The more things change…
As cutting-edge tech stacks, company consolidations and other new developments impact the residential real estate industry, there is and likely always will be one thing the big-box brokerages cannot match or exceed. And that’s the fact that agents and brokers, with their hyperlocal knowledge and ability to serve homebuyers and sellers on a long-term personal level, will always be sought out and never rendered obsolete. It’s relational over transactional.
That was a major talking point in the latest RISMedia webinar—“Building a Moat: How Teams and Brokerages Can Compete With the 1,000-Pound Gorillas”—with panelists Brian Hoialmen, chief strategy officer at Lofty; DeAnn Golden, president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties; and John Glynn, director of agent development for PREMIERE Group at Real Broker.
The webinar was sponsored by Lofty and moderated by Creig Northrop, founder and CEO of Northrop Realty.
National portals and massive corporate brands are attempting to own the entire transaction lifecycle, with local teams and brokerages facing an escalating battle for market share. Trying to outspend well-capitalized industry giants is a losing proposition, but building a business that is nearly impossible to compete with is entirely within an agent’s reach.
“A relationship agent becomes a trusted advisor, period,” began Northrop. “When you know the product better than the consumer, you stop being a salesperson and become a trusted advisor. The goal is to build clients for life, not simply to complete the transaction. That’s the legacy.”
Golden seconded that, believing that the relational agent will win the day every day, “and not just be there for one moment in time,” she said, “but be there today, tomorrow and beyond. And we’ve got to be there now with owners living in their homes longer.”
Glynn admitted that it was not wise to try and fight the portals.
“Zillow and Realtor.com® and Homes.com and now Redfin, they have the consumers’ eyes,” he said. “We can’t deny that. You need to simply become more valuable to the consumer because the consumer can start on Zillow or anywhere they want. If you are valuable to the consumer, they will end up coming back to you for advice.
“There’s so much information out there,” added Glynn. “Consumers can’t decipher what is what anymore. Own your expertise, especially in the local area. As teams and as brokerages, own the agent development and how we develop our agents to make them better. And we’re not getting away from technology. We need to use it to scale and amplify those relationships, not replace it.”
The webinar then turned to the topic of technology, with Hoialmen—the subject matter expert as part of the Lofty platform—adding a historical perspective. Real estate, he noted, has never been a transactional business. It has always been a relationship business, going back to the earliest days of the MLS. When platforms like Zillow appeared and attempted to make it transactional, the industry became confused.
“We need to get back to relationship building,” he said. “The best thing from a takeaway on this one subject is to think that we deal with people, not leads. Agents call me every day wanting leads but don’t know the definition. An agent by definition is a representative of a party. If you’re a sports agent, you represent your client. A transactional person is working at Nordstrom’s checking somebody out (and) is in sales. I’m in sales, but I have relationships with other Realtors®. We’re in the relationship business, and we deal with people.”
For more information on how to specialize in and dominate a target market, check out the full webinar here.
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