If you have an agent on the other side that’s not doing what they should do, if they’re not communicating properly, if they’re not keeping track of the conversation and things, this is something that agents complain about each other online constantly about. But I have four tips on ways that we can work together to increase the professionalism in our industry and help, agents to do a little bit better.
1. Hold brokers accountable for their agents’ actions.
Already, sales agents can’t work in the industry unless they’re supervised by a broker. That broker needs to know if the sales agent isn’t doing the best they can. If you see a sales agent struggling or not communicating properly, make sure their broker knows so they can receive that additional supervision, that additional training that they need.
And if things are bad enough, like if it’s unethical or if it’s illegal, then we need to notify the Association of Realtors or the Division of Real Estate so they can also step in and bring that professionalism up. Holding accountability will change the industry.
2. Stop propping up the commission rates.
Part of the reason why we have people who are not performing well is that the commission structure is based on closing transactions, but it’s kind of standard throughout the industry.
We need to do more in the market, like the way a free market is designed for consumers to be able to shop with their dollars is that multiple professionals charge different amounts. And then the consumer can choose to pay less for better service. And that’s one of the major ways that any practitioner in any industry can prove themselves. By charging a reasonable rate for a great service.
If we didn’t prop up those commission rates, that would really change the way consumers behave, and that would weed out people who can’t afford to do poor service because they won’t get hired again.
3. Hold each other accountable.
If we see each other doing something that’s not so good, then we need to talk to each other and help each other.
If we don’t feel like we can talk to that particular agent who’s not doing well, then talk to their broker, then escalate to the association or to the Division of Real Estate. But holding each other accountable is the only way we can do this. Complaining on Facebook doesn’t change that. Talking directly to the other agent or their supervisor or up the ladder. That’s how we make a change.
4. If we want a transaction to go well, that’s on us.
We can’t blame another agent for poor communication, for the transaction not being tracked well, because communication is a two-part thing. We need to hold ourselves to a standard to make sure communication is happening the way we think it should be.
We need to hold ourselves accountable that our client is taken care of properly, and if we are not doing well like we should do, then we need to look at ourselves and do a little bit better. So, let’s hold ourselves responsible before we try and change others in the industry. And together let’s make it a little bit better.