Bright Shiny Objects and Other Things That Glitter
This past week alone I had conversations with the senior management of two medium-sized real estate companies that hammered home just how desperate some firms are getting. They each mentioned how they were thinking of training their sales associates on how to use social media (i.e. FaceBook, Twitter, etc.) which of course “everybody” is doing. When asked if their sales people were even responding to the online leads they already had, the answer in both cases was an unsurprising “no”. Hey, if our sales associates can’t figure out how to make it in today’s market, let’s give them some bright shiny objects, at least it will take their mind off the fact they’re drowning…
Giving a Ritalin deficient sales force yet one more thing to distract them from the disciplines of doing real business, is like giving a crack addict a brand new pipe. Social media is not some kind of silver bullet that will solve all their problems. In fact, for most of them it will substantially add to their frustration and probably hasten their exit from the business. “RDR” (Realtors Don’t Read) is common refrain. And if you believe that is true, consider the natural sequitur “RDW” (Realtors Don’t Write). Social media certainly can complement one’s marketing efforts, if (and this is a big IF), one is a very good writer with some semblance of a unique and engaging “voice”. Out of the million or so Realtors still in business I wonder how many fit that profile.
This is just one more example of how typical real estate management responds to desperate times with desperate Hail Mary, spaghetti-on-the-wall measures, rather than with something so few seem to exhibit —leadership.
The Real Crisis in Real Estate
Imploding housing values, constricted credit markets, skittish consumers and an overall deep recessionary economy are simply part of a cycle. A nasty one for sure, but just a cycle. Barring an extinction level event, people will always buy and sell real estate. Currently, sale volumes may be lower and the methods of how we help them with the process certainly change, but business will continue.
There is indeed a crisis in the residential real estate industry, but this current cycle does not define it —it instead has revealed it. Boom times tend to mask flaws. And as Warren Buffet so aptly put it, “It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.” This market has made it very clear that skinny dipping has been a favorite pastime for the management of most residential sales companies.
Getting caught with your pants down during a market down turn is due to one primary factor —lack of strategic leadership. Having been intimately involved with residential real estate for over 33 years, it has always been clear to me that this is one of the most reactionary industries there is. Strategic thinking and execution are so rare that it almost takes my breath away when I am fortunate enough to witness it.
The very foundation of successful strategic thinking and its execution in this industry is sales force accountability. It doesn’t matter how brilliant your ideas or how shiny the new objects you provide your people. If you don’t hold them strictly accountable to implementing your strategic vision you will fail, every time. Yet accountability is the anathema to the body-shop model of hiring and managing sales associates found in the vast majority of companies. And it is precisely these companies that find themselves in dire straits and most likely to name the economy as the source of their woes.
It was interesting that one of the brokerages I spoke to actually bragged about how they hold their salespeople accountable and explicitly denied providing “bright shiny objects”. Yet when I asked them how they expected social media training would convert to new business for their people, or how they would even measure it, they responded with “We don’t know.” Hey, if it glitters…
The current market cycle is an incredible once-in-a-generation opportunity to take significant market share if only because so many are frantically reacting. To do that requires strategic thinking, superb execution and holding your salespeople accountable. They need to understand that this is a serious business, not a pastime. You can give them that perspective and the means to thrive even in the worst of today’s market. However, if you fall into the trap of providing solace through the glitter of bright shiny objects, you are merely forestalling the inevitable.
Ding-Ding-Ding…we have a winner. Nice on-the-money article/observation. I’m a solid social media believer…but, as you’ve shared, anyway you slice it…the bottom line is real world, in-person/on-purpose contact, conversation and relationship building…which leads to referrals, recommendations and discovering who’s doing what, when and where.
Thanks for sharing.
Can I get a big AMEN.
Great recap Michael… I’m glad I’m with a BIC that does take leadership very very seriously. She’s great. And our office’s market dominance in Raleigh shows it!
I stumbled upon this post and found it very entertaining. I find it entertaining because the following are considered ‘Social Media’ : Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and BLOGS! If I am not mistaken, this article or more commonly known as a post… is part of a blog.
In the beginning of the post you discussed two medium size companies thinking about social media and that ‘everybody’ is doing it. Sadly, not many real estate agents are participating in social media and many lack the understanding of what social media can do for them. As we have seen blogs (including this one) can be a very successful social media tool. Most people don’t have the knowledge and need to be educated in social media. Something I think you should advocate for and possibly make money off of.
This article is a bit disappointing especially since this is from ‘Mr. Internet’. You should be advocating for social media as the next evolution of the internet.
Wow, I am shocked by this posting, the self proclaimed Mr.Internet is missing the boat here. The ability to position oneself as an expert utilizing the tools of social networking and of course, SEO enhancement are two powerful drivers which it appears those 2 managers understand. My hat is off to the two managers and Mr. Internet, well, we may need to question your moniker.
Apparently RDR applies to some bloggers (and blogger vendors) out there. If you read my post *carefully* you will see that it is NOT about the inappropriateness of social media use by real estate professionals. The last two commentors (one of which is a social media vendor) missed the point entirely.
This is all about how social media is a waste of time for the vast majority of real estate sales people who don’t even know how to respond to an online lead or run their own business as a business.
