The number one mission of Hustle Humbly is to bring professionalism back to the Realtor brand. When we received a message from a local real estate investor frustrated with the behavior of multiple agents, we decided it was time for a revisit. If you haven’t listened to episode 23, make sure you do! It’s one of our favorites, “The 3 P’s of Professionalism”.
So what are the behaviors that are giving all agents a bad rep? We are going to tell you! And, believe us, we wish the list were shorter. Agents advertising everywhere that they work 24/7 on one end and agents you are sure are fictitious characters since you can never find them on the other. We are tackling the tough topics of training, sharing value, and some of the industry common practices that we are ready to see hit the road permanently. Join us on our mission to improve real estate agents’ public perception by improving our professionalism. It’s time to know better so we can all do better!
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The following is a rough transcript provided by Otter.ai.
0:01
There are plenty of seasoned agents out there making this look bad. I honestly think my bossiness is sometimes what has made me good in this field. Yeah. And I understand that every day that my seller comes home, they see my picture. And they’re like, it’s her fault. Violating All right, there’s nothing like I feel like Realtors post a lot about how much they drink and I don’t know what’s a generic name?
0:33
Joe Smith.
0:36
Hi, y’all. Welcome to hustle humbly. It’s Alyssa and Katie. And we are two top producing realtors in the Baton Rouge market.
0:42
We work for two different companies where we should be competitors. But we have chosen community over competition. The goal of our podcasts is to encourage you to find your own way in business to stop comparing yourself and start embracing your strengths. Okay, hi, Alyssa. Katie. It’s episode 206. We’re just a little bit rusty today. Like, we’re gonna try to knock the dust off. We took a week off and recording. We are going to talk today about why agents get a bad reputation. Yeah, I feel like I should have played there’s so much bad reputation music. Surely there’s a Taylor Swift song we could have pulled out from the reputation album maybe. But why? Why does it happen? We’re going to talk about it so many reasons. Do you want me to start off with the message we received? Yeah,
1:25
I think it was very helpful. Okay.
1:27
I did not write down the previous professionalism episode, but it was called the three P’s of professionalism. And it is so good that it is actually taught at the real estate school in Nebraska. Yeah, they share it. They n vn. Oh, why don’t remember with they an AED something? Yeah, we’re gonna look into that. But there’s a there’s a real estate school that teaches that episode. So point being. We’ve talked about this before, but the actual mission of the podcast is bringing professionalism back to the realtor brand. Yes. So it’s worth talking about repeatedly. It is. But here’s the message that triggered us this time. This was actually a local person to us that we didn’t know. But they did mention they were local. Your podcast is the highlight of my Monday commute, show idea. Why do agents get bad reps, I am a small time investor. So I deal with a lot of agents. Typically, if I’m interested in seeing a property, I’ll reach out to the sellers agent to get in. And if I like them, I’ll use them as a dual agent. I’m not going to even talk about my thoughts on this. Look, everyone’s entitled to do it however they want to but obviously this fella hasn’t come across an agent so good that he wanted to keep them around.
2:45
Right? Nobody followed up enough to say he’s obviously bought more than one home. Yeah. Or like put them up on a search to say, Hey, let me send you some other things or work with you again? Nobody. Okay,
2:55
well wait for the rest of it. No lie 80% of the time, they are awful. I will want to buy the property and can’t get them to answer a call text or email me like he’s tried it. All right, I would be so mad if I were selling and they were my agent. That’s the part that is like, I was recently interested in a listing next door to my parents and told the listing agent as soon as it came up. She gleefully told me the next day when I reached out again, because she didn’t follow up with him that it sold in four hours. She was so happy about it. He was like he wanted to put in an offer. Right? Like so could have bought it. Right. So that’s the end of of our, our local friend. So he’s literally talking about agents in our market.
3:44
And he’s not an agent. Now. He’s just a listener of the podcast, right? Interested in real estate. Yeah.
3:49
Yeah, so we’re gonna help him out. And we’re going to try and help you all out so that this is not you. Right, please. i The most important thing is that our listeners are never the ones who get this type of review. Yeah. never answered the call or the text or an email. I mean, like, Okay, how do you want to? What do you want to talk? I mean,
4:12
I know our notes on this topic, are so many because there are so many avenues where agents go wrong. And I think it all sort of starts with the fact that barrier to entry is very low. Yeah, it is very easy to get your license, right. So even when I served on our local board of directors at our monthly meetings, we would always have to approve the long list of newly licensed people that wanted to join the board. Oh, okay. And then after that, we always had to vote to approve the longer list of people requesting to leave. Oh, so like when you stopped being an agent and you want to no longer pay your dues, like there’s a little bit of a process okay, so I was it wasn’t until I served on our board and actually saw the influx, the outlooks, the influx, the outlooks that I went, gosh, I just wish it was a little bit there was a little bit more that you had to do yet to get your license,
5:14
and then you there would be a little stickier. Yes, we don’t want all that turn is what now is what makes it hard for the ones that stay to be viewed as professionals? Yes.
5:23
And so a lot of times, what we saw too, is that this influx of agents would quickly get their license, quickly do one or two deals with someone right, mess up the deal, make a big mess, hurt the reputation of a realtor. And then quickly realized it wasn’t worth the money, the time and the hassle. And then they go back to their other job. Right. So they come in most of the time leave us to pick up the mess. Leave us to pick up the pieces. Yeah. And then.
5:54
And you know, that’s always been one of the hardest things for me is the fact that in a way, you feel embarrassed to be a realtor, because the overall view in the public isn’t good. So you don’t you know, you don’t come into it feeling or especially after you’ve been in it long enough to see this feeling super proud, even though you know that you’re good at what you do, and that what you provide is valuable. And like it took me a lot of years to actually get past that and be able to say I know what I do is valuable. And just because the overall perception of this field is not so good. Doesn’t mean I’m not so good. I’m doing a good job. What did you have to do to approve them? It was just really like reading through a list. Yeah, I
6:34
think that the like committee at the board that handles that had already done things like background check. Okay. Made sure that they met it. And we’re just there to approve and vote them in. Okay, so we I wasn’t involved in the committee that actually approved people you have everyone? Pretty much I think I mean, like you’re like, okay, yes, yeah. Because I think to get your license, you have to meet certain qualifications. So if you’ve passed the exam, really, yes. If you have passed the exam, you’re pretty much in. Okay. So it’s it’s not difficult, you know, and I think that new agents sometimes want to rush into money. Yeah. And not the education and the training aspect of it. And so that can come off as tough too. Yeah. It’s just there’s, it’s not all new. It’s not all new agents, okay. And there are plenty of seasoned agents out there making us look bad, right?
