one to be reckoned with, in my book. Of course, the shop–located in the port city of Charleston, SC–refers to itself as HOOK USA, but still.
Here’s their reason for being:
Our reason for being is to help businesses do business better. Simple as that.
One business HOOK USA is “helping do business better” is Rehava, a Charleston real estate brokerage. The Hookers are encouraging people who own real estate and want to part with it to “Break Up With Your Agent”.
I don’t think I’d build a campaign on the presumption of someone else’s bad relationship, but it might provoke a desired response in the community, probably more from curiosity than persuasion. But hey, I’m not seeking perfection here, just agencies in strange places.
Thanks for including Hook in your “Agencies in Strange Places” post. We’re flattered by the attention. It’s hard to beat agency life in Charleston.
Regarding “BreakUpWithYourAgent.com, the idea came from research. After surveying a pile of buyers and sellers, we found the one thing stopping people from switching real estate agents is their current relationship with an agent. Real estate relationships become personal and are hard to end.
By switching to Rehava, a buyer can collect 50% of Rehava’s commission and sellers can list any home for a flat fee of $3,000. So we thought we ought to tell people that by ending their current real estate relationship, they can receive some very big financial rewards from Rehava.
Since the campaign broke Rehava has had clients come in and literally say, “I want to break up with my agent.” Just what we want to hear.