We just held our workshop created especially for new agents yesterday. The whole experience reminded me that in order to be highly effective, a real estate agent has to KNOW about a wide variety of topics including loan programs, termites, surveys, marketing, human connection, insurance, taxes, appraisals, titles, deeds, mortgage interest calculations, liability, contracts, negotiations, basic sales, service, and much, much more.
Where do agents learn all this information? I’ve seen basic courses available, and have even taught a few when I worked for companies other than my own. But the agents didn’t get all the in depth information and insight like what Kimberly and I provided yesterday.
Thinking back to where I learned all of this myself, it was never a class. It was the power of experience through doing and going through it. I had to ask my broker, who was also my Dad, a million questions during every transaction. I’m sure he thought he was pretty much completing all my transactions himself. If he hadn’t taken the pen out of my hand the very first time a buyer said, “Yes. We want to buy this home from you,” and written up the offer, I would have never sold my first property. I was paralyzed by not knowing what to ask or what to say. When he wrote it up, I could breathe and was so happy to watch the process.
What about the agents who don’t have access to their brokers? Or, who may be too timid to ask for help? Or the ones who feel like he or she can’t help anyone until all this information is known? How will they ever be able to move forward?
Today’s consumer is highly demanding. Not having an expert opinion or just assisting in the process is no longer acceptable. Consumers want real value and will trade their loyalty to you in order to receive it. The days of being able to say, “I’m not quite sure, but let me direct you to someone else for the answer,” are over. The consumer will call the NEXT person until someone can provide real value in expertise while making it easy to do business; meaning saving lots of their TIME. Buyers and Sellers have a HUGE sense of URGENCY and you, as an agent, will quickly be discarded if you don’t. It’s a growing trend fed by our need for instant gratification. So, agents need to be prepared to anticipate consumer questions and to have the answers quickly for them.
Please, please, make sure you’re spending time each week learning the answers and what you need to know in order to be effective and professional. You’ll never know EVERYTHING. Because markets, laws, processes, and consumers are constantly changing, it’s impossible to know everything. That’s what makes real estate fun!
The post Having to Be a Know It All – New Agents Need More Training Than Ever Before appeared first on Get a Real Estate Life.