Charleston is a melting pot of culture, diversity, and ages. Career driven people all over working hard to up their lot in life. And despite they way they treat each other on the highway, they actually do business with each other very well. I find Charleston's MLS to be one of the most cooperative groups I have worked with. But, if you go outside of it, wow. Territorial old school agents ready to bite and bully. I had to set someone straight once again yesterday who wanted to impose his power over me after talking only for 2 minutes. Reminding him it will not be beneficial for him, our clients, or the transaction if we can't get along. He trodded off the phone, huffing and puffing. Then called me back and now we are friends. ha!
But, this is only about the 12th time this has happened and all from the outside of my main MLS zone. It is clear and known by other agents that a lot of territorial posturing is or was common in the industry. But, our MLS took on 8,000 agents alone. So territories went out the window. Yet, these other smaller areas are still willing to bite and bully to scare people out. They don't scare me. I see it for what it is. Fear. They see me coming. I cannot imagine what it might feel like working an area for decades just to see these little blue and white Ryan Dyal signs popping up everywhere. Maybe they are being compared to what this new agent is doing. Maybe they don't want to do drones or videos. Maybe social media marketing is not their thing. Maybe they are still waiting on this whole "Internet" phase to pass. Or maybe that is it. Maybe they think alot of us agents are fleeting. And they have been here through the storms of many markets. I completely respect that. I would even use them as a resource of experience and knowledge. But, the bitter bullying won't work on me. I am coming. And I will not speak against them. No matter what they try to do against me. It fuels me. I thrive on earning people's trust and respect. I am here to stay.
Competition.
The old school way of thinking is that we are competing against each other. That is an antiquated destructive view of cooperating broker relationships. In fact, it should be the opposite.
1. I offer half my commission to buyer agents to Bring us a ready willing and able buyer. So I WANT you to enjoy me so you look for my listings. I market directly to agents because they already have buyers desiring houses. Having a rocky relationship would defeat this purpose and hurt my clients bottom line.
2. There is enough people and homes in the area to not have to worry about what others are getting.
3. We have much more to worry about by Zillow and other companies attempting to break into our market and change our industry than each other.
4. Do better work. You can either bully others to get out of your area or you can simply let your work gain you favor over the new comers. Use updated methods. Stop taking flip phone pictures. When selling land, get out of the car to take the picture at the least. HAVE some sort of online presense so people know the property exists from other states. Be relevant.
There is no reason to be disrespectfully competitive. I love all agents. I know the hard work and stressful job they have. How the average home seller things we do nothing and yet our hair turns grey before the rest of our graduating class. Its the long nights and early days. It's the daily self evaluations. The stress of where the next pay check is coming and constant consideration of what you can do more to help a client's home sell. We have a great responsability to handle the largest valued investment of a client's life. And when we see another agent hustling and getting it done, we should know that takes serious daily grinding work. Respect. I respect the agents who have done this for decades. Greatly. I ask for you to stop by and offer friendship, advice, and mentorship. But, leave the old silly bitter bullying at the door. It is wasted on me. I might even giggle when you do it. Because it only makes me think you have heard of me and fear losing business to me. Come one people. I love you. Come shake my hand and let's do a deal together. We are doing this job for our client's benifit. Not our own pockets. So let's get along for their sake. Remember that an offer is not just the money offered on the top line. It is also the expected ease of the transaction. So attitude could have some effect. So, suck it up butter cup. Play nice.
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