Strangers in Empty Houses
Three years ago on a Tuesday afternoon I was teaching double-digit subtraction and zipping up coats before recess, and now I’m sipping black coffee and auditing contracts while Melissa shows me the occasional funny tik tok. The jump from 2nd grade teacher to the real estate industry took a bit of getting used to. Is it ok to meet a random stranger in an empty house halfway across town? What in the world is a Buffini? Is this business model a multi-level marketing scheme? I quickly got satisfying answers to all three questions: 1. If you’re comfortable with it and they’re pre-approved. 2. An Irishman who apparently has a crystal ball of bold predictions. And 3. Not the way Dan and Melissa and most local boutique brokerages do it.
A multi-level marketing scheme is a situation where, “Promoters emphasize recruiting new distributors for your sales network as the real way to make money,” according to The Federal Trade Commission. They also explain, “You also may have to pay repeated fees for other items, like training sessions or expensive marketing materials.” Interesting.
I quickly learned that some brokerages will take on pretty much anybody. With each new recruit the company gets a steady stream of cash through monthly fees. I can’t help but wonder if they almost hope they don’t ever hear from you again, like a gym membership purchased in January with naive intentions, or that streaming subscription you forgot to cancel after the free trial. One of our own agents who has been incredibly successful through her authentic, down to earth approach was originally signed on to a corporate brokerage and never contacted again, lost into the abyss of the ever revolving names of the newest batch of recruits. She never even got her big brand email address up and running - what a shame.
Our first Drinks with Dan happy hour at our new office was one of those weeks where everyone is either sick or out of town. We decided not to cancel and instead encouraged attendance in those who could make it and cleared the agenda to allow for my personal favorite conversation variety: the heart to heart. I learned more about the 8 people sitting on the hand-me-down italian leather sectional in that single conversation than I ever expected, and our understanding and appreciation for each other grew. How could you not be protective of a group of people who are technically competitors in their field but consistently show up for each other, uplift each other, and genuinely enjoy each other’s company? We want people on that couch not because they feel obligated to get their money’s worth (for the record: we don’t do hidden or monthly fees), but because they genuinely know it’s where they belong.
Every agent we welcome into the fold is an investment, and all investments should be made with due diligence and care. Saying yes to everyone who walks through our doors dilutes the rare culture that we’ve worked hard to create and nurture. Part of this industry may be meeting random strangers in empty houses, but we are excellent at predicting who won’t stay a stranger for long.