7:33
That is shocking that they would and probably don’t have repeat business, but just keep bringing in leads, however, they got those and just keep keep up with the bad behavior because they don’t see the value in doing a good job in order to have repeat referral business, right. That’s why we preach that, like, if you do a good job, this career should get easier and easier. The more transactions you do, right, because you’ll have repeat repeat referral business. When I Googled why, why do agents get a bad reputation? This is what the Google machine told me, Oh, gosh, it said most agents don’t have enough experience and never gain enough experience to develop into a true professional. I would agree with that. And it’s especially hard. And if you’re new, I know this is a struggle when so many agents are getting into the business, we peaked at 1.6 million realtors in 2022. The number is going down now in 2023. But that’s still, I think what I read was, Oh, God, maybe 20 years ago, early 2000s, there were 900,000 agents. So that’s a big jump. It’s a big like, they’re almost doubled. A lot of agents have been added into the system over time. And so it look, the only way that you can get experience is to actually do transactions. And if there are more agents, and it’s spread out by more people, it does get a little bit tricky. But the agents that are producing are still producing. Yeah. So I think you can get experience I can remember
9:00
when people are talking about, you know, is there going to be a recession 2023 coming up and all this stuff. And I went to a few of the agents that have been in the business since like the 70s and 80s that are still working, right? That I highly respect and I’m like, tell me, you have been through it. All right, like, is there anything I need to know? And she said, You will be fine, right? If you sell each year houses and you have experience, you are going to be fine. You are not the one that will in fact you may flourish, right? Because people are scared. Yeah. And when the public is scared, they don’t they want someone that trust they can trust that has experienced that they see as a hard worker, right. So it’s kind of a weeding out time. Yeah, even recession or not. If if people are nervous, they’re going to start reaching out to those that are consistently there. I think that social media can give newer agents Since a false sense of security, yeah, I hear a lot from new agents. Well, I’ve posted on my social media that I’m a new agent, and then I’m here to sell and like, you know, I’m just not growing my business. And I said, I know that you think everybody sees that they hardly anyone, even if they see it, they don’t really care. They want to see that you’re touring a house, that you’re holding an open house and not that you’re doing it once, they want to start seeing a trend here that you’re working. And so just, you have to work, you have to go put yourself out there in situations to gain reputation. So but what I have found, I heard someone say this is that you have a friend that has a job, a regular corporate job, they announced on social media, I’m a realtor, blah, blah, blah, and then three months later, they’re back at their corporate job. So you really have to sort of prove yourself right? As are you going to be here long term, it’s a
10:57
fine line, because you do want to let your people know what you’re doing, or else how will you become successful. So we’re not saying don’t tell people and then see what happens, but maybe do the work, like you got to do the work. I also wanted to say I didn’t fully agree with the you can’t be professional, if you don’t have experience, like there’s a lot of things that we teach on the podcast that if you just do the parts of the process, the best that you can, in a professional manner, by what we told you, from our experience, you will be fine. But you don’t have to do 10 transactions. In order to be a professional, you can do transaction number one, very professionally, as referenced by how many messages we get about the email templates. And the lender will say you’re a new agent, I can’t believe this, this is the most professional email I’ve ever received, or the other agent doing the transaction with them. The Co Op is like, I would have had no idea you were brand new, right? So there is a way to cut through all the trial and error and you’re not having the experience. But you have to take the advice you’re being given from your mentor or your broker or this podcast and actually apply it to when you finally do have that transaction. Yeah, absolutely. So so important
12:10
whenever I was newer, and I was helping my good friend buy his first home, and I did not have a lot of experience. And I think I’ve even shared the story on one of the previous episodes, but his dad was not super happy about him working with me because they had like an older family realtor that had been in the business for years and years. And that, but he was like No, Dad, like, I want to use my friend. Yeah, well, sure enough dad was there. All the showings, you know, giving me siding, you giving me side messages. He was a super smart person, very engineer brain would say things like did you know you can go on this website and find this information. And I just had to be like, I didn’t know that. Thank you so much for sharing. It’s very helpful. Um, and so after the closing, I wrote him a letter, the dad thanking him for all of his help, right, all of his wisdom, and expertise, you know, throughout the transaction, and that I was so happy that his son found a good home, y’all when I tell you, that dad called me two months later, and I sold him a camp. Two years later, after that, we sold the camp and he bought a bigger camp. He has referred so much business to me. And if I had to think of one person, that’s my biggest refer, it would be this dad that I thought would never approve of me.
13:37
Right. But you were humbled in that you were like, You know what, instead of me trying to pretend like I know it all. I will just be like, Wow, thank you so much. I’ve learned so much from you, sir. Yes,
13:46
yes. And I did I not just actual knowledge, but just how to handle, you know, difficult situations or press for answers when you don’t have that, you know, I really did learn a lot through that very uncomfortable transaction. And now I’m so and now he’ll call me and say, right, hey, what do I do about this flood insurance? Like he’s seeking advice for me? And I’m like, wow, this is great. We’ve come a long way. I’ve come a long way in 10 years, no
14:15
doubt. Okay, should we go through a list? What kind of list of the things that that we’re doing that causes agents to get a bad reputation? Sure.
