Stribling and Associates is a family owned and operated real estate services firm in New York City with an extensive partnership network. Stribling and Associates’ President Elizabeth Ann Stribling-Kivlan discusses her approach to building great partnerships.
Elizabeth Ann Stribling-Kivlan, President of Stribling and Associates
What are the main factors in building successful partnerships?
Partnerships are an extension of your own company and brand. You must make sure you both share the same ethos and value set otherwise you are doomed. Just because you might both be profitable and the best in your own markets doesn't mean that you will be twice as good combined. It requires constant work and a like mind to business goals and practices.
Please elaborate on working with “like mind to business goals and practices." What do you look for in a partner?
Stribling does a lot of referral business in Miami, and partnering with Cervera allowed us to meet growing client demand while expanding our suite of services. Like Stribling, Cervera is family owned and operated. We are both boutique brokerages, but with incredible depth and specializing in premiere properties across re-sale and new development. Together we leverage over 600 agents in 14 offices located in prime submarkets such as Manhattan, Brooklyn, Miami and Palm Beach, and a combined global real estate network reaching across five continents. I trust Cervera’s agents with my clients, and they trust me with theirs. It’s peace of mind, and it’s good for business.
What makes your partnership with Cervera Realty work?
Working with Cervera Realty in Miami is paramount to better coverage and exposure for Stribling. What works is our commitment and active participation thus leading to more deals but also open flow of information allowing us both to be better and stronger firms but more importantly allowing our clients greater access and coverage to a similar market in Florida.
The partnership was designed to benefit clients by providing exclusive access to shared market expertise, marketing resources and the industry’s top agents. The partnership opens key distribution channels for both firms in complementary markets. We allow their agents to use our resources, office space, and proprietary database metrics and they allow us the same. I don’t pretend to know the ins and outs of the Miami market because I am not local. But Cervera is – and they are one of the most trusted names in South Florida real estate. We share legacy, integrity, and a strong ethical code.
Is there a company or organization that you look up to that builds great partnerships that you are not part of?
I think a new partnership between American Express and airbnb is the most forward thinking and interesting coupling I have seen recently. It takes a heritage brand and a tech wunderkind and really mirrors the new global affluent. It shows progressive thinking but mirrors with the points system and customer service that an Amex client demands. American Express is the leader in bespoke partners. It would be ideal to see them have an more increased residential network.
You bring up a great example with American Express and airbnb. What makes this a good partnership for everyone, What will they need to do to build it into a successful partnership over the long run?
Both brands are in the business of elevating experiences for their customers. Amex has a robust travel platform with an incredible customer base which AirBNB can leverage through exclusive home stay offers and other perks; in turn, Amex customers feel as if they are getting the inside track. Long term success will depend on mutual customer satisfaction, working together to solve any hiccups, and finding new ways to incentivize and engage their shared customer base. Any partnership requires work and creative agility, and when done right, everyone benefits -- most importantly, the customer.