Selling Soulfully with Jennifer Allan

If this blog goes where I think it's going, it might make me slightly less popular among the AR crowd...

A few months ago, I was interviewed by someone at RIS Media about my views on the current state of the real estate industry. Blah Blah Blah, we covered all the generic, pithy topics and then moved onto some juicier ones. Yeah!

He asked me "What do you think it will take to turn the public's perception from thinking of us on the same level as used car salesmen and politicians, to thinking of us as trusted advisors?

Great question. I'd never been asked that before, so I took a moment to think. And the answer hit me like a load of used cars.

If we want to shift the public perception away from thinking of us as people who just want to sell someone something, with as little effort as possible, we need to attract a different kind of practitioner.

A career selling real estate is much like a career as a financial planner, an insurance salesperson or a mortgage broker. Most people enter these fields, not because they have a passion for property, mutual funds, long-term care insurance or good faith estimates, but because they are drawn to the idea of working on commission, hopefully significant commission. They are, basically, natural salespeople in search of a product to sell.

Nothing wrong with that. Selling for a living can be an honorable profession if it's done ethically.

But the perception of the real estate agent as a salesperson will forever lump us in with other people who sell, and will always be held in general suspicion. No way around that - when you're paid on commission, our clients and customers are always going to wonder if we have their best interests at heart.

Especially if they aren't nearly as blown away by our service as they were by our sales pitch.

So, if we want to change the public's perception of us, we need to change our approach, which possibly means a change in our compensation structure. Are we ready for this? I don't know, frankly. I like being paid on commission as much as the rest of you do, and I love the idea that working harder and smarter brings more money in the door. But is there a compromise? A way to satisfy our entrepreneurial needs for performance-based pay without sacrificing the perception that our integrity might be for sale?

Do we care? Or, are we okay with remaining in that bottom five of the infamous list of America's most UNtrusted professions?

RELATED BLOGS:

• "Curing" the Reluctant Salesperson
• An Unsoulful Tidbit from Broker/Agent News
• Doctors, Lawyers & Real Estate Agents?

www.SellwithSoul.com

There was a great discussion started by Janet Guilbault... (which she credited me with inspiring) about what Realtors want from their lenders - or better said - what it takes for a Realtor to give a new-to-them lender a shot. Janet was surprised by my assertion that lender marketing krap ain't gonna get ya no-wheres with me.

We don't want to be marketed to... we don't need to be schmoozed... we don't need to be fed. We do want our lenders to keep us in the loop. We want our lenders to make us look good in front of our buyers and sellers. WE WANT OUR DEALS TO CLOSE.

We want to be WOW'ed... Not Wooooo'ed. (Thanks, Rockin' Kim for that delightfully catchy phrase).

Seems rather obvious, doesn't it?

But guess what? That's all our clients wants from us, too. Competence. Expertise. Market Knowledge. Communication. Negotiating skill. They don't need our krap. They just need us to perform. Now more than ever...

Join me, Borino, Katerina & Broker Bryant for "Pricing it Right with a Persuasive CMA" workshop on February 7th!
Click Here for details.

www.SellwithSoul.com

We real estate agents long to be respected by the general public. We ache to be considered as worthy of acclaim as our CPA, MD and JD friends. We fuss among ourselves when our clients appear to disrespect our time, our knowledge or, worse, our gasoline.

We claim that even though doctors and lawyers and accountants (oh my!) may have a few more years of education compared to our month (or maybe two) of real estate school, that doesn't mean they are any smarter, more dedicated or more qualified to practice their craft than we real estate agents are to handle one of the most important financial transactions most people will ever make.

We encourage our new agents to charge a full commission "because they're worth it!", even though they've yet to hold an open house, prepare a market analysis or successfully negotiate a low offer.

Okay - so now you know where my brain has been all weekend. I talked myself out of writing this blog a few times in the interest of winning the first annual Active Rain popularity contest, but after reading a few other blogs this morning (which shall remain nameless), I could no longer restrain myself.

So... finally... here's my point. Wander through any real estate forum... read your latest Broker/Agent news, even peruse the conference schedule of the NAR National Convention - most of what you see is advice on how to PROSPECT! More Customers! More Referrals! More Leads!

Apparently, that's what our business is all about. At least, as far as I can tell from the topics that seem to interest our industry. In fact, most trainers come right and say that Prospecting is Your Number One duty as a professional real estate agent. Hmmmmmm. Is that really why it's a licensed profession? Because our JOB is to be great prospectors?

But back to my opening statement. We want to be respected just like doctors and lawyers and such. But I'll venture to guess that the professional journals, the annual conventions and the online forums of these industries aren't focused on cold-calling techniques, farming campaigns and web-lead generation. I'll bet that their memberships' interests lie more in being BETTER physicians, more KNOWLEDGEABLE lawyers and more COMPETENT veterinarians. While there may be an article or a seminar or a thread devoted to business development on occasion, something tells me that it's a wee bit more, dare I say it, RESPECTABLE, than what we tend to obsess over.

Where are the sexy seminars on being an effective Buyer Agent? (And no, I don't mean the ones telling you How to Sell a Buyer a House in One Trip or Less or How to Convince Your Buyer to Offer Full Price so You Don't Waste Your Time). I mean the ones that actually teach you how to be a GOOD buyer agent. Where's the article on how to successfully negotiate a tough inspection, or prepare for an appraisal on a unique home? How to properly price a custom home in a tract home neighborhood?

Hey, we all know that doctors and accountants and veterinarians are business-people, too. They, just like us, need a steady stream of business to keep their doors open and their Beemers gassed up. They, like us, need to promote themselves and their services to the public. But somehow, they've managed to do it without being called a salesperson. They are "Professionals."

We real estate agents need to make a choice. Either we're salespeople, and we accept our role as such. Our job is to prospect, prospect, prospect. We'll leave the details to our assistants who actually care about the clients we bring in.

Or, we can leave the salesperson persona behind and strive to become professionals who attract business by being competent, knowledgeable and, most of all, RESPECTABLE!

www.sellwithsoul.com

copyright Jennifer Allan 2007