Nov. 29, 2007 - Clients are Cutting Off Their Nose To Spite Their Face
Well it has begun in earnest. The seller/investor/developer…you name it has begun blaming the listing agent for their dilemma. My team associate was informed today by a long term partner whom he had made a heap of money over the last few years that he was giving the commercial listing that he had worked for over a year and a half to another agent. Never mind that he had, at the first sign of the slow down, worked creatively to split and sell pieces of this property and marketed it with the same urgency as if it was his own. Another agent not affiliated with our team but representing a neighboring subdivision from ours was fired and replaced. I could go on with several other examples but if you are an agent you have your own stories. I happen to know that each of the examples cited were wrongly dismissed. These agents had poured considerable time, effort and money into these projects and felt that they would be treated with professional courtesy and respect. Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year you certainly know what is happening in real estate. No one saw the extent of this problem and we still don't know what is going to happen. But what is an agent to do when the seller is ready to shoot the messenger. I have tried to reason with my clients regarding the realistic price and the length of time selling their asset is going to take in this current market. Some listen and some don't. I am spending about 30% of my expected commission up front on marketing.
This turn of events gives me pause. My philosophy has been that I am a partner with my clients. I don't sugarcoat and continually feed them facts. It is important now more than ever to establish ourselves as not some interchangeable entity that can be discarded without cost but as a professional partner who has as much at stake as any other partner. Maybe it is our own fault in how we have presented ourselves in the past but that time is gone and we have to reinvent our image or we will be nothing but a car salesman on a generic lot, interchangeable and not important in the scheme of things. We will become obsolete.
Vicki Brannock is a Real Estate agent in Prescott Arizona. You can email me at Vicki@Prescott-re.com
By now most Real Estate Agents are beginning to feel the effects of the current market slowdown. If you are a Real Estate Professional you probably know several colleagues who have given up on their career and sought other employment. It is a natural thinning out of a bloated industry. Nothing wrong with that. What I find interesting and quite frankly a little disturbing is what these former agents are gravitating towards for employment. So far I have seen them waiting tables, as store clerks and stockers. What I have not seen is movement into other professional fields. I am seeing them in generally unskilled positions. This is pretty interesting. People who over the last several years were entrusted with what was probably a person's biggest investment of their lifetime seemingly have no transferable skills in business. I know there is an argument for agents as being primarily sales professionals but I see this differently. Paperwork is becoming more complex as are transactions. Now more than ever understanding and using basic business protocols and management practices are necessary in facilitating successful Real Estate transactions. Although each State regulates the level of involvement in the process here in Arizona we have quite a bit of responsibility in the transaction. Shouldn't we at least have enough education and skill to qualify for other business jobs? Until the Real Estate industry takes itself seriously with increased educational requirements and continuing education credit classes that require critical thinking skills how can we ever expect to change the perception of the general public that we are true professionals?
I was privileged to attend PodCampAZ this weekend with some of the innovators on blogging, video and podcasting. It was not only informative but fun!
For those of you with homes on the market it has given me marketing ideas for ways to sell your homes and for those of you looking to buy, ways to help you find the perfect house for you. The sessions also confirmed to me that while the Real Estate industry is embracing some of the new technology out there it has a long way to go to really maximize its use in helping clients achieve their goals.
If you have your home listed with me expect some communication regarding new marketing techniques that we will be implementing over the next few weeks.
If you are looking for a home to purchase stay tuned, we will be rolling out better ways to help you in your search. In the mean time please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions or would like to talk about what we can do to help maximize your exposure in this market.
Dishing it up- information and opinons on market trends, issues, technology and advances in Real Estate and related industries by Vicki Brannock, e-pro, ABR.
Comments are Encouraged! Please note comment area below each post.
RSS Blog Feed
