At Dielmann Sotheby’s International Realty, times are changing; the pendulum is swinging. The real estate company is pushing back on the digital age and reaffirming its mission to bring meaningful service to clients. “It has always been a top priority,” says president Kerry Brooks. “But when things these days are so digital and automated, there’s an even greater need for connecting with people one-on-one.” Brooks says things like search engines, virtual tours and the ability to sign documents digitally have watered down the house-buying experience significantly. “You can buy a house without ever having met your agent,” he says.
Dielmann Sotheby’s, however, believes the process can be so much richer when relationships are formed and there’s a deep understanding of a client’s needs. “We recognize that we are dealing with people’s lives,” Brooks says. “How their family works, what’s important to them. Technology makes it hard to connect, t
o really appreciate what’s required.”
Nor can a computer really speak to the character of a place, the flavor of a community. Dielmann Sotheby’s broker salesperson Nicki Herrington, however, makes it her business to do so by involving herself in neighborhood events and civic activities. She recently has created the Century Home Program in Clayton (where she lives), to celebrate 100-year-old houses with specially designed plaques, and last year she attended Clayton Police Academy to learn about ways a community can combat crime. She sits on the Washington University Neighborhood Council, acting as point-person for university news and happenings, and is a member of a sewing group. “The cool thing about that,” laughs Brooks, “is that she doesn’t sew.” But Herrington stresses all these things better connect her to the community—and her clients—in an essential way. (Herrington also says she is known for putting little flags in neighbors’ front yards on July 4. “They love to see me come, and we chat,” she says.) “I always know that Nicki has her finger on the pulse,” Brooks adds.
Brooks, who grew up in Florissant, recently moved from his home in the Sugar Creek area of Kirkwood to Chesterfield. He says shortly before the sale of his Kirkwood house, he sat down for coffee with his buyers and told them the history of the home. “We built up a level of trust,” he says. “I knew they would love it, that they would take care of my plants and my koi. You can’t get that through technology.”
At a recent staff meeting, Brooks introduced the notion that “a wealth of information means a poverty of attention. People are bumping into each other on the street because they are lost in their devices,” he says. “We are losing sight of what’s important.” But even though he says Dielmann Sotheby’s is “second to none technologically,” he is proud the company is doing business the old-fashioned way: getting back to basics, and connecting face-to-face with real people.
Pictured: president Kerry Brooks and broker salesperson Nicki Herrington
Photo: Bill Barrett
Dielmann Sotheby’s International Realty offers clients individualized service. Pictured on the cover: broker salesperson Nicki Herrington and president Kerry Brooks. For information on current listings and selling a house, call 314.725.0009 or visit dielmannsothebysrealty.com.
