I hope everyone enjoyed the last long weekend of summer and thought about what Labor Day has meant in building our country!
There are two types of people in Real Estate, the greatest number and the majority, from my perspective, are salespeople and that includes brokers and associate brokers; and the minority, consultants. There are huge differences and divides between the two groups. I am not singling out any company or persons in this column, since they exist across the board in the largest to the smallest companies, even in the single person offices. However, after 35 years of being in the real estate business, you draw some significant conclusions, not based on theory, but actual day in day out business experiences. I can also say without hesitation, salespeople are still a major segment that are in our industry. Some will not be happy that I am saying this; but those that are not educated and knowledge based about how to really conduct themselves with their client sellers, investors, landlords, purchasers and tenants are the typical salespeople, who focus on their deals and transactions and not the “client first” attitude and it shows in their performance. I do understand that no one is perfect (not even me!) and mistakes and blunders will always occur, but the way to minimize them is being able to grasp the concept of “customer service first.” Being able to qualify and interact with clients and qualifying customers in the proper fashion by asking the most pertinent questions and then being an excellent listener, absorbing the information, enables one to create and have a more successful plan going forward. Being knowledgeable about your product, transparent and answering all the questions that prospective clients and customers ask will always go a long way in building your reputation and brand. More important, when mistakes or obstacles (what I call potholes) occur during the sales process, don’t you want your agent to step up to the plate and remedy the situation as best that they can, so the worst case scenario, doesn’t happen, whereby, the sale crashes and burns? Of course the latter is not what you are expecting, whether you are a seller paying a commission or a purchaser, (indirectly paying a commission) where you want your Broker or agent to come forth with the answers leading to a positive solution and outcome. Unfortunately, consulting is not really taught much at all in the courses that I have seen. Yes, there are phenomenal sales and motivational coaches, and I have trained with the top 4. They will teach you quite a lot about lead generation, but in many situations, the consultative aspect of our business has fallen short of the expectations of the consumer. There is an excellent book that I was able to receive, and was provided for “free” if you were quick on your feet, at a Washington D.C. real estate convention that I attended in May. It is called Disruptors, Discounters, and Doubters by Joe Rand, who happens to work for a major national franchise. The one thing that stuck in my mind, while reading his book, was when he asked a multitude of real estate people would they hire 75% of the agents they new in the area where they worked and the answer was an emphatic, “no.” Then he asked, 50%, the answer was still “no.” Then the figure dropped to 25%, who thought that the agents within their area were competent, whereby the agents would consider hiring them. This is a sad commentary about the actual capabilities of the typical agent. Being a consultant takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears and thick skin to hone ones knowledge to get to a point, where one never tries to sell “vanilla” if the customer wants “chocolate.” More individuals should be focusing on the “specific needs and wants” of the client sellers (and investors, landlords, purchasers and renters) while addressing their concerns, through a non-selling perspective and come up with the necessary information to build that trust and credibility that they so desperately are seeking. This will always go a long way in building your base of advocates for your future referrals. Otherwise many times, it’s like the blind leading the blind; whereby new purchasers, who have never bought real estate or sellers who haven’t sold anything in 30 years or more and know nothing about the more rigorous and complicated process today and those agents that aren’t knowledgeable enough, due to lack of training. My professional opinion is that consultants will always earn more than salespeople, because they are more like pied-pipers, holding the hands of and guiding their clients and customers and always being available and reachable during and through the process from the beginning to the closing. There isn’t enough emphasis on consulting, which is gained through constant reading, attending local and national conferences, volunteering on committees and studying to gain a steady and never ending knowledge to be at the “top of one’s game.” Many should be seeking out classes (and there should be more of them) on consulting, because there is too much emphasis on lead generation, quotas, commission and sales; but in actuality, it’s all about the consumer and how we can serve them in a more professional manner. One must be a “sponge” and personally, until I am “6 feet under” I for one will never cease learning something new each and every day, to better myself in providing the most professional consultative styled services possible to all my clientele.
Philp A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave Suite 180 Great Neck NY 11021-2415. He has earned designations as a Graduate of the Realtor Institute and a Certified International Property Specialist. Receive regular “FREE” updates of sold homes in your area and what your home would sell for in today’s market. He can be reached by email, at: Phil@TurnKeyRealEstate.Com, or by cell: (516) 647-4289.
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