14:25
The unprofessional behavior, you’re just gonna run through them or Well, okay, first
14:28
of all, Forbes. This is sad. And I didn’t want to tell you, but I’m going to tell you the Forbes magazine says that under the least respected professionals, realtors are ranked number 23rd Hmm, there’s a few above you, but I mean, think about all the professions in the world. Yeah, we’re in the top 20 There’s lots of them that aren’t on this list at all. Okay, and then I found a nice little quickie three reasons why agents get a bad reputation. Okay. Number one was descriptions. So saying that a house is is immaculate when it’s actually dirty, saying that a house is updated when it’s actually 50 years old, like using descriptions for things that are not the truth when the buyer gets there or altering photos or you know, doing these things that would almost be considered false advertising. Yes. They’re gonna see it eventually. Like, we’re not trying to trick people into buying houses. But that kind of is the vibe that the public gets when they’re like, I don’t know if I can believe the photos. I don’t know if I can believe the description. I keep reading this, and then I show up. And that’s not even true. I’ve been to houses it said, there were four bedrooms, and there were three. Yeah, I’ve been to houses that said all kinds of things. I’m like, well, right here and blacker McKinney. And then it’s not. So I thought that was interesting that descriptions fell under that list.
15:49
So on a mom note, it was so funny because like Haven used to love blueberries, okay. And then one day, she’s like, I don’t like blueberries anymore. And I’m like, okay, like, how come and you know, we go back and forth, back and forth. She’s like, you know, I can’t trust them. I’m like, what you’re like their blueberry or blueberries? And she’s like, Yeah, they look good. But you don’t know until you put them in your mouth. Are they sweet? Or are they sour? Sometimes they’re delicious. And sometimes they’re not. And now I don’t trust them anymore. And I’m not even going to eat this week when she’s like, I’m done. And like, that’s kind of how realtors are. It’s fair, sometimes, you know, the listing is accurate, and sometimes it’s not. So instead of giving the good ones a chance, she just is not gonna want any none. Not taking any
16:32
anymore. You can’t trick me if I’m not, I don’t trust you, you blueberry. Oh my god. So true. It’s so true trust issues. So my god, number two, and this one is the one we can probably stay on all day communication. The number one easiest way to be a professional and get that a good reputation is to simply answer your phone, answer a text respond to an email right away. No, but maybe within a respectable amount of time. Yeah. Most of these people who are complaining about communication never got a response, right? Not a day later or two days later. It doesn’t have to be we’re work 24/7 I will answer you at 10pm. But if I can’t answer you at the next business day, and I never answer you, do you? How many times have you reached out to an agent with a question about their listing? And they literally never answer. Oh,
17:27
so many times.
17:28
I couldn’t even keep count. Yeah. Are they trying to sell the property? I don’t feel like I feel like they tricked a seller into letting them have their listing. And then they just checked out. And then you
17:41
have the flip side. Okay, so you have the ones that like don’t communicate, you can’t reach them. And then you have the ones that buy billboards to say yeah, 24/7 Call me. Please don’t 24 So that makes us look bad, too.
17:54
I wish that we need to call some of these people and see what their response time is. I’d be like, it’s two in the morning. You said wouldn’t it
18:01
be fun if we like prank call those. Maybe we could do it and share the audio? You
18:07
work 24/7 I was busy during normal business hours. And I just was up. I couldn’t stop thinking about your list. Yeah.
18:15
I work night shift. So it’s 2am I was so glad to see you’re available 24/7 that’ll fit my schedule. Send me a CMA right now. Yeah. It would be fun to like call until they answer like, Okay, this is the 13th time we’ve called your number and leave well, hey, is this a 24/7? Realtor? That’s what you said. And I know it’s 3am. But I’m just I saw Oh, yeah, I saw you were open. Oh, so I just wanted to call and leave you a bunch of messages until you answered I
18:42
you know, when you set up your Facebook business, or your Google business profile and asked for business hours, and there were a lot of agents that put in 24 7am. I don’t do it. That’s not true. And if it is, please don’t
18:57
you know, in the hustle humbly community, we created our Google business accounts. So we went through and did a project together where we all set up our accounts, and we know what it does Google does that. I didn’t know that I love. It’ll say hey, there’s an upcoming holiday. Do you need to edit your video? Yeah. And I’m like, yes, you’re right. I will. I should thank you Google. That’s what restaurants do. That’s what all businesses do. You’re a business you’re a business and we need to run it like a business. It’s okay ours.
19:27
You no doubt Okay, while we’re on the communication topic. I also don’t like when you literally cannot get an agent on the phone if you want to. They only text like I’m okay with my clients having a communication preference. But if I need to talk something out with an agent, or I would like an eighth like in your case, you would prefer them to email you’re going to lose a text like when they will only text and the text or like the whole screen. I’m like this shouldn’t be call or email. There is a limit to What a professional text. I don’t know that there is necessarily a need for texting, right? Like, yeah, can’t we go in a more professional route, but if you, you text, that’s fine. I text with work, that’s okay. But you can’t force me to like,
20:14
if we have a problem, and we need to discuss something, let’s pick up the phone, talk it out. I think hearing someone’s voice,
20:21
it can solve a lot of problems. 100%, right, because you put whatever tone you want on a text or an email.
20:28
I was just negotiating multiple offers on a listing that I have. And it was really close because we had a cash offer that was a little bit lower. And then we had a financed offer that went over list price by a good bit, what did you choose? So I was really on the fence. I wasn’t super comfortable with the pre approval letter, because it was a lender from out of state. And so I sent the from the email template package the questions that we send to the lender, Hey, I’ve received an offer I have these questions. Okay. She called me the lender did immediately and was like, Hey, I just wanted to introduce myself. I know, I’m an out of state lender. I know these buyers personally, which is why they’re using me, okay, we do have a branch in your marketplace. So you don’t have to worry about us not having local appraisers. When I tell you these people are solid, like she just we chose them.
21:23
I love that
21:24
we did phone call her if she would have just responded and said yep, everything looks good. You might have been like, yeah, I don’t know. Yeah. But is it worth the risk? She sold me. And I told her that like after I sent her the accepted contract, I said, I just want to let you know, and your realtor their buyer’s realtor. I want to let both of y’all know that this lenders phone call, save the deal. Like that’s why we chose you. She answered all my questions. She’s been great.
21:50
That’s perfect. I’m so happy. Examples of this abound. Yeah, where a phone call made a difference.
21:57
On the communication aspect of it. I had several notes that so many realtors are they don’t want to mess up the deal or lose a client by being too pushy. Yeah. And on a communication issue there is that they are not explaining how fees work. They’re not guiding their buyers through the pre approval process and explaining to them closing costs and what’s really needed. They don’t and like how many you should never get to the closing table in a cellar be surprised that they’re paying you
22:31
know, it happens?
