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Complacency is “creeping in” to the real estate industry, as prime market conditions cause agents to abandon good habits, according to a leading innovator.
Starr Partners chief executive Douglas Driscoll said the “sheer definition” of a real estate agent is someone who sells properties.
“Which I think at the moment is not exactly what we do; we have become more like facilitators in the process,” he told Real Estate Business.
“More often now, an agent’s sales acumen is only ever demonstrated in winning the listing in the first place.”
“I believe it is because of the market conditions; if you went back four or five years ago, agents would still need to physically try and sell properties,” he added.
Mr Driscoll said what we are starting to see is “complacency creep in” and agents are abandoning “fundamental actions and habits”.
“If the wind does change direction then there could be an awful lot of people in an awful lot of pain,” he said.
“James Tostevin just won your Top 100 Agents ranking, now I don’t know him nor have I met him but I understand one of the things he does remarkably well – and this is something that all exceptional agents have in common – is that he still practices the basics, irrespective of market conditions.”
“Every day these [top] agents still have the same good habits, and it is those good habits that are normally lost or abandoned when the market is good,” he added.
Mr Driscoll explains what all good agents recognise is most customer relationships are not about instant gratification.
“Moreso they should be viewed as a cradle to grave relationship,” he said.
“They realise this is a long game and not a short game – it is the proverbial marathon and not the sprint,” he added.
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