Once upon a time, in a land not so very different than this one, people yearned to own their own home,they saved as much as they could, worked overtime and managed their family on tight budgets, hand me downs were common place in a childs wardrobe and new toys were rare and cherished, debt was scary, you worked in the same job for years in the same company, you stayed married , and your first car was almost always an old bomb. Communication was face to face, by phone and letters. People worried about their families, their finances, their futures..

In those days people were not unlike they are today.They had dreams and goals, for themselves and their families and they still do, they looked to others for help and advice in moving them closer to making those dreams a reality.Thats what created businesses and service industries, and those who provided good service and delivered on their promises did well and those who exceeded customer expectations benefitted by word of mouth advertising.

Fast forward to today...is it really all that different?

 Our day to day tools of the trade as agents and business people have certainly changed but our purpose has not. We are still here to serve consumers needs and to help them achieve their goals faster and easier than they can alone..and to do it at a profit...In terms of real estate transactions, not much has really changed.Sellers have always wanted to achieve the best possible price in a time frame that suited them. Buyers have always wanted a bargain or at most to pay fair market price on the homes they purchase.

Todays world may be much more fast paced than it was,information is readily available on line for every topic, consumers are far more knowledgeable and well educated but they are still concerned about the decisons they make, and wary especially with their real estate decisons because they involve such a sizeable chunk of money and have a large role in their everyday lifestyle  as well as their future dreams and goals...

Consumers today have seen and heard so many horror stories about what can go wrong, and how agents have failed to deliver on their promises.Why? Because we only see money in their eyes and we don't really care who we deal with...We dont see people as valuable but we see qualified buyers as worthwhile, and people who are ready to sell now or in the near future. We really do a great job building our role as real estate advisor during a transaction, then when its settled we dump them and say NEXT! Alot of our training and practice has lead to this perception...we need to refocus on our purpose and our delivery and really focus on building long term relationships,

Consumers can now do alot of the things agents were seen to do in the past, they can search the internet and find all the homes for sale in their area, and what price they are listed at. They can get valuations/appraisals and find properties they might like to own, studying the words and pictures supplied with the listing. It has become a wonderful time saving device for consumers which has been embraced world wide by people of all ages and income levels. 

Today consumers buy and sell more properties than they ever have before,and our populations are growing in both diversity and number.People move more, travel more and are busy, busy, busy. They like speed and getting what they want, when they want it! They love buying but hate being sold to..We need to focus on delivering what people want,  and communicating it in the way they want it . They love real estate but have a strong mistrust of real estate agents at large and are looking for the stand out exceptions.

We need to build our personal and business reputations on line now as well. In the past consumers asked their friends, work mates,neighbours and family members who they would recommend and who they should avoid. They asked them if they knew such and such and what did they think of them, they looked at the visibility of agents in their marketplace, they studied the real estate adds in their newspapers, they looked at shop windows (often at night to avoid being pursued by an agent when they were doing their homework...)Now they do the same thing, but friends have moved, they are in different areas alot so they want to really see what other consumers have to say about you...and find out what they want to know without having to be sold too by you!

Take control of your online reputation and focus on building one you are proud of at ilovemyagent. we are here to help you achieve the goals you want to in this industry and your life. We are experienced , licenced agents and trained coaches, we love this industry and the value agents bring to consumers, go gold now!

Karin Hanna