Expert doesn't mean what I think it should in our business.
Apparently Facebook thinks because I spend time in real estate groups that I need ads pertaining to real estate, especially ads from other local agents!
So I see an ad come across my feed for a local agent and it's an agent name I haven't heard, and the ad proclaimed her a local expert. Well since I had about 60 seconds to spare I decided to do a quick check of MLS for this agent and check sales. Five sales in the last 15 months. Now maybe she truly is an expert agent, but the evidence is at least a little lacking.
Another Facebook group I monitor for agent to agent referrals recently had a listing available on the fringe of our market area, but first you have to wade through the brokerage cheerleading. In this case a local agent was being touted as "aggressive", "an expert", "my go to person in Ohio", etc. Six agents from the same national brokerage all touting this agent of the same national brokerage. And yet again, the MLS stats didn't bear out the praises. Unless every one of those recent closings was from an out of area agent on that Facebook group ("Inconceivable" says the Sicilian), agents were casting votes for someone that they probably don't actually know much about other than they belong to the same brokerage.
Now imagine the consumer's confusion when they get the 4th postcard of the week, all from different agents proclaiming "I'm #1 in YOUR neighborhood!" or "Hire me, I'm the (fill in the blank) neighborhood expert!". Now the consumer doesn't have the tools we have as agents to fact check those claims, so the claims keep on coming.
Now for sure, there ARE some agents that can back up the claim with performance. They make a living out of knowing the real estate ins and outs of a particular neighborhood or niche. We've got our patio home niche and I consider myself an expert in that particular topic relative to my competition, although I admit there is ALWAYS more to learn and it's an ongoing effort to stay in front of what's new and happening in our niche.
And of course you can't use "expert" without mentioning all the folks trying to sell us real estate agents stuff. SEO gurus, marketing gurus, coaching gurus, the list goes on and on. Some ARE actually what they claim to be, but if I had a dollar for every solicitation I've had by someone that "can make my website #1" or "can take my business to the next level", I could already be retired.
So the challenge to all of us is separating the true experts from the charlatans. And excuse me if I'm a bit skeptical any time I hear the word "expert".
Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help!
Bill of Liz and Bill aka BLiz
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