When I look around the real estate industry in this county, I see a few people who I know that used to be a lot more successful than they currently are. Some of this can be attributed to the economy, but as I said the other day, the only person who can take control of your own business is you. Which means part of the reason these people's real estate success has diminished is in fact them. These are the real estate agents that you see spending most of their time in the office, reading industry magazines or checking their email. Not that these aren't important business activities, but there's a limit to it, or at least there should be.
Sometimes I feel a bit sorry for these real estate agents, but most of the time I can't bring myself to. That's because how we choose to act in business is exactly that – a choice. Century 21 prides itself on being technological leaders, and the advancement of technology has changed the face of the entire industry, but it's a change that many have not fully (or at all) embraced. I've spoken about this before, and the most important of the bunch is how people look for real estate information and how they communicate. It's online. Or it's through mobile communications.
A real estate agent who refuses to learn how to text, blog, tweet or even email is branding themselves as out of touch and possibly out of business. There is an increasing customer base of tech-savvy people shopping for property and they want to communicate with a real estate agent in tech-savvy ways. If you aren't prepared to do that, there are others that are, and will. These are the ones kicking real estate butt.
In this business, when we all know how rapidly and dramatically the real estate landscape can change, you can never afford to stop learning. New technologies may seem daunting, but that's no excuse. If you're prepared to learn how to dominate online and through new communication methods, chances are you're going to dominate in your marketplace too.
Those real estate professionals who are already embracing changing technology should actually be thanking those real estate agents who aren't prepared to get up to speed. Because while you're still insisting that blogging won't make a difference to your business, your tweeting competitor is probably kicking your butt. Figuratively, and electronically speaking, of course.