You didn’t have to watch 60 Minutes to know the real estate industry has a public relations problem. Real estate agents may have to go to some sorta real estate rehab to clean up their image.
How do real estate agents stack up against other professionals? According to a May 2006 Harris Poll, 50% of Americans trust doctors completely and only 4% do not trust them at all; 18% trust lawyers completely and 14% not at all; but only 7% trust real estate completely while 20% do not trust them at all. Real estate agents just beat out insurance agents (9%). Only stockbrokers were less trusted (6%). Even the auto mechanic garnered greater trust (12%). Ouch.
What has caused this lack of trust? Is it the commission structure? The low standards for admission to the profession? Some AZ blogger suggested getting rid of licensing altogether as a solution to his state’s easy entrance exam—yeah, that oughta help. (that fella oughta stay out of the sun when he blogs).
Without a positive public image, marketing efforts will fall on deaf ears. We believe trust is earned once buyers and sellers are educated on what, exactly, an experienced real estate agent brings to the table, in terms of value (read time & money saved).
Technorati Tags: Real Estate agents, marketing, buyers, sellers, Harris poll
The industry needs an image facelift; too many Realtors say they are #1 or put their smarmy face on TV… (this is why there is distrust: http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/BloodhoundBlog/?p=1458)
It is so sad, because there are SO many great Realtors out there, but the minority of “get rich quick schemers” give everyone else a bad name! Sellsius, you’ve done a great job of exposing the image problem… admitting there is a problem is the first step…
Now wait a minute!!! This was in my inbox today:
“I understand…we trust you! And congratulations! Enjoy your anniversary.”
You are clearly in that 7% group Christoph.
I would argue that a majority of ACTIVE bloggers are in this group because they are all seeking ways to enhance and grow their business and their services as well as enhance/grow other Realtors’ services by spreading and absorbing knowledge. Would y’all agree?
One of the best ways to give the profession a facelift is to act professionally. My neighbor just told me she wouldn’t want my job for the world. Spending 3 weeks negotiating inspection requests is not her idea of fun! The public doesn’t trust us because the public doesn’t understand what we do. When we start demonstrating our value and educating our clients, the shift will come.
Reading this post explains a lot. I was taking rejection seriously and here it was just because of the Realtor thing. Some days I am in the 20%.
I think most people think their own agent is pretty cool, but the rest of them suck. ARW makes an excellent point. There is still to much focus on the agent as opposed to the consumer in real estate marketing.
I think it sometimes has to do with the ‘hired’ agent telling his/her client that the ‘other’ agent is an idiot for something in the negotiation.
Most clients like their ‘hired’ agent but will quickly say that ‘other’ agents are idiots and not trustworthy.
Hopefully blogging and other such type of resources will help potential clients ‘get to know’ if they’d want to use a certain agent before they ever speak to one.
I don’t think I care about the industry image problem, I try to only control what my clients think of me and the service I provide. Usually it leads to having my clients refer me to others and I think that stands on its own.
If the public perception is very poor, your ability to attract new clients through marketing (postcards, online, whatever) may be effected. I don’t know about you, but I am a bit uneasy around insurance agents, and real estate agents just beat them out.