22:32
It happens? Yes,
22:35
I don’t understand. I know. A lot of these topics make my head feel like it’s going to explode. So it’s really hard for me to like get through it respect. I’m like, Look, people make mistakes, I get it. But like you cannot, you cannot take a listing without a net sheet. Right? If you can’t tell a seller that they have closing costs that they have to pay to cancel their mortgage and get the title work done and all that are associated to them. If you can’t tell them what your commission is, you have no business taking that listing, they should know what their approximate net is the moment you take the listing, yes. And then you can redo it when they get an offer based on the offer I have
23:11
gotten to where so I think we have that net sheet in the one that template is that I have gotten to where I go back to that template and copy and paste it and include it every time I’m delivering an offer. Yeah, like I just use it all the time, because I want to have documentation that we have been over the night
23:27
and I leave nothing to chance on a net because a lot of times people get hung up on the little details like well, this is less than our list price. And I’m like yeah, but when we talked about your net, we allowed for $5,000 to negotiate. They’re only asking for three, you’re making more money than when we when we took the listing and they’re like, Oh, right. Okay, great. Yeah. But you have to have you have to have the previous one to be able to be like, Look, this is what we talked about before. And here’s what we’re getting. We talked
23:53
a lot about this is episode 113 be the boss. Oh, yeah. So we usually let the clients tell us what to do. Right. I don’t operate that way. I honestly think my bossiness is sometimes what has made me good in this field. Yeah, is that I want to take control of the situation, guide you through the process. explain everything to you. Let you know that I’m going to handle everything because that’s in my nature, but so many times as Realtors the buyers will send us 10 houses and we say yeah, okay, I guess we better go see all of these out instead of saying, Hey, I checked the property disclosures on all 10. Here are my notes on all 10 properties you have sent me based off of this. I think we should see these three or four. Yeah, that will save them time. It will save you time and it just adds to your credibility. But so many times we are nervous to give them any negative feedback because
24:53
we don’t want to because we’re so hungry for the business. That’s it’s hand in hand. If you’re not going to be on and give them the real truth, then then they’re going to later on, they’re going to find out and they’re going to have a bad feeling about you.
25:07
Okay, so speaking of that, I was reading an article this morning, it was like one, one of the new sites that I follow that right now, in 2023, buyer’s remorse is on the rise. Right. So they were kind of saying that they rushed to buy these houses probably overpaid a little bit the last few years. Yeah, I feel like they’re stuck now. because interest rates are so low. And now everything else is so expensive. And a lot of times they are blaming their realtor. Yeah, they feel like the realtor did not take the time to explain the process. Yeah, explain what the due diligence period is about. I think that the due diligence episode that we did somewhat recently would be really good for you need to go back and listen to because that is our time to make sure the buyer is comfortable with their decision. Yeah. And when people have buyer’s remorse, they don’t want to look within and blame themselves. They want to their point, fingers. Yes, they want to point the fingers. And the realtor is the first in line. This same thing happens with the seller. I mean, as we have kind of entered this market shift, I have a few listings that are sitting right now that are not, you know, selling in 24 hours, like they were the last two years. And I understand that every day that my seller comes home, they see my picture. And they’re like, it’s her fault. Violating no right there. It’s not sound like and I always say that my goal, more than anything more than selling the house, my goal is to treat them in a way that if it expires, or if they fire me, and they ever switch agents, that they realized what they had, right? I want them to be like, dang, at least when we had Alyssa. We heard from her. Right? She was doing things she was always working, keeping in touch with us. And so with communication when we get scared. If the house isn’t selling, we stopped calling. Yeah. And they don’t hear from us. We can’t do that we have to my goal is always to call them before they call me. Yeah, it works most of the time, right?
27:15
It works most of the time. Yes. Okay, the last one from our list of three on this article I found was buying a listing and it goes hand in hand with what you just said. If you don’t tell the seller what the actual value of their home is, and you let them set the price, and you just say yes, because you want the listing, this is it, you’re headed down a road, that is going to be a disaster, it’s not going to sell, it’s definitely not going to sell for that price. You’re they’re gonna fire you, you’re just gonna expire, something’s gonna happen to where at the end of it, they’re like, You were terrible, you didn’t sell my house. But in the beginning, if you would have said, that’s about 10,000, high or 20,000 high or you’re 100,000 off of where you need to be. And they priced it correctly, it probably would have sold Yeah. And you have to shoulder that burden, you cannot sell an overpriced listing. Now, without a seller that’s going to end up unhappy because at some point, you’re gonna have to take a lower offer change the price, it doesn’t sell at all. But either way, I like that they call that buying a listing, you just tell the seller Oh, no, you don’t need to stage that. You don’t need to whatever price you think sure that sounds good. Like you have to you have to be the professional.
28:27
That’s a good point. You’re like, basically lying to get the listing. You’re buying it. Yeah. Oh, man.
28:34
I’ll just wait. I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear.
28:38
We have some exciting news that we wanted to share with you so exciting. In November the 14th through the 16th. We will be at the gnar Expo in Anaheim, California. It’s like right across the street from Disneyland. Did you know that’s amazing. It’s pretty cool. And we have a booth we’re gonna have a whole booth where you can come see us booth number 245. So come see us and say hi and record a toast that will be aired on the episode in your own voice. Can
29:03
you imagine it’s going to be so fun. I can’t wait to hear all of the toast so we can’t wait to see you there. And you can go get your tickets at NAR Inex T dot
29:13
realtor. See you there. Hi. I’m the second listing agent on a house right now. And they had started off way too high. And they were kind of stuck on that number and I said listen, I understand that you had it there but it should have never been there in the first place. I would have never taken the listing right at that number. So I’m kind of having to work backwards with helping you’re having to
29:35
undo the damage done. I am I am how much difference is it when you listed it. It was
29:40
about a we did we listed it 40,000 under 40,000. That’s a tough pill to swallow as a seller and it’s not selling right now. Even at the no so we’re about to have some more conversations. I have a few other things I’m doing to work on that but it’s just hard because I they are they have anger and frustration from agent number one. And so I am taking the brunt of a lot of that even though I’m working very hard and I’m communicating and I know what I’m doing, and that’s where it goes back to me having to set emotional boundaries and be like, That’s okay, I understand you’re frustrated. I’m gonna keep doing my job though. And right, I sleep at night, because you are doing because I am doing my job. The nights that I have trouble sleeping is when I’m like, oh, I should have called that person. Yeah, I didn’t call them today. And I needed to we need to discuss this. But when I do what I know I’m supposed to do, even if the client is unhappy. If I know that I did what I was supposed to do. It doesn’t affect me. Right? I can still keep my confidence. Yeah, I wrote down Episode 146, which is our confidence episode. Great. So I feel like for this episode, the three P’s of professionalism, which is number 2323. Okay, be the boss 113. And the confidence episode 146. Yeah, they all go hand in hand. So if you feel like, this is a topic that you’re really struggling with, I would go back and listen to those this week. Yeah, that mindset, right, how you
31:14
behave. And what you do, as far as work is how you show your professional, not what you drive, how you dress, it’s not sharing your numbers all the time. Like, that doesn’t tell people, you’re a professional. Now, it may make you a fancy business card is a special web. None of these things make you a professional in the eyes of your client. Because as soon as they start working with you, they’re going to know, they will know.
