Change is tough for many reasons. You may have to get creative to figure out how you want to change. You may think of something that someone has never done before. But then, what happens if you fail? What if your change doesn’t work? Will you lose time, money, and energy by changing? Change can be difficult, but if the way you are currently conducting business is not working, change is necessary or else you will continue business as usual, and it will continue to not work. There is a saying that goes “If your business is not growing, it is dying.”
Real Estate Listing Syndication
Way back when, real estate agents used to have to carry big binders full of listings. If a buyer wanted to know what properties met their needs, an agent would have to go through the binder, page by page, to find something they may like. But then something happened…
It changed. All of those MLS sheets went onto the internet and made an agent’s life much easier. While you may not believe it, a LOT of real estate agents and brokers resisted this change because they wanted to continue business as usual. Change meant that they had to learn something new. Change meant an increase in costs. Change meant an increase in paperwork. Today, most agents cannot see it any other way, but when it happened, change was difficult. Today, those listings are pushed out all over the internet through websites like Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com and tons of others. Now, people are starting to think too much information is being shared, or shared in the wrong way.
A HiTech real estate company in Austin called The GoodLife Team felt that it was time for a change. The GoodLife Team has paid Trulia for over a year to be advertise their Austin real estate website, their listings, and their agents.
For them, syndication to Trulia became something that did not meet with their business model and their promise to their customers. I’m sure it was very hard to make a change that would pull your listing from the eyes of thousands of potential home buyers, but The GoodLife Team made that decision and decided to pull not only their advertising dollars, but also pull their listings from Trulia. Other companies have done this recently in different ways as well. Only time will tell if these changes will hurt or help their business, but they were certainly not afraid to make a change. For that, I applaud all of them.
It may not be popular. It may not be easy. It may be time consuming. It may cost you money. It may sink your business, or it may grow your business beyond belief.
When it comes to your business, how willing are you to make a change?
There are so many things an agent has to keep up with these days, just to be active and in the game. Embrace technology and move forward, or be left behind. Great post keep ‘em coming.
http://www.hardcorecloser.com/9-things-every-real-estate-agent-must-have-just-to-be-in-the-game/
[...] For Real Estate – Step By Step May 18, 2012By BrianLast week I talked about adapting to changes in real estate by taking a long look at how you do business and seeing where you can transform your business for [...]