Many real estate agents, loan officers, and other real estate industry professionals are all experiencing the same thing. They are working much harder for a lot less money, and this is tremendously affecting their ability to plan for retirement. The reason is simple: Commoditization. If you sell anything in today's world you understand that we are living in a commoditized world. In the real estate business, because of technology and the increased number of players in the marketplace over the last 10 years, it has become more and more commoditized. Consumers are looking for the cheapest way to sell their homes, buyers are looking for the loan officer who will charge the least, lenders understand that agents will take anything they can get so they will give them any commission they want on short sales and REO's. Agents who are having to work harder are demanding higher and higher commission splits from their brokers, which promotes nonrealistic business models that cannot be supported and is imploding the industry as we know it. The biggest problem is that a commodity based world favors big players who profit at reduced prices through economies of scale, expensive technologies, and massive marketing campaigns. Since these big players are a very small percentage of the number of agents that are out there, the real estate industry as a whole will suffer greatly. Agents who have been able to secure relationships with the REO departments of banks and financial institutions and loan officers who have been able to secure the relationships with the REO agents should not get comfortable. All you have done is buy yourself some time. In fact, by not doing what needs to be done, it is further perpetuating the inevitable. What is the inevitable? Well, remember the minimum wage job you had when you were 16 years old? Our industry will eventually be at a point where our commissions will have been so eroded that when it's all said and done, you might as well have just charged the client $8.25 per hour and dispensed with the notion that you are self employed with unlimited income possibilities.

 THE ANSWER

It is no secret that escaping commoditization is all about value creation. Value creation is clearly doing something that differentiates you from your competition while at the same time protecting the price you charge for your service. In a commoditized world uniqueness is paramount. Something that is unique can't be a commodity. By creating unique value for your client, you are able to charge what it is actually worth to them without worrying about what the rest of the industry is doing. But how do you create value? Click on the link below to listen to an invite by Douglas Andrew who will teach you and your clients in a free seminar/workshop the strategies that will help both you and your clients, thus providing value that very few agents and loan officers are providing.

Value is created by providing three things: leadership, relationship, and creativity. LEADERSHIP is providing direction. When you provide direction you eliminate dangers that another person face and focus them on the opportunities they most want to maximize. This means providing them with a plan and path to help navigate through what can often seem a confusing and overwhelming world. What this means to you as a professional in this industry is this, if you can help your client navigate through all of the turmoil that is happening in this industry, and show them a path by providing direction, then you will be their leader in their minds. There is no mistake about it, your clients are desperately seeking direction from you or anyone else. Wouldn't you like it to be from you?

 RELATIONSHIP is about providing confidence. Even though confidence is an emotion we feel as individuals, it really comes from others with whom we have relationships. Remember this, good relationships provide confidence. The people we can rely on and the people who support and protect us give us confidence, and confidence is vital to success in any endeavor. There is an old sales saying that goes, "your prospect does not care how much you know until they know how much you care". Simply put, when you show your client proactively that you care what the turmoil in this industry might be doing to their present and future they will choose you to work with and not the agent or loan officer on the corner who is advertising how little they will charge them. When other industry professionals provide agents and loan officers with unique value they do not have to beg for transactions each and every month. People pay for value and in the absence of value they will always go to price.

 CREATIVITY is about providing capabilities. Typically this is the only component people consider when they think about value creation. Skills, knowledge, tools, technologies, and systems all fit into the area of capability, because they enable us to do more, better. That means you need to learn techniques and strategies that will enable you to help your clients.  When you provide leadership, relationship, or creativity, you are creating value. When you provide all three, value is exponentially increased. Because value creation is always in the mind of the recipient, it is important as agents, loan officers, and industry professionals trying to create value, you understand from the other person's point of view what they will perceive as direction, confidence, and capability.

 Value creation is not just for agents and loan officers, but also title and escrow companies and other industry service providers. We are all looking for value and we will work with the people who are able to provide us with the most value. It is just not a consumer deciding which agent or loan officer to give their business, it could also be an agent or loan officer deciding which title rep and company to send their files, appraiser to send their business or insurance agent to refer clients. Lenders must also realize first, loan officers decide which lenders can close their files, second,   which lender relationship they value the most. The loan officers will send their limited files to the lender who is providing the most value.

 When you take on value creation for your clients your commissions and earnings have no other alternative but to increase. Remember, this is not just for you but for your clients who find themselves alone and confused in a market that is merciless to the uneducated and financially uniformed. This will help your clients who are desperately trying to accumulate enough wealth for retirement, and in turn create more and higher commissions to you. Come listen to the best selling author who wrote the books on the subject. Listen at:

 www.missedfortune.com/invite

REGISTER: www.missedfortuneevents.com/activerain

 As he invites you to learn strategies and concepts that are counter intuitive to conventional wisdom. Wisdom that has not only helped to create the largest housing market debacle ever, but has served to further emphasize that you must "teach an old dog new tricks".

 This seminar will separate you from the rest of the top producers in this area and will instantly allow you to become your clients Trusted Advisor. After you listen to a personal invitation from the man who wrote the books at www.missedfortune.com/invite, you can register for the event at www.missedfortuneevents.com/activerain. You can learn more about the Missed Fortune Movement and the Author at www.lucafinancial.com/Documents/About.pdf.

 I hope to see you at the event as it will be a turning point for your business and your personal life.