Real Estate is a Frickin’ Slog!

I watch my friends, clients, partners in utter amazement as they deal with changing markets conditions, the national portals, the MLSs, their agents, and the list goes on. It’s a tough, tough, business to be in.

I spoke to a high level executive friend of mine the other day and asked him how he felt the industry could address customer satisfaction. His answer, “That’s a tough one since we have to deal with all these independent contractors.” Then I asked someone else about why their capture rate on his mortgage venture was only in the teens. “Well, these independent contractors…”

Yeah it’s tough… but so what? Sure they are independent contractors but you need to figure it out!

Easier said than done you say? I agree. However, let me give you a few things to think about:

• Way back when when the real estate agent/brokerage had access to all the information, why didn’t someone say, “If we provide more information, consumers will feel compelled to deal with us rather the guy down the street that wants me to play by his rules.” Instead, what did our industry do? It let Trulia, Zillow, and others transform the way consumers searched for real estate and now they sell your listings back to you!

• Way back when when real estate brokerages only sold real estate why didn’t someone say, “If we can provide our clients with a mortgage, like car dealers provide their customer with auto financing, we can make the process a lot easier." Instead, many brokers fought this notion because they did not feel it was their place to get involved in anything other than the brokerage commission. Guess what, if you don’t have mortgage, title, and other core services today, you are probably not making any money as a broker!

• Way back when when RE/Max recognized there was an opportunity to capture top producing agents by letting them keep 100% of the commission if they paid a monthly fee, why didn’t someone say, “If these guys are offering a 100% commissions, we better make sure we are offering a 100% support to our agents so we have a better chance at keeping them.” Instead, full service brokerages caved and started trying to compete on price and, well, you know what’s happened since…

There is always going to be someone trying to figure out a better way than how you do it, so why don’t you beat them to the punch? Stop thinking like a real estate broker and start thinking like a business person who happens to sell real estate.

In fact, think beyond that--brokers are really marketers of real estate so figure out a better way of getting that message out rather than making excuses when things are not going well and riding the wave without making necessary changes when they are.

To view the original article, visit the PCMS Consulting blog.