31:41
They’re going to know like, oh, well, it was you looked
31:45
like you were professional, but you actually aren’t handling this in a professional way. After
31:49
we listed we never heard from you, right? Or like buyers now are like, Well, my realtor never sends me houses or my realtor doesn’t, you know, vet things with me? So one of the things that I had wanted to touch on because it came up a lot is that Realtors lose credibility because they make it all about them. Yes. Like how many times do you see a flashy dress realtor giving a video house tour, but the camera is on them the entire time and not the house. Like, okay, let’s let’s make it about the product. But we want our face is everywhere and how we dress and
32:27
again just fine. Because you are your brand and you are your business. So you can’t be hidden. Like you need to be there. But you’re right. What is the motivation? How did that help your client? Or how was that helping your future clients? Like what is the service you’re providing by being the only one in the video and you didn’t actually see the house? Or write like, is it self serving? Or is it actually a value add to your possible client or your audience? I mean, it whole it’s a it is hard because it’s a fine line, you want to be there and you want to provide value, but it’s not all about you know, it’s about them. And what are you doing to help them? Yeah, I just I think the problem is that Realtors get a bad reputation because the ones that are flashy are so flashy. Yes. You know what I mean? Like, there’s so many of us that are hustling humbly, yeah. But the ones that are, it’s just like anything with social media, especially the people who talk about things are loud, but the people who maybe are doing the work are busy and are quiet, but you’re gonna have to like
33:29
and check our bank accounts of each of these people, you would see a huge difference,
33:33
right? It is expensive to be fancy it is and to have all of the bells and whistles on the flashing nest and
33:40
if you let your service speak for you, the income will come and you won’t have to dish it all out to get flashy, right? Appearance. Yeah,
33:50
hand in hand with that out there. I think another reason and realtors are glamorizing the business and that’s why we get a bad reputation because the pelvics like looks like fun. That seems easy. Oh, there you are selling another luxury property while you eat, you know, borders and drink champagne on your broker tour. Like another
34:11
thing too. I feel like Realtors post a lot about how much they drink and sociable. And it’s like man, realtors. They’re just always having a cocktail. But
34:22
you know, the good ones are also sweeping up cockroaches. Yeah, they don’t post that. You know what I mean? Like the good ones have to go into stinky houses. But I’ve made me think of like, our friend Amy cottony who’s been on the show who posted a million trillion reals and tiktoks but she will tell you today I’m sweeping. Yes, like today I’m sweaty because I had to paint this thing that my client didn’t
34:43
do. Like I had to pull the trash cans. I
34:45
had to pull weeds. Yeah, I had I have can I have rolled so many trashcans to so many places, but no one you have to share that part two so that also the public’s like wow. Like you really are You’re working like you’re doing some stuff, you’re not just out having ordered champagne, right? You’re rolling up the trash can, it’s okay to have a mix of these things. But if you only focus on what looks good and glamorous, that’s why we get a bad reputation. So
35:13
I share this next story, not because I think if you drive a luxury car or anything is wrong with you, it’s just a true story. That, you know, you hear something and it kind of like sticks in your head forever, and you can’t get it out. Okay. I had a listing probably three years ago, okay. And the husband, he was, he was always someone that kind of intimidated me, because he was very, like dominant. And I, you know, wanted to kind of tell me, but I was kind of pushing back, but we got along. But it was like a power struggle at times. And of course, we get the house under contract. And it was a not a great agent on the other side. Oh, no. And it just got messed up for no, like, I really feel like if it had been a better agent, it was in buyers would have worked the house, okay. And when I had to call my seller to let him know that they were canceling. And I didn’t really have like a great reason for him. The first thing he said was, I knew the second that kid got out of his Mercedes and his suit that this was going to be a problem. So when he showed the house? No, no. Because like, I mean, people have cameras, they can see what you drive, what you wear, how you talk, they can hear you. They can hear, they can hear they can hear you on video surveillance. And I think that that has been a big thing. Yeah. Hurting Realtors is that they hear that when the seller when the buyers ask us questions, you don’t know, you don’t know the answer to the things you should know the answers to. But he said, I just knew it. I just knew this is not going to be good. And I was right. And I thought I wonder if he would have been driving a Toyota if my seller would feel differently? Or if he would have presented himself right, like differently to say, I know, but I’m not saying that’s the right judgment. I’m just saying that. That was what the public saw. That’s what the public saw. That’s what my seller felt. And the realtor that showed up in looking the part did not get the job done. So you can
37:18
you can probably a little bit busier looking the part right and learning the business and it’s okay to look the part. Yeah. But you also have to
37:25
learn the business has to have the experience and humility to do the training.
37:32
Right, as well. Right, right. Right, right. Okay, while we’re at let’s let’s, let’s talk about this one again, because it bears repeating the oversharing of your numbers, and stop and take a moment and think, what are the other professions that constantly tell you how much money they make?
