July is Luxury Month at Inman. We’ll take the temperature of the luxury market, talk to top producers in the ultra-luxury space and dive into the luxe trends of today — all culminating at Luxury Connect in San Diego, where we’ll announce this year’s Golden I Club honorees.
Real estate brokerages have much to gain by looking outside our industry for inspiration. One of the most compelling and instructive models for brokerage leaders is the luxury hotel sector.
Top hotel brands are notable for their ability to maintain global brand consistency, delivering premier guest experiences while maintaining top-tier service standards worldwide. Many hotel brands have spent decades perfecting the art of making people feel seen, valued, and well cared for.
The most successful real estate brands embrace this hospitality mindset. At our brokerage, we’ve long drawn parallels between a five-star guest experience and our high-touch client journey. In both cases, clients are entrusting something deeply personal—whether it’s their family’s memories made on vacation or choosing their next home. We strive to earn their trust through thoughtful client service and exceptional guest experiences at every step in their journey.
Designing the brokerage experience
When guests walk into a luxury hotel property, every aspect of the guest’s journey, from arrival to departure, has been carefully choreographed, from the valet who takes their luggage to the doorman’s greeting; from the scent and flower arrangements in the hotel lobby to check-in at the front desk.
Every recommendation from the concierge has been carefully curated. In short, it’s an immersive guest experience where every facet is a well-considered choice. Nothing happens by accident.
Brokerages should take a page from that playbook. Our offices should feel less like places of business and more like boutique hospitality hubs that are thoughtfully designed, warm and welcoming.
From the way we greet clients to the support services we offer, every interaction is an opportunity to exceed our clients’ expectations, surprise and delight them, and create memorable moments. After all, the most powerful marketing a brokerage can have is the story someone tells after working with us.
Consistency paired with local expertise
One of the hotel industry’s greatest strengths is the balance it strikes between global brand consistency and authentic, immersive experiences in each market. Guests can walk into a Four Seasons in London, San Francisco or Lanai and know they’ll be greeted with the same level of gracious service and the brand’s refined visual identity.
While you might enjoy familiar touchpoints like the same signature dish or cocktail at luxury hotel properties around the globe, guests will also appreciate regional artwork, local wine selections, and insider recommendations from the concierge that ground the guest experience in a specific location. In Hawaii, the turn-down service gift might be locally-made chocolate, with themed turndown items varying by market.
Real estate brands can apply this same philosophy. Our global brand upholds consistent standards of excellence across 13 countries and counting. Yet, we celebrate the individuality of each market and each agent, while maintaining a cohesive brand experience for our clients, no matter where they live or where they’re going. Walk into any of our offices and you’ll know you’ve arrived at The Agency.
Training for service excellence
The world’s most renowned hotels invest heavily in staff onboarding, training and ongoing professional development. They also operationalize those systems to ensure their exceptional service standards can be maintained in every market, placing a clear focus on fast response times and emotional intelligence.
Hotel employees are also trained cross-functionally so they understand the potential pain points of the entire guest experience. In doing so, staff can anticipate challenges and overcome them, and work collaboratively to ensure a seamless experience in every area of the hotel.
Hotel staff are often empowered to own the guest experience in and outside of their department — whether that means sending a bottle of champagne to celebrate a guest’s milestone or resolving an issue before it becomes a guest complaint.
Real estate professionals can benefit from the same rigor. We are, after all, in a people business. Our operations team ensures that every new office opening is methodically rolled out, from design to grand opening. Our dedicated talent recruitment and development team is similarly focused on ensuring new team members are carefully onboarded to ensure brand and service consistency in every market.
Training for agents may encompass market knowledge and negotiation strategies, but it extends to empathetic communication and creative problem-solving so that agents can make a measurable difference in how clients feel throughout their experience with us. Cross-functional understanding — recognizing client challenges and responding with thoughtful solutions — cultivates a culture of empathy and collaboration.
Elevating brokerages to lifestyle brands
The Ritz-Carlton’s motto — “We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen” — is a core part of their brand identity and service philosophy that includes anticipatory service provided by all staff members. It emphasizes the company’s commitment to treating both guests and employees with respect and dignity, reflecting a culture of mutual care and service excellence.
Many luxury hotels have clear differentiators like this one that elevate them to the level of lifestyle brands. For example, Kimpton Hotels combines boutique hotels with award-winning restaurants and unique amenities. The Mandarin Oriental is known for its blend of Asian-inspired hospitality and Western luxury. Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts are known for historic grandeur and timeless elegance combined with modern luxury.
As real estate leaders, we have the opportunity to redefine the client experience and position brokerages as lifestyle brands. We start by considering how we want our clients to feel, and from there, we carefully craft a distinctive client experience aligned with our brand, values, vision and mission.
If the hotel industry has taught us anything, it’s that unforgettable experiences don’t just inspire loyalty. They can also build a global legacy that, in many cases, becomes synonymous with a certain standard of care and luxury.
Rainy Hake Austin is president of The Agency in Los Angeles. Connect with her on Instagram.
