Last week Brad Inman opened Inman Connect with 5 points he felt Realtors needed to embrace to make a different in 2008.  He stated that nationally real estate was down 18% year over year.  What are we going to do to help move the trends in the right direction?  These points are all Brad's and I tried to fill in around them the best I could remember.  I think he is right on, again.

1) Be a consumer advocate-  You helped people get in their loans and you should help people stay in them.  Pick up the phone and call everyone you sold a home.  Reach out to them.  Make sure they know what resources are available to them.  Consumers reach for competence, be there for them.  

2) Cut costs- Buckle down.  We are in a downturn and money needs to be spent smartly. 

3) Participate in the online conversation- You need to be where your customers are.  You are still very necessary to the end means of completing a transaction.  Make sure you are positioning yourself to be considered when it comes time to actually transact.

4) Expect government scrutiny- But embrace it.

5) Find and use new technology available to cut costs-  In the process you'll probably find these cost saving measures are actually saving you time as well, on top of gaining new business.  The amount of new technology out there is mind-blowing, and so much of it is free. 

Hope these points sparks something within you to go and get the next transaction done.