May 14, 2025Nick sits down with legendary branding expert Monte Pratt, owner of Jack Pratt Signs. Monte unpacks how real estate signs are more than marketing—they’re lead generators, reputation builders, and market roots. Learn how to design signs that convert, understand the agent vs. brokerage branding balance, and discover why text-to-lead still trumps QR codes. Monte also shares what might be the future of real estate: interactive smart signage powered by tech and brand clarity.
If you want to gain listings, dominate your neighborhood, and build brand trust from the curb—this episode is a must.
Chapters:
- 00:00:00 – Why Branding Is More Than a Logo
- 00:00:45 – Kickoff: Welcome to Reside Platform
- 00:01:08 – Meet Monte Pratt: The Sign Whisperer
- 00:02:33 – How Great Signs Sell Homes
- 00:03:54 – The Story Behind Jack Pratt Signs
- 00:06:46 – From Painted Boards to Power Brands
- 00:08:33 – Agent vs. Brokerage Branding Showdown
- 00:21:10 – Tech That’s Transforming Yard Signs
- 00:26:32 – What Today’s Buyers Really Respond To
- 00:28:16 – Premium Signs for Premium Listings
- 00:31:27 – What Clients Notice Before You Speak
- 00:33:43 – Monte’s Formula for Real Estate Domination
- 00:37:05 – QR Codes: Magic or Misfire?
- 00:48:26 – Connecting Signs to Your CRM Funnel
- 00:49:48 – Final Wisdom + How to Reach Monte
Links and Resources:
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Episode breakdown: treating the yard sign as a lead source
Monte Pratt is the third-generation owner of Jack Pratt Signs, a family sign company in Oklahoma that started with oil well signs around 1948 and moved into real estate. Reside co-founder Nick McLean has bought his signs from Monte’s company since he opened his team in Wenatchee, Washington in 2012. The two talk about how a sign builds a team’s brand, what to put on it, and why it still matters when buyers find homes on their phones.
Know how much creative freedom your brokerage gives you
Monte sorts brokerages into two camps. Brokerage-centric offices have already done all the creative work, so the job is a durable, affordable sign that matches the brand. Agent-centric and team-centric setups leave room to build your own look, and luxury boutiques lean toward what he calls a consumer-centric approach that speaks to how the seller feels about their home. The first question he asks a new client is how much creative freedom he has.
Nick’s point is that freedom cuts both ways. A franchise template is convenient but limits how far a team can brand itself. When he started as an independent broker he had complete freedom, which meant he had to call someone like Monte and work out what the team should look like.
Work out your brand before you design the sign
Everyone has a brand, and just because you have a logo doesn’t mean you have a brand.
Monte Pratt
Monte starts every project with questions about how people feel when they see a team’s name, not with a template. His design rules are short. Less is more, because a sign covered edge to edge with graphics leaves the eye nowhere to land. Logos are timeless and photos aren’t. The team brand and the brokerage brand should sit in balance, and colors have to work together on the same panel. He wants clients in the process with him, giving honest feedback, and he’ll throw out a draft and start over when it isn’t working.
Match the sign to the price point and keep it clean
In the mid-1990s a premier Oklahoma City neighborhood required a heavier square-tube frame with finials on its listings. Monte’s foreman built his own version, the company sold it for $80 against a competitor’s $300, and other high-end communities adopted it. Monte won’t claim a premier frame converts more leads than a standard angle-iron sign. He does say it tells sellers and buyers that the agent is invested in the listing, and for top-of-market homes the extra spend is easy to justify.
Nick adds that the seller drives past that sign every day. A sign that has fallen over or a flyer box left empty tells them how much attention the rest of the listing is getting. When sellers kept asking him for more signs, he ordered the biggest one his local rules allowed and called it one of the best investments he made.
Use text-to-lead first, and send everything to the CRM
Most buyers arrive at a listing through a portal app, so Nick sees the sign as the agent’s first chance to pull that buyer into their own world. Monte has tested QR codes, including a three-foot code facing the street, and expects them to improve as people get used to scanning. For now he is clear about the winner.
The best use of technology integrated into the yard sign, in my opinion, is the text to lead feature.
Monte Pratt
Text-to-lead notifies the agent immediately and hands over a phone number. A QR code only works if the landing page asks for something, and most people leave when they have to type in their details. Both men stress the step after the scan or text. The sign’s lead source should flow into the CRM, and Nick gives sign calls their own phone number so the team always knows where a lead came from.
Buy signs before you need them
Nick has always ordered signs ahead of demand, sometimes 50 at a time, and shows them to his team as a goal to work down. His argument is that the same money spent on 50 leads disappears into the CRM, while a sign in the yard keeps working in the neighborhood the team wants to own. Selling a buyer a home there earns a check, but the yard sign is what builds market share.
What does this say about you? That you’re hesitant to spend money on something that’s gonna last a decade, but you don’t hesitate on buying a lead that’s gonna last two weeks.
Nick McLean
Key takeaways for team leaders
- Find out how much creative freedom your brokerage allows before you redesign anything.
- Define what your brand stands for first. A logo alone isn’t a brand.
- Keep the sign uncluttered, lead with the logo, and keep it maintained for as long as it’s in the yard.
- Put text-to-lead on your signs and route those leads into your CRM with their own tracking number.
- Consider a premier frame for top-of-market listings in the neighborhoods you want to own.
