What REALTORS Should Do Next
The same thing they've always done when massive change happens: GROW!
As NAR announces its proposed antitrust settlement, I’d like to take a moment to consider what REALTORS should do next. It’s a lesson for us all when big changes show up.
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It’s Settled. The Industry is About to Change.
(Well, it already did, but let’s just go with the flow for a moment…)
The National Association of REALTORS announced a settlement to its antitrust lawsuit (press release). It’s awaiting final approval, but the proposed changes have been “settled” in my mind for a while. According to NAR’s FAQ, the biggest change will be removing buyer agent compensation offers “from the MLS.”
This means
Sellers agents cannot “pre-disclose” what they’re willing to pay a buyer’s agent.
Buyers agents must have a signed representation agreement before taking buyers to see homes (thus pre-negotiating fees for their services).
The solution requires all parties to negotiate their fees with their own representatives. And it extends protection to 1 million+ practitioners from existing and similar lawsuits.
***Most important of all: Nothing in the agreement prevents agents from representing buyers, being paid by buyers or sellers, or from delivering buyer services.
Which means that representing buyers will continue after the settlement…
Perhaps in more forms than ever, as great salespeople continue to sell valuable services to clients who continue to desire them as they’ve always done: in open, transparent and contractually obligated relationships, earning their commissions by delivering value.
The King is Dead. Long Live the King.
I’ll admit, I’m lucky enough to work with the finest people in this industry. Most have been so far ahead of this issue that it’s almost old news. Some settled cases months ago; others made changes years ago that essentially mooted the plaintiffs’ argument. I’m even old enough to remember 1993, when agents took certified programs like CBR and ABR, to define their value, communicate it and negotiate their own contractual compensation.
Just like they do with sellers.
Just like your plumber does when you sign the estimate before they start working.
Because years ago, smart agents killed off the idea of “buyers agents” and “listing agents” and just built their businesses around becoming -
Great agents!
Injustice. Confusion. Chaos.
Not every agent is in the same place. Though Sitzer was filed in October 2019, many people never thought it would get this far and disrupt the entire industry. But life is about the unexpected:
Remember the pandemic?
Which means there’s a lot of confusion out there. Journalists are writing about the end of commissions without talking to actual brokers. And I watched agents download buyer agency contracts from other agents in Facebook groups from entirely other states.
So, yes, chaos and confusion.
But the hardest thing to do in turbulent times is stop our desire to fix everything fast. We want to know the final answer now, rather than go through the trouble of finding the answers.
Which makes it harder to take the next step towards transformation.
I recall a moment early in 2020 when I thought my career was over
After 30 years in the speaking business which meant hundreds of flights annually and speaking to large audiences, the pandemic shutdown wiped out my calendar for the rest of the year. Events worldwide were instantly canceled, eliminating 80% of my projected revenue. One swish of the government’s pen changed everything.
Sound familiar?
Yet a month later, I found myself delivering four, five, or even six seminars a day to companies around the world without leaving my house. By the middle of the summer, I was overbooked with new clients and sessions. And I hadn’t run a single ad.
In August, I had a phone call with my accountant
We were doing some tax planning, and discussing the impact of the shutdown on business. I shared how strange it was to shift from travel to work-from-home. The emotional rollercoaster of constantly changing rules. Of the exhaustion of learning new skills to engage remote audiences. Of making equipment and personnel investments during uncertain times.
I felt the shock of the rapid changes.
The injustice that someone could arbitrarily derail my career.
The confusion of habits being thrown out the window.
But I also told my accountant about the creative and energizing aspects of transforming my services - and myself. Of supportive and appreciative clients who helped me improve with each iteration. I mentioned I'd even added a few new clients during the downturn.
"Yes," he hesitated. “About your growth…”
I braced for bad news. I hadn’t really looked at the numbers I’d sent him.
“I don't mean to sound patronizing or anything,” he continued, “but I have to say, I'm really proud of you! You exceeded all of your projections. By a lot! In the middle of a pandemic."
I wasn’t expecting that.
I let out a sigh.
THANK GOODNESS we weren’t on a video call.
Because: I started to cry.
Do What You’ve Always Done
Think about your future a few months from today. Who will be your accountant calling to say, Good job! You didn’t let it stop you!
Because growth is the only choice before you now.
(Quitting isn’t an option for readers of this newsletter.)
Nothing in these changes are a major prohibition. For some people, it’s how they’ve done business all along. You can learn from them. You can still work with buyers. You can still negotiate your fee. You can still help people with one of the most important goals in their lives - home ownership.
And you can still make a difference.
But it will be a different difference
Who knows - the changes might work out for the better. This could be a moment for creativity, innovation and driving up your value. Like those months where I was off the road and in front of a camera, reaching more people than any in-person speaking gigs could reach.
You can be experimenting, trying new models, pricing, and technology. Innovation is being unleashed. Imagine a million colleagues suddenly told to shake things up.
We did it during the pandemic when we sold more homes in a year than any time in the previous 30.
What you should do next
Just take the next step.
Get out of the comments sections and into conversations - with your broker, colleagues, and clients. Sales is still your job now - and will be tomorrow.
There’s no problem with your license.
There’s no worry about your value.
There’s no hurdle you can’t overcome.
There’s no time to waste on spilled milk.
There’s no limit to what you might accomplish:
If you accept that, for a while, you won’t know the ending.
You’ll be in flux. You’ll feel discomfort. You’ll win some and lose some.
But you’ll never doubt that you’ll figure it out.
That’s what you’ll do next. Because that’s what you’ve always done.
Your Daily Guide to Your Next Steps
This weekend I penned so many ways to turn this moment into a launch pad for growth that I’m including a daily guide below. Here’s a weekly plan to stay on top of the changes and turn them into a platform for purposeful transformation.
Be sure to grab our latest e-books, too: 40 Ideas for Great Sales Growth, 8 Ways To Turn Caution into Calculated Risk, and 10 Things Every Buyers Agent Should Do Today.
Here we go! 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
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