One of the things that's pretty cool about working in an organization with hundreds upon hundreds of agents is that you have the ability to gain unique perspective simply by talking to the people around you.
Last week, I was hanging out at social put on by a local mortgage company. There, I was chatting with real estate agents from all different firms, and using the time to hang out with some of my own people who were at the event. One such agent, Mark Tavenner, made a statement that stuck with me long after the event was over.
Said Mark, "One of the keys to my success in real estate is that I constantly remember that all the other real estate agents are my customers too."
At first, I didn't agree. To me, the real customer is the buyer or the seller of the home.
But, then Mark continued, "If other agents found me difficult to work with, how many houses could I possibly sell?"
Mark explained how he goes out of his way to forge strong relationships with other real estate agents in his community. He attends their broker open houses. He calls to thank them when they show his listings. And he checks in with many of his local colleagues each week to see what kind of inventory they have coming on the market.
"But, they are your competition," I argued.
To which Mark explained that the only competition he has in the world is himself. He says that when he occasionally goes up against a colleague on a listing, and they win the listing, he looks inward to determine what he could have done better.
Mark says that when you put aside time each week to show colleagues in the business how much you appreciate them, it gives you the ability to build your business tenfold. He says that having great relationships within the real estate community has enabled him to win bidding wars for his clients, to sell unique properties that needed coddling, and keep difficult deals together even when the buyers and sellers weren't seeing eye to eye.
Mark says that too many real estate agents draw lines in the sand when it comes to their real estate colleagues, but Mark feels that the only possible win-win outcome for everyone is when such lines are erased all together.
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