Realtors are the latest profession to have their way of earning a living getting disrupted. The newly approved settlement over broker commissions may not have an immediate impact, but there will be profound changes. The CEO of Nvidia stood on stage a few weeks ago and said you probably shouldn’t get a computer science degree because AI will probably upend that profession first. Coming from an industry that went through a dramatic change in how we are compensated, here are some general things I can share as advice if your job is threatened.
First, don’t put your head in the sand and pretend that the obvious isn’t happening. Be nimble and see how you can change your business to change with the times.
Second, don’t be generic. Do things that separate you from the masses. I take calls on the weekend. I call people back within an hour of them calling me. I hear all the time that their old advisor wouldn’t do that.
Lastly, people want to deal with other people, not AI, robot or call center. Deepen personal relationships. I compete with “free”. I also compete with a call center that will ask you to tell an automated voice recognition system why you are calling and will frustrate the heck out of most people. All while dealing with one of their biggest assets (IRAs, stocks, etc).
In the end, if I was buying another house and selling my current one, I’d look to a professional real estate agent to help. I know what I do well and that is because I’ve been building my skill set for over 25 years. I would find a way to pay them because I sure as heck am not doing open houses to sell my current house, looking for potential new houses, doing photos and marketing of my old house, etc.