37:51
Yeah, like I honestly,
37:53
I don’t know that there are any that are like, this is how we value ourselves. But I feel like the public doesn’t understand those numbers. Especially if you start sharing volume numbers. I did $9 million in volume. Well, you didn’t make $9 million. Yeah, and I
38:08
actually had because our company shares our monthly SATs for us on our company page. And I had like, this guy I used to work with at raising canes when I was 16. He was like, Wow, you’re a millionaire now. And I was like, No, dude, no, that’s not how this works. You know?
38:25
It’s, it’s so it’s a way to make you look fancy and important. That isn’t the public doesn’t get it. And they also don’t want to see it. And in the worst case scenario, it turns them off, and they don’t want to work with you.
38:39
I you know, I see flip sides to both of this. Sure. I feel like at time sharing your numbers or how many houses you sold, shows how much you are working.
38:51
I love when people share and they say they’ve helped this many families are ill or die. And there’s never a reason why you need to say what the number what like you could say the number of transactions. Sure, there’s never you cannot convince me there’s a way that you have to share your volume number in order for you to be valuable.
39:09
I don’t believe I don’t think that that’s what makes you valuable. But what’s the point of sharing it? It does show your success Enneagram while you’re here, Enneagram three here, right is proud of my accomplishments.
39:22
But okay, tell me for the public’s perspective. What, what is for them to gain from that whenever our company shares our numbers, I get a plethora of texts or messages or when I share my year end review. Sure I like it, but it has my volume on there, but it doesn’t need it. But I went there. I like it there. You can put it there. But I am telling you as the public looks at it, and as an agent who’s never been at the top of their office and I don’t like it. It doesn’t make me it doesn’t make me feel good as an agent looking at other agents.
39:59
I do I will say that at the urine review, I do get some messages from agents that are like, dang, I wish I could do How did you do it? I wish I could do what you do. And I think it opens up for a really good conversation. Well, that’s good. I think that it has allowed me to really ask them some questions. Sure, some guidance and encouragement. And but here’s what here’s why I think I’m okay with sharing mine is because I know that they’re true. I know that they’re not deceiving. I know that I Alyssa Jenkins sold that many house, you should be proud of what you’ve done. I do have problems when numbers are shared, but maybe not explained. And there is there does need to be a little asterik. Right. So for example, as a solo agent, when I share my numbers, there is no Asterix that says Alyssa Jenkins is a team of five and so this production, blah, blah, blah, like, when I share what I did for the year as an Enneagram. Three and as my personality. I am driven by my numbers. I am driven. We’re all driven by different things. Sure. Okay. So for me personally, I like to look at my urine review and be like, Wow, look at this trend. And I like to track my numbers. I’m numbers driven. Okay, how it makes agents that don’t sell as much feel bothers me not okay. Sure. It does show my I get other messages. I can’t I can’t tell you how many times a phone call starts with, hey, Alyssa, we need to sell our house. And we know that you do a lot of business, we know that you sell a lot of homes, we know that you do a lot of volume. Right? Okay. So like, and we like you. So here you go. But it starts that way for me a lot of times, and our businesses are different. So for me, I think being able to handle the volume has always been something that has set me apart. Yeah, because the volume doesn’t stress me out like it, it can stress out others for sure. It’s sort of like my unique thing that I don’t know why I made this way. But I handle it better when it’s heavy volume. If it’s low volume, that’s actually when I struggle and things slipped through the cracks. So as someone that I need the extra pressure, right, right. So the numbers thing, I think gives me credibility, it does set me apart, it shows that I’m different. And it does show that I’m in the top, which is something that I’m proud of. And I’m not afraid to say that you can be
42:22
proud of it. I think that’s okay for you to be proud of it. I just am. As a person who has struggled the entire 17 years I was in this business trying to convince myself it’s okay. Yeah, not being the top. That will never make me feel good. Looking at your numbers as another agent is never going to make me be like, Yeah, I can do it too. Because I don’t actually want to do that. Yeah, it took me over over 14 years, probably to even feel that way. And so for 14 years, I
42:50
felt pretty crappy. Yeah, I
42:51
felt like, God, I’ll never be that good. I’ll never be the top of my office, I’ll never have those kind of numbers. And sure, I would like to work. Like, it is definitely something that I think you’ll never know the flip, because you’ll only get the messages from the people who either you have a good conversation with or who are proud. Or you’ll get the clients who say I saw this, you can’t possibly know how many people saw it and said, that made me feel sad
43:16
today, I would ignore it. That’s why I think this podcast is so good. Yeah. Because if you if my posts of my success makes you feel sad, I don’t think I’m the one that has a problem. It’s the person and you’re not responsible for how other
43:34
people feel about what I care about them. But as a business owner, you could check your numbers and be driven by your numbers without sharing them to the public.
43:42
Sure. But I mean, it’s possible Forbes ranks companies. Yeah, like companies are ranked. I think in real estate, it’s a little bit different because of the numbers. But I encourage you if you’re
43:52
a person that you are a business and you’re a person, so it’s harder, because it’s not like Coca Cola, right. It’s less company vibe, your vibe I personally and on my business, right, which makes me more proud you should be. So I think that if you are an agent that has struggled, and that’s why I have loved that you
44:09
have shared your struggles over the years because you have come to a place. And I think the podcast has helped so many come to a place where you don’t have to look at you can look at other people’s numbers and say good for them for sure. Because my goal right now my season of life right now is I want to be a $4 million a year agent. Right? And I love that the podcast is helping spread the message that that’s okay. That is okay. And that our goal one of the biggest reasons we started this podcast is because you and I are so different. Yeah. And we operate differently and you do so many things in your business that I’m like, I wish my brain worked that way to where I had that in my business. but it doesn’t work for me. And I wish I did. Because I’m impressed by it. And I
45:03
will, everyone runs their business differently. And that’s why
45:07
us being so different. And seeing like you evolve into cutting back on real estate and like having your agent systems and like, it really is about finding your own way in business. And I know y’all hear that every week when we do our intro. But like, we are here to encourage you that no matter what your volume is, if you are proud of it, that’s all that matters. Saying that, you know, an agent, me posting that I’m super proud of my $25 million year is fine. And it also gives you the right to say, I’m so proud that I sold $2 million this year. I’m so excited. So discriminating against a high number versus a low numbers. Oh, I actually don’t like the behavior no matter the number no matter the number. Well, I think as long as you’re proud of it,
46:01
but we’re talking about why Realtors get a bad reputation and and what the public sees. And that’s the only way I’m want to I’m not having a conversation about you should or shouldn’t be proud, are you? What I’m saying is Why do agents get a bad reputation? It’s the behavior that the public sees. And they and like I said before, they don’t understand it, they don’t know what $2 million in volume is, or $25 million in volume. What that actually means in your I don’t count sharing
46:28
numbers hurts the public. I do. Why?