To give them “one more thing to try” is not an effective way to change their behavior. Most simply don’t have the necessary discipline to profit from time spent doing social media. Both of your refrains remind me of tech evangelists who see their particular tool as “The Answer” to all the associates problems. Well my friends, take a look at the last 20 years and see just how effectively most real estate people use technology today. I’ve been speaking professionally to sales associates and their management for over 15 years about the Internet and the same problems of adoption exist today as they did in the mid ’90s. Oh sure, most have computers and can send and receive email –just not very effectively from the consumer’s standpoint.
It’s so easy to see everything as a nail when you have discovered a really cool hammer. Obviously I am a proponent of social media and teach it to our sales associate students –when they are fully ready to make it work for them. Any sooner than that and it becomes a very expensive distraction.
First things first gentlemen –it has always been that way and always will be…
This is true that most real estate agents do not know how to respond to online leads. We have to ask ourselves, why? The obvious answer is real estate agents are not properly trained on how to. Most brokerages don’t even provide technology training to help their agents and agents are tossed out there, forced to learn or fail. To say that a majority of real estate agents do not know how to respond to online leads is accurate but not fair because they just aren’t educated on how to.
Real Estate agents in the past (going back to the ‘80s and ‘90s) were told when they walk into a party to hand out business cards. If you see an event and there are 100 people present hand out 100 business cards, the hope is that you will generate a lead or two from those 100 business cards. Social Media is doing essentially the same thing but instead of going to an event and paying you can be at home and potentially interact with millions of people (depending on which platform you use). You also mentioned Social Media is expensive… well it actually is free.
As for the tech evangelist comment, thank you. Though I did not say social media was the ‘answer’ nor do I believe it is. Social Media is merely one piece of a very giant puzzle. Social Media essentially is a compliment of what you are already doing. Social Media really helps give businesses a personality and creates interaction between the consumer and producer.
You asked, “Take a look at the last 20 years and see just how effectively most real estate people use technology today” Well I would really love to answer it. When faxing first came out plenty of agents said they wouldn’t use it, face-to-face interaction was better. When the email came out plenty of agents said “I won’t use email, it will never take off, and I’ll just call them”. Yet all these technologies (fax and email) have now been integrated into our lives and are mandatory in order to be successful. But guess what? Faxes and emails are just one piece of the puzzle. Agents who cannot adapt to the changing environment are doomed to fail.
Just to clarify, I am technically not a blog vendor. I am actually a Blogger, online consultant and trainer (I should trademark “Professor Internet” after all the training I do). Webstarcontent.com is just one of my many sites I am involved in.
Summary: Adapting to a changing environment is key. Social Media is just one piece of the puzzle.
Matt you essentially just reiterated most of the points I made in the original post. Also let me clarify my previous comment as to the “expense” of social media –if (once again) you review it carefully, what I said was “…Any sooner than that and it becomes a very expensive distraction.”
The expense is not the actual use of it, but the distraction from other income producing activities. Context is everything my friend, which is a crucial distinction if we spend any time blogging, responding to blogs, tweeting, etc.
I always invite discussion and different points of view. However, if you are going to quote me, all I ask is that you get it right.
Hello, DK and Matt? Did you actually READ the article, or did you really completely miss the point? Mr. Internet isn’t questioning the effectiveness of social media – indeed, he has sponsored several events lately to demonstrate how to leverage it for your business. The point here is that it doesn’t matter HOW MANY leads you have coming from your social networking efforts if you still don’t know how to handle them. Reacting to the bad market conditions by saying “Oh my gosh! We need more business! Let’s use social media!” and pushing agents into doing it without developing a strategy for working with the type of business that comes in from those sources is a huge waste for everyone – of the broker/managers’ money, the agents’ effort, and the online customers’ time.
I enjoyed reading this article and can relate to what Mr. Internet said. I have been an agent for 25 years and remember the first fax machine in our office. A client gave it to me because we didn’t have one and I loved it because I work in a resort market and it was nothing for me to get into the car and drive 3 to 4 hours to get a contract signed so I could beat out any other offers. I got my first computer in 85 and had it for three months before I realized the hard drive was bad. I am on social media but only socially and I really don’t know much about it and don’t have time to learn it on my own. I think I speak for many agents out there who have lots of money into all the bells and whistles. In a thriving market we didn’t spend a lot of time trying to master them. Now in a market that is very slow but starting to rally is not the time to take on social media, but to get back to basics and contue trying to master the things you somewhat know. Adding social media for business comes after that. Thanks for the article. It really got me thinking about how I am handling my business. I have a manager but ultimately I believe it is up to me to stay successful.
Michael,
You are a fantastic writer! I really am enjoying your observations. You are calling it the way you see it and the way that it is.
As the former broker of a real estate co., now in bankruptcy, I have to say Amen to this post. The agent accountability is a major deficiency and I would add that most agents don’t accept “training”, just as some athletes don’t accept “coaching” but the true professionals accept training/coaching & seek it out. Unfortunately management seems to get blinded by their profit motive and the thinking that the agent may know somebody that may do a deal so keep them around; no one coaches agents out of the business. Not everyone is cut-out for sales. In their defense, many owners, while successful in the business, may not have the time or skills to be a good manager, so the agents are left to their own devices. For the self-starter there is a tremendous amount tools such as this blog to assist in becoming successful.