Minimum licensing requirements
For years, real estate professionals have battled issues of perception by media and consumers and are equated with used car sales people. Although the perception has improved in recent years with the rise of social networking which has helped real estate professionals to be humanized, it is still a challenge.
Texas Broker David Winans and Associates of Better Homes and Gardens took issue with this very topic and created the video below (watch now, you won’t regret it):
Mark McDonough, VP of Marketing and Business Development said, “The minimum hiring requirements we have are less like rigid rules and more of guidelines and questions we ask ourselves before making a decision on a Realtor. We’re tired of the “breathe on a mirror, and you’re in” approach to hiring that way too many real estate companies practice.”
We asked what their own hiring practices were and how they were tacking the issue. McDonough said, “Two of the top things we look for are a professional background and a personality match to our company culture. A professional background can be proven in a few ways, it can be shown by a track record of success in corporate America, or proven production in the real estate industry. A history of success isn’t enough all by itself though, we need to believe they will represent our company in a positive light to BOTH consumers and other members of the real estate community.”
How do they uphold quality?
McDonough told us, “How agents work with other members of the real estate industry is incredibly important to both our hiring standards and firing standards. To monitor this, we send out a survey to every single coop agent that we close a transaction with asking questions like: Did our associate return phone calls in a timely manor? Accuracy of contracts and paperwork? Did our associate have a professional demeanor? etc. Also, in order to monitor how our agents work with clients, we are members of QSC which is an independent 3rd party that surveys each client our associates close a transaction with.”
What about you and your broker?
What is your broker doing to exceed the minimum licensing requirements in your state and how is your broker enforcing professionalism and quality and pushing for excellence?
