Cathy Jager wrote this in a comment, and I responded briefly, but I really think the response needs some expansion.
“I tend to disagree consumers should be expected to understand agents. Would anyone suggest that it’s important for patients and clients to “understand” doctors and lawyers?”
Cathy is correct. They don’t need to understand real estate agents in the same way real estate agents need to understand them. But they do need to fully understand why they need to use a real estate agent and it’s clear to many that they don’t.
Why don’t I have to “understand” doctors? Because I already do.
If I’m going to go to a doctor, I first have to understand what a doctor does and why going to a doctor is going to help me. It’s easy to say “I don’t have to understand doctors” in this example, because on the whole, we trust doctors. We’re taught to trust them very early on in life, by our parents. Our parents hold our hands and lead us to the family doctor and explain what the doctor does and why we need to be there. So, we understand not only what they can do for us, but that we can trust them to do it for us, and this development of trust starts very young. So, when we get sick, we go to a doctor. We don’t really have to think about it. We only have to think about which one we choose.
The same can’t be said for real estate agents.
Our parents don’t drag us to a real estate office when we’re a child to meet the family real estate agent. They don’t lead us by the hand and walk us through an understanding of what they do, and why we need them. Value has to be explained and trust must be earned. The consumer isn’t just thinking about which real estate agent to choose, they’re wondering if they should choose one at all.
Consumers are obviously confused. For whatever reason, consumers don’t trust real estate agents. Cathy covered this topic very well herself. In the Harris Interactive Poll to determine the “Most Trusted Professional to Give Advice,” only 7% of the people surveyed said they completely trusted a real estate agent to give advise best for them.
The study says, “In general, it seems that professionals who clearly try to sell something, such as stockbrokers, real estate and insurance agents, are less trusted than those who do not.” The conclusion you draw and the question you ask at the end of your analysis is the right one:
“Agents can still capitalize on their most valuable assets – market knowledge, experience and transactional expertise – but only if they are trusted.
How do we get back the trust?”
I contend that you have to help consumers understand you and what to expect from you. And as is often the case when trust is lost, the bar may need to be set higher across the board. The best of you say it’s about delivering results. And the best of you set the bar high, while clearly defining what those results look like for your clients. But the rest of you do not. If you’re not sure if consumers know which results you’re talking about, then they don’t. You’re the only ones who can help them define what an exceptional result is supposed to look like. They need and want you to do that for them.
The dialog between professional and consumer that blogs like this one create is a major step in the right direction. Forums like this one provide reasons to want to build a relationship with you. And even if it’s not you they choose, this blog and others like it will help them choose more wisely.
I believe that if consumers can understand you better, and the industry on the whole can paint a clear picture of what exceptional results look like, they will learn to trust again.
And you will be rewarded for that trust.
Michael Cook says:
Jeff, I totally agree here. Additionally, the media has not been very realtor friendly lately as well. There are a lot more things working against realtors, like the bottom 30% of agents, who really should not be in the business. It can be very hard to shape consumer perception when there are people in your own camp working against you.
February 7, 2007 — 5:20 am
Dave Barnes says:
“only 7% of the people surveyed said they completely trusted a real estate agent to give advise best for them.”
Well, that proves that 7% of those surveyed have the common sense of a turnip. Which is to say: zero.
February 7, 2007 — 7:46 am
Phil Hoover says:
There are many reasons for the public to trust doctors more than Realtors, including:
Doctors don’t get paid a commission.
It takes 12 years to become a doctor.
Doctors don’t dish out advice that can be viewed as self-serving.
Doctors don’t hand out refrigerator magnets.
Doctors don’t send out newsletters proclaiming that they are #1.
Doctors don’t drive around in Hummers with full body graphics to draw attention to themselves.
Doctors ask where it hurts before recommending treatment.
When Realtors start acting like professionals, we will be regarded as professionals.
Yeah, I know ~ “ouch!” (better call a doctor)
February 7, 2007 — 7:58 am
Jeff Brown says:
Jeff – Exceptionally well put.
Michael – 30%? You’re being too kind.
David – They can’t all be as wise as you.
Phil – Been saying that for some time now. How ’bout we just produce results through hard, honest work?
February 7, 2007 — 11:46 am
Caleb Mardini says:
Great post Jeff.
I think more than anything a real estate agent must understand for themselves what their value to their client is. I believe that there are some who don’t know, and that is why there are misconceptions in value.
The landscape of sales has started to change somewhat toward a much more consultative professional and with that I believe we’ll see greater communication and deliverance of value.
February 7, 2007 — 3:20 pm
Cathy Jager says:
Jeff and all,
Another good job, Jeff. I agree that it is important that agents educate the public about the services they provide – this is marketing. Agents do a lot more for consumers than post and access information on the MLS and I have tried to describe some of these things in my post today on LittlePinkHouses. Inform then perform.
The real estate brokerage industry suffers from an almost non-existent barrier to entry, meaning lots of people, serious and diligent or not, can get licenses. Information technology is creating efficiencies so revolutionary that all professions are facing changes in best practices and in the nature of their relationships with their clientele. If we take advantage of these efficiencies to provide cheaper, better service to our clients rather than fight any threat to the status quo, I think we will see the serious and diligent survive and the dilettantes fall away.
February 7, 2007 — 3:31 pm
ardell dellaloggia says:
When you go to a convention, there is usually a panel of SuperStars to teach agents how they run a huge machine of transactions with multiple players and make a lot of money.
Where is the panel of agents who have the highest client rating?
The industry propels the idea that BEST equals most money and not highest client satisfaction.
Many years ago CB ran their slogan of “9 our of 10 clients would hire us again.” They were very careful to send out THAT questionnaire to people within a day or so of when they were hired, and NOT the day after closing. Why wouldn’t they “do it again” if they did it yesterday? Will they feel the same way the day after closing, is the real question.
February 11, 2007 — 12:19 pm