The Way Things Are vs The Way Things Should Be
As you spelunker into the darkened cave of selling real estate for the first time, it doesn’t take long before you hit some boulders that just don’t seem right or in line with who you are as a person. It’s true some of us enter this career with a wish to help people, but then are met with this force of cut throat, ego-driven, “if I keep telling you my GCI and volume figures you’ll respect me and think I’m a good agent” mentality … which is the industry standard. I know that’s what I faced.
The reality of the way things are can be a tough pill to swallow when you’re first sharpening your teeth as a new real estate agent. Agents new and old who are constantly sourcing the “easy” button and are terrified to prospect their database, have acted in ways that now adversely impacting all of us. The training offered to us as new agents is less than desirable, somewhat toxic or non-existent. If, in response to “how do I prospect?” the answer is “here’s a list of expired listings” or “have you tried purchasing online leads”, please immediately change your course and counsel.
The Carrot and Stick Syndrome:
When I first got into the business, brokerages talked to me about how much money I could make. I listened as other agents told each other how much business they had done. I watched as folks running large teams were revered as top successful agents by their brokerages. Yet, I also noticed they single handedly were creating massive gaps between themselves (the agent running the team) and the client’s personal experience in buying or selling a home. Wasn’t that what all of this was supposed to be about? The client? But who was I to say anything, I was just a new agent and that other agent had 10 bazillion “top producer” trophies above their desks.
The training programs were consistently conditioning me into the message that the size of one’s team, the volume you sell and the GCI you put on the board was the only race to win and the only measurement of success. I became obsessed with winning my own rookie race as you’ve all read about. Yet the more minutes that passed and the more experience I got working in my business, it dawned on me that somewhere in all that grand success I was watching big teams have, the person actually buying or selling a home was lost. I had many buyer intake meetings as my new clients told me tales of how they were shuffled down the pipeline from team lead to a buyer’s agent/listing agent or a showing agent. The agent or broker the client actually hired was never to be heard from again until closing when they made the “honor call”. Ie. “Thanks so much for your business, please don’t tell me what went wrong, it wasn’t me. It was someone on my team. Enjoy the house. Thanks for the check. Buh-bye”.
They then made SURE I wasn’t going to do that to them.
It was an odd exchange. Eventually, it became a normal conversation in those preliminary meetings.
When it comes to relationships, real estate agents are getting failing marks. We know this because the N.A.R Members Report for 2019 estimated that repeat business for the average agent is 13%.
13% of people working with their Realtor on average used them again for their next sale or purchase. (Gross)
N.A.R also reports that of the average Realtor’s earnings, only 17% are referred clients. (Equally as gross).
Then, we have the audacity to look around at each other wondering why our clients would rather use an ibuy platform as oppose to deal with the garbage we put them through. If I sound angry it’s because I am.
We’ve all heard the industry’s versions of “limited beliefs”. Here’s a few:
-“My clients shouldn’t want to use those platforms because they aren’t protected. People just aren’t loyal anymore.” I guess my question is, well what are you offering that’s better?
-“20% of agents do 80% of business”. Why is that? Is it actually because they are better, or are they running a team fueled by the energy of new agents? I don’t think it’s because anyone works harder than I do. They aren’t smarter, wiser, or nearly as funny. Jk.
-“New agents are naïve and lazy”. Yea, okay. Have you been around some of the newer agents lately? I have in my company and they are really, really hardworking people that are missing some systems and knowledge.
-“New agents should work on teams so they can learn the right way to do it”. As covered above, I’d like to see some statistics on this. If the“right way”, is the same old way, then no. We need to be teaching the shift.
-“Millennials just want to live off of their parents and are terrible to sell a home to”. Umm .. you come out of school with that kind of debt and let me know if you could pull yourself up by your bootstraps in today’s world. We need to help them, not lecture them.
- feel free to jump in with your own.
The Pipe Dream
In my first two years as a Rookie Agent, I was asked on the regular to join other people’s teams so that I could “learn the ropes”. In most cases, it was my energy and time they wanted, not the will to help me become a better agent. It’s not a secret that new agents are desperate to learn and even more desperate to make money to support themselves. That’s okay. You are are in good company.
The way things should be … is always a slippery slope. It’s true, that every industry has its glaringly warty noses. It seems to me that the Real Estate Industry has been “mailing it in” for far too long. If we can learn anything from this COVID-19 experience, it is that the agents that love on their database remained busy throughout. I know, because my business was thriving. I even hired more people to help me in mid April.
If I could talk to every single new agent, I would beg them to learn and practice relationship sales. You want to be set apart? Show up, be accountability and care about your client and their experience. I would tell them, “build a business for the long game”. I would say, “friends, there is no easy button in a start-up business even if you hang your license with a big brokerage.”
I would say, “go to every class, be around folks that are like-minded, pick up your phone and dial a number because that’s where your earnings live”.
I would tell them to find an agent in their office that is already practicing relationship sales and be a sponge.
If every single one of us shifted our focus just a little from counting the pennies in our buckets to operating a business that prides itself on the client experience, EVERYTHING would change. Over time, perceptions of real estate agents would change. And maybe you’re thinking, “it’s working just fine for me right now. I don’t need a change”. Which is fine if you’re going to retire tomorrow. For the rest of us, we need to start laying building blocks that set us apart from the ibuy/digital experience or we won’t have a job to come back to.
The way things are doesn’t have to stand, if we collectively decide we want the industry to be better.
I’d love to hear about what training programs you have tried or been exposed to. What are they teaching you? Is it about only you or is it about your client? Leave a comment below.
Until then, chin up, keep your feet moving … and burn the white flag.
sz