"Change is inevitable; growth is optional," said leadership author John Maxwell. However, the seismic shifts this fall in the real estate market will challenge brokerages to grow because of market changes. 

As we talk with brokerage leaders, they are ready to face these headwinds head-on. Many see opportunity in chaos. Others recognize that as many of their competitors hunker down or retreat and shrink, the future-thinking brokerages are taking steps to grow their market share. 

Here are five ways a brokerage can take advantage of a market with shifting winds:  

1. Want to make rain? Train! A decade ago, when housing started to rebound in 2012, we had just under 1 million Realtors®, according to the National Association of Realtors® Historic Report. Today, there are 1.6 million Realtors at a time when there are 1.2 million listings. That means at least one in four real estate sales associates — 400,000 agents — have not experienced a significant market shift.

More than 300,000 new Realtors were added during the pandemic. They have never had to say, "Let's talk about a price reduction" — until now.  

Many brokerages during the recent record real estate boom did not have the opportunity to provide the kind of training these agents need in today's market. 

The new DeltaNET Academy, our next-generation training and learning management system built into DeltaNET®, is a well-timed breakthrough for what brokerages are hungering for today. 

For the first time, brokerages can customize and personalize the content available in DeltaNET Academy, specific to their brokerage and the experience level and needs of their agents.  

DeltaNET Academy allows admins to customize and stylize the coursework. In addition, with a robust scheduling system, the Academy enables brokerages to create training schedules of classes and assign future coursework for agents to complete. 

When retaining agents is needed, which is perhaps now more than ever, the way to increase retention is through training — and DeltaNET Academy can deliver the goods.

2. Help your agents save: If you are like most people, then you have dozens of apps on your phone but only use a handful regularly. 

Agents often take the same approach when it comes to the tech tools they intend to use for business purposes. As a result, they will have a half-dozen to a dozen (or more) disparate software and systems, many they acquire with the best of intentions and then rarely use.  

Software subscriptions are especially easy to forget when buried in an agent's credit card statement. So now is a prime time to help your agents cut any fat. 

Many of your agents are likely paying double for new tech they can now receive from DeltaNET. By reviewing the breadth of what the new DeltaNET delivers with your agents, they will start to see where the duplication exists in their tech stack. 

Agents will immediately benefit from DeltaNET's cutting-edge enhancements. Agent adoption will soar when they discover how AI and machine learning built into the new DeltaNET will help them deliver the right content at the right time to the right customer, helping them grow their market share. 

Front and center in the new DeltaNET is the proven "My Customer for Life" marketing tool, a dynamic email newsletter featuring new and unique content each week based on each client's interests and behaviors. With a stunning 65% click-through rate, content automatically customizes to the user's interests based on engagement. In addition, brokerages can customize all major elements of the newsletter for customized branding and individual agent information. 

Smart agents know to focus on tools like these that are delivering results. Showing agents how they can consolidate what they are using and get the same results through a completely integrated system that will save time is a win-win. 

3. Aggressively market to orphaned sellers and buyers: Many agents are reacting to the market shift by cutting back. They are eliminating direct mail, reducing their digital spending, and some are even laying off or significantly reducing administrative support.

Yet research tells us that while about 90 percent of buyers and sellers say they will use their real estate agent again, fewer than 20 percent do. Why? There are many reasons, including life events such as relocation and divorce — but the biggest is that many agents simply don't stay in touch with their clients regularly.   

Agents also leave the business, rarely with a succession plan for someone to help their clients. If you include first-time buyers who have not found an agent, the market for underserved potential buyers and sellers is massive. For brokerages, the best tactic is to be proactive and ensure every agent, at a minimum, has a proven program to remain consistently in front of their clients. 

Next, brokerages also should be proactive in connecting with orphaned buyers and sellers, first-time buyers and first-time sellers — no matter what is happening in the market. Life happens as families expand, people divorce, new jobs require relocation, renters get ready to own, and couples often downsize when their kids move out. Historically, even when interest rates have been above recent highs, we have had 4 to 5 million new home sales each year, and that's 8 to 10 million potential transaction sides. 

Innovative brokerages know that the business is there; they just need to help connect their agents to those potential buyers in the market who don't have a real estate agent. 

The best news is that despite all the cries from startups who were going to disrupt the real estate industry and displace real estate agents, more people are using real estate agents today than before the internet.  

The new CRM-centric DeltaNET offers the most potent solutions for brokerages to connect with orphans and first-time buyers to grab market share. From powerful social media tools to email marketing content and the best SEO-powered websites, DeltaNET will deliver more ways to reach these audiences than ever before. 

4. Invest in recruiting: It may seem contradictory to recruit when many agents will be leaving the business. However, now is the time when savvy brokerages are getting even more aggressive in their recruiting efforts. Boosting recruiting now will not only help in the short term but can also help brokerages win in the long run.

Look at the competitive landscape, and you are likely to see brokerages cutting both the fat and the muscle and bone. The best agents often are the first to leave a firm that over-tightens because they often see the impact first.  

The ability to offer recruits the unmatched power of the new DeltaNET gives you a competitive advantage.  

A top producer or team would have to pay hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars in monthly subscription fees to match feature-by-feature, benefit-by-benefit, and all the tools built into the new all-in-one DeltaNET. 

One final bonus: When your competition hunkers down and invests less, especially in recruiting, their lack of effort will help amplify your increased efforts. 

5. Put on your blinders: Strong headwinds can force us all to take a step — or two — back. That can be a very good thing, but the aftermath can be painful if we overreact by running to take shelter. 

The broker leadership we've been talking with — including those who serve as Delta Ambassadors — are committed to staying focused to continue to build business momentum. These broker-owners have been through several cycles before. They point out that each cycle has unique characteristics, just like the current one. 

They acknowledge that today can be a particularly tough environment to navigate, especially with all the pessimistic "doomsday" headlines causing a distraction for managers and agents alike.  

But these brokers also share that focus becomes even more vital when a shift occurs. So, sticking to your knitting — knowing what works and staying the course that has made your brokerage what it is today — remains the best path forward. 

One of the reasons why Delta has invested more than $40 million over the years is a product of the same business philosophy. Take your really good features and make them great. Look at the best things you do and see if there are ways to make them even better. Innovation can only last as long as you continue to iterate. 

As an industry, we are often transfixed on the details — like the unprecedented spike in mortgage interest rates. Unfortunately, when mired in the details, we often forget the bigger picture: you marry a house, but you date a rate. 

The new DeltaNET can help brokerages withstand fierce headwinds. It can enable brokerages to focus on where the business opportunities remain, regardless of the peripheral noise. 

It's why the new DeltaNET is more simple, more automated, and even more customizable: to allow brokerages to go after new business boldly. 

As we've said before, brokerages who will seize the day to capture more market share will be like Wayne Gretzky — skating to where the puck will be, not where it is, or where it was.