You have their attention

“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger — but recognize the opportunity.”

― John F. Kennedy

In full bloom

I found myself on Twitter a lot last week. I felt a need to contribute some thoughts to my friends in the industry, but also to listen and connect with them. 

I follow a lot of good, interesting people within our space whose strong conviction, passion, intellect and action injected me with a dose of strength.

Something we can’t have enough of right now. 

NAR moved its Midyear to virtual. Bright MLS enhanced flexibility for virtual showings. HAR took swift and early action to protect the real estate marketplace. Redfin swung into action by adding a tool to its app that allows prospective buyers to request agents lead home tours virtually, through video chat. Coronavirus clauses were quickly added to contracts to protect buyers and sellers. Notarizing signatures in person is no longer a thing. 

Real estate is too often accused of being slow, tardy, and afraid of change. My daily feed — filled with stories of rapid change, innovation and action — rejects this.

This is the industry I know and love in full bloom. 

Last week, on the same day, two similar tweets from @TomFerry and @SteveHarney stuck out from the many. They focused on leadership and opportunity in this time. 

It got me thinking. 

Seize the moment

Over the years, I have heard brokers, brand leaders and real estate vendors express a common problem: agents don’t listen, read, or respond to what we have to say. 

Blame is easy to assign. 

The truth is agents are busy running their own businesses. Their phones are filled with leads, requests, to-do’s, inquiries, sales pitches. There’s only so much time in the day. 

So, yeah, too often, they miss important details, don’t heed guidance, or fail to show up for meetings (and then express displeasure at not seeing the email invite). This has often been a problem we’ve been asked to solve. 

Now, Mother Nature has stepped in.

As a result of the crisis, every one of us have been looking to leaders to help guide our response and shape our perceptions. I have. Agents — your agents — have too. 

At the brokerage level, that leader is the founder, the broker/owner, the CEO. As you’ve all just witnessed, your emails are now opened quickly and read. Your inboxes receive comments, questions and perhaps praise. In an instant, all agent eyes are focused on you for your leadership, your wisdom, your plan. 

Agents are now working in real isolation. They, like all of us, will focus on the immediate struggle. But there’s another side to this story and agents will look to leaders to guide them forward from it.

That needs to be you.

Now that you have their attention, seize the opportunity. And build on it.