This is perhaps a regional topic. I admittedly don’t know how it is done in other cities, but in San Diego we still have the time-honored tradition of the weekly Broker Caravan. This is an entrenched ritual which has historically been preceded by a “pitch session”, a practice originally born out of necessity. Steve shared his disdain for the archaic ritual this morning at our home blog, and being in the same philosophical camp, I felt compelled to add my two-cents.
In the Beginning
In the beginning, absent a computerized MLS data base, the “book” was published, weekly or monthly depending on the region. The “book” held the key to the real estate agent’s business: All active listings. For new listings taken between publication, the only way to get the word out to the real estate community was to have a little social gathering. The homes were the draw, and the free donuts and coffee were a nice side benefit. Agents shared information, networked with one another, and truly brokered homes. The term caravan was appropriate to describe the pitch session aftermath, where the agents all piled into their respective Realtor Mobiles and visited the new offerings in succession. Ah, the good old days.
The Origin of Species
Darwin would be proud. With time and progress came change. In many instances, thankfully, the pitch session was eliminated. All listing information is now available online, real time. If an agent has a new listing, I know about it, and no 60-second oral presentation is going to give me more information than the MLS already has. The Broker Caravan still has value, that value being a convenient opportunity to allow agents to gain access to a home without having to make appointments and preview. It is a convenience for the sellers as well – Give them a two hour window to get it, get out, and get it over with.
Survival of the Fittest
About a year ago, a local title company got the fabulously fabulous idea to reinstitute the pitch session in our local community of Scripps Ranch. To my amazement, they successfully sold the concept by unilaterally declaring that it would be so. The pitch session was itself pitched under the pretext of needing to return to the basics, to the time where agents networked over a free bagel to “support one another in a more challenging market”. The reality, I strongly suspect (nothing get’s past me!) is that the market is more challenging for the service providers as well. What lender, escrow or title rep wouldn’t consider a room full of potential clients a solid return on their box-of-donuts investment?
And the agents bought into it. Initially, I think it was a curiosity. What if “everyone” goes, and I’m not there? Then, when things were getting off to a slow start, the office managers were courted and convinced that it was a) a recruiting opportunity and b) a chance to show office market strength by coercing their agents to attend in force.
Regression Analysis
This isn’t just about broker open houses and pitch sessions. I think it is more a case study of what is wrong with our industry. Our species is threatened, and that threat is due to our unwillingness to adapt to our habitat. Brokers no longer “own” the MLS, and the information age we live in is redefining our roles in the homebuying and selling process. Much has been written how our value has not be diminished (has been, arguably, even enhanced), but our role is different.
Why, then, do so many respond to our brave new world with an insistence that we cling to antiquated practices? Why do so many agents yearn to recapture the good old days of back room back slapping while insisting that this creates value for our clients? While these same agents are enjoying their coffee and donuts courtesy of Escrows R Us, some guy in Maui is viewing visual tours, bird’s eye maps, and interactive floor plans of all those new listings online. And, don’t forget, that the dozen or so “neighborhood specialists” who are frequenting these networking sessions pale in number to the thousands of other licensed agents, local and out of area, full-time and part-time, discount and traditional, not in attendance who are, statistically speaking, going to sell your new listing. I suspect that to some, the pitch session represents the last link to a bygone era when the MLS was a guarded commodity and the agent’s own value was artificially established. A social network, of course, has great value for agents, but the forum for our networking activities is necessarily evolving. We are no longer the holders of the secrets, and this is good. What will be even better is when the industry gets a clue and embraces progress without looking back.
Brian Brady says:
Kris,
When I first moved here (2003) , the Del Mar pitch session had 3-4 people attending. I was arm-twisted into being one of the sponsors. I abandoned it after 3 months.
It was revived by another lender in 2006 and is absolutely thriving with over 100 agents attending.
I think it’s like anything else. It’s not that it works, it’s the possibility that it “might” work. The idea that they’re doing “something”.
I think that’s okay, Kris. Anything that gets agents moving in a down market is good. getting people to connect when things are difficult is helpful. For some agents (and lenders) , this pitch session is the professional event of the week.
July 4, 2007 — 8:51 am
Jason Mook says:
“We are no longer the holders of the secrets,” that is for sure. But we are the keepers of experience and valuable insight.
What do we say though, when our client(s) are hoping or expecting that fellow associates from our office tour their home to get feedback, and we haven’t got a prayer of that happening because “I don’t go on tour”, so no one is going to tour my listing?
I want to move forward. I want to leave behind those “antiquated practices” of days gone by. But I need the cooperation of my fellow agents – those in my office at the least. What then are we to do with ourselves?
July 4, 2007 — 9:49 am
Phil Hoover says:
We no longer have a MLS tour in Boise.
The last attempt, when no one would go in their own cars, was an absurd bus tour.
No one went on those either.
What self-respecting Realtor is going to get out of their Lexus to ride on a bus, for heaven’s sake?
Our MLS is now hosting “Agent 2 Agent” meetings with a pitch session and the agents are outnumbered by lenders and title company reps working the room.
It is all laughable at best.
Some of the real estate offices still have their office tour and those are equally silly too.
Parade a bunch of agents through listings to impress the seller, while the competent agents know they can find any listing they want with a click of a mouse.
Our profession is in trouble because it is too easy to enter, not as easy it appears, and we cling to an antiquated business model while doing things that “might” work.
I still run into sellers who want their home toured.
They’re the same people who want me to run print ads and hold open houses 🙂
July 4, 2007 — 11:36 am
John L. Wake says:
Kris,
Realtor tours have been very good to me.
The tours I like have minimized the pitch (except Realtors touting their listings) and added more meat.
The Scottsdale Luxury Home Tour has a “Leaders in Luxury” segment for a heavy hitter to come in and talk for a bit. It is absolutely amazing how frank these agents are. Very useful.
A couple of tours have agents pull together some stats to hand out. For example, I’m the stats guy on a tour and some Realtors really appreciate the stats. (Example, here http://www.arizonarealestatenotebook.com/images/Scottsdale_Luxury_Home_Tour.pdf
The Paradise Valley tour (the granddaddy of local tours) has no pitching from vendors/sponsors, although the head of the tour pitches for sponsors generically. The sponsors are not even introduced.
A couple of tours just introduce all the sponsors and one gets to make a short pitch.
July 4, 2007 — 4:56 pm