46:32
Because I feel like it makes Realtors look like they’re more about the flashy part of that business. Like look at me. Okay, how much money does your dentist make? But they could say, but why they don’t need to tell you how much they make? Well, they don’t have volume, why they have a number of patients.
46:52
I understand. i
46:54
This is what every business has volume. Every business has revenue, whether it’s a doctor or a lawyer. You know, lawyers are a great example. Think about a personal injury lawyer lawyer that puts the commercial on TV and I got my clients $500,000. Right, right. I mean, like, how does that feel? Yeah, I guess it’s just that’s a deeper conversation. But the point is, the point of this particular episode is, why do Realtors get a bad reputation? I
47:22
know I’m kind of glad we diverted into this podcast, I repeat. It’s really just
47:26
because ultimately, I literally as a human in the world can’t think of another profession where it is commonplace for them to share how much money they make. Well, here’s the thing. I’m not posting on social media this month, I made $65,000. I understand that by production. Anybody can figure anything out why I would prefer you to say I did 50 transactions and helped 50 clients, right? That’s because it doesn’t give it an automatic feeling that you’re talking about money. As soon as you give it a volume number
48:00
or money that makes you feel icky. Any public feel icky.
48:04
This isn’t about me, I don’t like it for
48:07
because I have Sure I’m sure there’s public people that have maybe seen it and feel icky. I’ve just never, I get so much positive feedback, or that I don’t get the MP by air
48:19
because there are people that are proud of you and that are impressed by that. But again, and refer hand because of it. But you have no clue how many people saw it and we’re like she’s too busy for me or I don’t like that’s the other the flip of the coin is you can’t know the people that
48:33
don’t tell you. But if they feel that way, we probably wouldn’t be a good fit
48:37
fine. That’s totally fine. That’s totally fine. The point is just what is the overall viewpoint of people seeing realtors,
48:44
I think that volume to me, sharing money volume only gets icky when it isn’t explained and needs to be explained. So for example, when they say, you know, I don’t know what’s a generic name.
49:03
Joe Smith, when
49:04
Joe Smith sold 150 million last year, I think it is important for the public to understand that Joe Smith has a team of 20. Right. And that it is, you know divvied up and that they can understand
49:21
that we’ll want to work with Joe Smith, because he’s obviously selling a lot of real estate. And there are members of the public who won’t want to work with Joe Smith because he seems like he’s busy with selling a lot of real estate. Yeah, there are members of the public that don’t care if Joe Smith shows up in a Mercedes and a suit and does what it says whatever. And there are members of the public. But the point is that realtors are ranked on a list that says they are a least respected profession. And the point is that that behavior is extremely commonplace. We talk about it in episode two, the culture of the real estate industry. The point is that every single ring. Every real estate company has an awards banquet and every we are so the it’s the real estate column of the newspaper, right? Yeah. Here’s all of the people who kept posting all this stuff in the real estate section. And the big joke was the only people reading the real estate section or other realtors, we have a very self serving. And then maybe it’s because there’s so many of us, and maybe it’s because it is competitive. And, you know, it’s just a little bit different. But it’s not. I think it’s something we should take stock in, like, what is your behavior? How does the public see you? And if you want to know why Realtors get a bad reputation is because they don’t answer their phone and tell us how much money they make. And right like, it’s a whole laundry list of reasons, but
50:45
and how you do things I think is important. I feel like I’m approachable enough that no one would say I can’t call her she’s too busy or she, she’s too She’s too uppity and expensive. She’s not going to work with me like, right, I feel like I can testify, because I know what my DMs look like that that’s not the case. So you know, I
51:05
don’t think it would be Yeah, I’m not concerned about that at all for you like this is by no means a personal attack on you ever sharing your volume number it’s not, I believe that your people do see your value. Because when you post your new listing, or when it sells you tell us the story and went through and what happened. But do I also think you could completely remove the volume share and just do what you do all the other posts you do and get the exact same result? 1,000% Sure. But that’s okay. You do whatever makes you comfortable in your business, which will lead me to one of the other things that I think causes agents to get a bad reputation. And that’s, they’re so desperate for clients, that they pressure them? Yes. And they don’t use my favorite word with clients, which is what are you comfortable? What makes you comfortable? Are you comfortable with selling your home? Are you do you know your go Are you’re comfortable buying this house, like just in the market when it’s busy, you don’t get to control the comfort level completely, but you at least need to have the conversation. And I think when we’re really desperate for those sales, that’s when we get a bad rep, a very bad reputation. And that’s when the buyers do have buyer’s remorse like you’re talking about like, you’re just like trying to push them along. Because I gotta get the sale done. You know, like that, I think is a big, huge problem.
52:25
Yeah. And I think I noticed too, and a lot of our Monday morning meetings at the office, I was always trained that we should be involved in making sure that they’re comfortable with their monthly note, yes, have a lender that you trust. But when I have a buyer that comes to me already pre approved and says, Hey, I’m pre approved for 250. My first question is awesome. How do you feel about that monthly night? Well, actually don’t know what that monthly note is. Right? Like, oh, well, we need to make sure we understand our numbers before we go into any houses. Because the last thing I want to do is write an offer only to cancel during inspections because you didn’t understand the money. You the worst
53:00
side of that would be the unprofessional agent who just like 250. Great, let’s go by it. And then they get all the way to closing and see their monthly note are freaking out. Yeah, it’s kind of like, oh, well,
53:09
you said you wanted to buy it. Yeah, we had a situation like that recently, where a buyer tried to cancel towards the end because of the monthly note. It’s very
53:18
frustrating. It is okay. I also wanted to say I think another reason why they get a bad reputation is that they lose their clients time and money. So think about expired listings or something you know, they don’t they don’t sell they don’t be their agent doesn’t behave well. Whatever that just like when you pick up a listing from someone who already had it. If they’ve Causton a client time, especially money, what if they’ve moved and the house is vacant now like That’s money that’s tight. This is how we get up. And then you are basically digging out of a hole right? Like you show up second and you’re like, I swear I’m a professional. Know how many times I’ve had to have this conversation. I promise you I’m sorry you had a bad experience with your last agent or your agent five years ago or more often than not the public has had a bad experience with the realtor sure didn’t answer the phone. They didn’t do the job they were supposed to do. They didn’t whatever it was it something terrible happened during a transaction years ago, they bought a house they hate it. Like there’s so many reasons why they’re like, maybe they want to blame a realtor and maybe it really was their agents fault for not really doing a good job.
