To the lady in Poughkipsee who reinvented herself from the airline industry into real estate. Hoorah for you! That's a great story.
As a "reinvented" veteran of the travel industry, I can relate to your story. Over twenty previous years in the hi-tech industry (with five different companies), my biggest customer was always Big Blue and Poughkipsee was my monthly. Stayed many nights at The Inn at the Falls after I figured out that the two motels out on the highway were invented to torture people before their visit with the gods.
so I morphed into the travel industry and it was fun for ten years until the airlines all (by sheer coincidence) cut their commissions in half the same week. Even then it would have been bearable except that the hi-tech competitive juices still ran in the veins and WE HAD TO BE BIGGER than everybody else. And an AVIS franchise was the perfect fit for ten travel agencies. And a charter operation wss just the perfect solution to everything. and a cruise company waa just the ticket! Like you, we could go cheap or free to anywhere in the world, but we never had time beause of running a business. I still regret not going on a free two week trip on the Delta Queen and opting out on a free two week fam trip to Argentina. We did make 18 cruises of a week or longer and god knows how many weekend inaugurals. I enjoyed them to the fullest!
In the end, it was all ashes. Great ten years, that's all I can say.
So here I am in Real Estate, doing the same thing over again. Teams were the mantra of 2000, so I fed, subsidized, petted, pampered, helped and trained I don't know how many rookies to help them get started. In the end result, they all decided that giving up 25% of their commissions was not a good deal and they could afford to have their own color printers, offices, conference rooms, suppies, etc. by working out of their house and hooking up with a semi-service agency who gave them a higher cut. Back then, my broker would give them 100% commissions direct with him if they just asked, although they had to pay for every sheet of paper. Seemed like a good deal to all of them until the bills came in. I don't have to worry about offending one of them, because they are all out of the industry. So to heck with TEAMs! And BIGGER is not necessarily BETTER.
I am getting the last laugh. REINVETION #99 !!! Now I am a lowly REALTOR, working for a good agency, no team, no hassle, no pressure and low expenses. My office is in my home, looking out over a beautiful golf course. All of that expensive equipment is put to good use FOR ME ! I spend my valuable time working Active Rain and the Internet and guess what? It works! I am learning, because I have the time to do it! I am getting a call a day off my various websites and I don't owe anybody anything.....except wife and my broker, of course, and that's just a small monthly fee. The broker, I mean. I can see where this is going and I can't see how any of the GREAT CONCEPTS of the nineties make any sense whatsoever. This is a business where the cream rises to the top.....and not usually because of a team. All of those big name trainers that I so faithfully listened to were such crocks! All I can say is that it worked for them in the eighties.
In this market, we have to reinvent ourselves. Just about quarterly. Hardly anything I practiced two years ago has any relevance in this market. NAR is saying now that 94% of residential sales have origins in the Internet. I think their number is low. We will see in next year's report.
Last week I talked to a prospect who did not have a computer. I'm still thinking about that one.
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