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It’s a lesson in crisis management. Antonio Cresio Rodrigues Dos Reis watched his RE/MAX brokerage in the Brazilian city of Imperatriz go up in flames one day and the very next morning was on the phone to reassure clients that business was operating as usual.
The August 2013 fire started at a gas station next door and consumed 17 cars before turning RE/MAX Unyca into ashy ruins. What could have brought lesser businessmen to their knees instead became a call to action for Rodrigues Dos Reis, along with Co-Owner Atenagoras Reis Batista and Regional Director of the master RE/MAX franchise of Maranhão Brazil, Sergio Fernandes.
“From the beginning, we decided that our tone should be very positive when speaking to clients about the fire,” Rodrigues Dos Reis says. “We treated this as a temporary setback, not a tragedy.”
The group quickly rented a temporary space while looking for a new permanent office site. Along with Recruiting Manager Carlos Perez and Office Manager Antonia Pacheco, they phoned clients, inviting them for coffee at the makeshift office to deliver a personal promise that RE/MAX Unyca services weren’t going to be affected by the fire.
They didn’t lose a single client. Although business slowed for a couple of months after the blaze, the Sales Associates and Broker/Owners never gave up hope. Rodrigues Dos Reis and Reis Batista invested in a beautiful new office, unveiled that October at a grand re-opening party complete with a red carpet, champagne and coverage in a local magazine.
The leaders’ vision of a strong business based on supporting the right team of Sales Associates is very much a reality today. The office has some of the region’s biggest producers and is ranked No. 2 out of 40 area brokerages.
The story could have had a very different ending.
“We were still new at the time of the fire,” Rodrigues Dos Reis says. “The brokerage hadn’t fully taken off yet.”
Perez adds that he learned an important lesson: “Plans can change, but your dreams don’t die. Nothing is impossible.”
For him and everyone at RE/MAX Unyca, the very flames that spelled the end of one chapter signaled the beginning of another, better one.
Written by Dorota Wright-O'Neill