54:28
I’ve said many times in front of clients like look, not all agents are created equal. And I apologize on behalf of the ones that are not doing a good job
54:37
right look, not all dentists are created equal either right? I think for some reason we have too many bad apples we do so you’re you’re always trying to like apologize and make up for and like overcompensate for the bad agents and you just don’t want our listeners to be the bad agent, right? We want them to be the good ones and which means You are gonna probably have to dig out of some holes from the bad ones. But the more people that listen and the more people that put professionalism on a pedestal and their business are going to it’s going to make a difference, you know, it will make, because I have clients now who would be like, my agent was great. And I don’t have anything bad to say about realtors. Right, like, right, it works the reverse. Yeah, we just need more. It’s always like that one bad apple ruins the whole bat. I mean, and they really do.
55:28
What is that? Oh, gosh, I don’t want to get it wrong. It said. Your thoughts are like the laundry. I left that one black sock in the white load and it ruined the whole load. Oh,
55:40
exactly. The one bad thought can just ruin your day. Because when Realtors do something wrong, it’s so wrong. Yeah, you lost someone a house? Like it’s big dollars, right? Like, it’s a major mistake. It’s like illegal that like something really bad could happen. Yeah. So I think that the problems are really big. Do you have any other things that Realtors do to get a bad reputation?
56:03
I just think that the list could go on and on and on. I did want to cover that with the email templates using things like the buyer rules. Yeah. Going back to having your systems and processes in place to where you are explaining to the buyer. Hey, like now that we’re in a relationship, as a realtor and a buyer. This is how this works. I am your realtor and being confident enough and being the boss enough to explain that process to them so that they understand not to call signs not to click buttons to call you when they have a house, you know, I am your person. But we have to be confident enough to explain that to them. So just keeping up I mean, so much of that 90% of this goes back to communication. Yeah, lack of communication, how you’re communicating to the public, how you’re guiding the buyer through a process. Are you communicating with the seller when a home doesn’t sell? It’s not about the sale? It’s about how right they were serviced through that experience. Yeah,
57:05
for sure. I can. There are agents who look at commission numbers and don’t show houses with different commission mission. I like
57:14
that. So slow lining is so slight,
57:16
you shouldn’t even look at it, whether it’s $200 or 2000 that like you have to serve your client because if that’s the house they want to see that’s the one you have to show. Yes. There’s so many ways you can add my my number one note was this should be harder to talk about.
57:32
Like yeah, it should be
57:35
like, Oh, I can’t really think of a whole episode worth the things you do wrong,
57:39
right. But there’s a lot of so many. So many hopefully through the work of the podcast, it will get lower and lower Look,
57:47
our listeners for sure are going to be ahead of the curve
57:51
for professionalism. Well, just the fact that they listen shows they want to improve. Yeah, learn and get better learn and get better.
57:57
learn from other people’s mistakes too. Yeah, like don’t You don’t have to make them. Oh my Alright, are you ready for a chat? Let’s
58:04
do a toast.
58:05
Are you gonna be mad at me when we hang up? Like we’re gonna hang up the phone? I’m like, I’m you’re rough
58:09
on that at all. Like you were rough on me. That’s all I’m saying.
58:13
And I feel like I don’t I wasn’t trying to be rough on you. I want you to know it’s okay for you to share your volume if you’re proud of it.
58:19
I don’t want to make you sad.
58:21
I can’t help that it doesn’t make me sad anymore if that makes you feel better
58:25
and that’s the journey we want to take people right if I mean they’re like Yeah, that’s great you grew but
58:33
I still as a as a very proud professional and that loves this profession. I would love for no one to ever share that. Okay, because because I would prefer them to share the know the ways they were valuable to their clients and the number of people because people can have a high volume number and be really bad agent for sure. So that is not an actual indicator for me that your clients were treated well that you like provided you provide value your clients I have no doubt about that you elicit Jenkins are doing a great job. But the fact that you have a high volume number does not in itself make you know it’s not the one fessional good, valuable agent who cares about like it just doesn’t? Sure. So I would love for people to get more in the habit of being like here are all my good reviews. Yeah, that is a lovely way for you to be proud and share how you helped another person and get that like social like street cred social proof. That to me, I would love for that to be the most common thing. I love reading reviews that people wrote about you. Yeah, I love reading reviews that people wrote about any agent sure, because it also gives you a window into their business. And you’re like oh man, oh, you really took care of them. Look how you made these people feel? Yeah, like at the end of the day. It’s such a people business. It is okay. Are you ready for it? I’m ready. This one is from I’m Christina crow to Terra DESE. All right, she says I would love to toast my fellow teammate Tara DESE. We are both on the Laura Miller Edwards Team at Keller Williams in Marietta, Georgia Marina. Tara introduced me to your podcast two years ago when I was a new agent and I have been hooked ever since. Every time I was in the car driving to a showing or appointment I was listening to your lovely voice is telling me how to improve my business. Tara has been an essential part of my growth in my business as well. She was a fantastic mentor and resource in the beginning and we are now accountability partners. That’s so great. I love that. I am so blessed to have met Tara and I’m thankful for the positive impact she has made in my business and every day as my friend
1:00:44
that’s really sweet. Y’all right? This is a weed as Joe’s
1:00:46
I love them so much. So cheers to Tara and thank you to Christina. And y’all go out there and just be professional. Just be be professional. Just be professional. You’ll make me so happy. Think about me while you’re being professional. Okay, goodbye.
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Thank you so much for tuning in to the hustle humbly podcast. If
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