Steve has long had what he refers to as a Bad Word Bucket. It’s not a real bucket, of course. That would just be goofy. It’s more of an imaginary receptacle where he likes to toss the words and terms he finds most distasteful.
I agree with many of his choices. Plethora, exacerbate, and frankly (as in, “Frankly, I am lying through my teeth”) are all fine choices. Others are more questionable. Bane really bugs him. “Crabgrass is the bane of all homeowners.” Utter that phrase, and you will really get him fired up.
Top Producer. Neighborhood Specialist. Your #1 Choice.
Bad words.
For the real estate agent, it seems humility is the new pink for spring. And in a way, I think it is high time that we reconsider how we are portraying ourselves to the consumer. In my core market, virtually everyone is a Neighborhood Specialist, including the agents who haven’t yet closed their first transaction. Everyone is a Top Producer, whatever that means. Hollow terms that should be meaningful, but through overuse, just sound schmaltzy.
So, we should just toss all of these terms in the Bad Word Bucket?
Marc Davison wrote at Inman News about the agent and broker web site wasteland he sees online, a landscape of offerings lacking meaningful content, imagination and sincerity. In speaking of the revelations resulting from his search experience, he said:
The most obvious was the mechanical gunfire of platitudes rat-tat-tatting across every broker and agent Web site. The bullet holes murdered my ability to decipher and choose. It’s like the old game show, “To Tell the Truth.” Will the real local expert, market specialist, top producer, #1 expert please stand up?
But, here is the conundrum. What do you do if you are one of the more experienced and successful agents? Isn’t this a message you want to convey? Isn’t this a message the customer wants to hear? And, just how do you get the word out without using the Bad Words?
The mantra is now, “Demonstrate your credentials through content, and they will come.” I can’t argue with the whole “show me” concept, but in the real world, this is not enough. Our clients want to know that we have sold a home or a hundred. They want to know that we have some miles on us as agents. They want to know that we won’t be practicing on their transaction. When we ultimately meet face to face, I can provide the “top-producing” supporting data, but until I get that meeting, I need to at least convey the concept and instill trust. It’s generally considered poor form to post your Form 1040 on your web site, so we are left with generalities. And Bad Words.
In Marc’s article, I got nailed by a commenter. “Kris even uses the words ‘Top Producer’ which you mock.” I’ll admit this stung; I have been pretty careful to avoid these Bad Words on our web site and here on our blog. The comment sent me screaming to the About pages on each, fearing I had overlooked something and committed a major fashion faux pas.
Here is what I found. From the web site:
Kris and Steve Berg are top-producing Broker Associates. They have helped literally hundreds of families buy and sell…
And from the blog:
Veteran Broker Associates for Prudential California Realty, Kris and Steve Berg are among the top agents nationwide…
All true. I didn’t say we were Top Producers, but I did say we were top-producing, which we are. And, for the record, we are “among the top agents nationwide.” I was purposely wishy-washy so that it would always be factual. Some years the company’s production threshold includes the top 1%, others the top 2% or 3%, depending on market activity; it is a moving target, but I challenge you to argue that all of the numbers aren’t kind of close to the top.
So, I am going to take a bit of a contrarian position on how to dress my web presence this season. I will continue to focus, as I always have, on providing the rich search experience that Marc found lacking. At the same time, I am going to also continue giving the visitor a little information about who is providing the content. No, I will not call myself a Top Producer, but I will and without apology say that I am a top-producing agent, and if given the opportunity, I will be able to back that statement up. Tomato, Tomawto. I’ll wear the badge like a pair of yesterday’s legwarmers. I’ve earned the right.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kris Berg is Co-Owner and Designated Broker of San Diego Castles Realty. If not-so static web sites are your thing, go here at once where you will find loads of real estate information including homes for sale, market trends, floor plans and more. Kris's hobbies include fencing and spot welding. She likes kittens. 
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve always kinda liked “plethora”…
But I really like “conundrum”. Thanks for using it (properly).
There are two phrases used frequently that drive me insane:
“Million Dollar Producer” and “Your Realtor for Life!”
They are the bane of my existence. And frankly, there is a plethora of agents using those terms. Each use just exacerbates the problem. What to do about this? It’s quite the conundrum.
My friend, use of Million Dollar Producer can cause unmitigable impacts, with the resulting paradigm shift away from the intrinsic culture, thereby causing a lack of synergistic relevance in the current corporate context.
I’m just sayin’.
I heart referrals!
At the end of the day, I think you’re both right.
At least I can always claim I am a Top Producer in my own mind, if no one else’s.
Kris brings up a good point. Clients do want to know something of the experience and competence of their agent. The question is how to go about doing this. I see nothing wrong with proudly proclaiming your expertise or experience. I just think that there are a lot of old, tired, cliched ways of doing it.
Sometimes I get the feeling that agent ads are a lot like the student section at basketball games who stands up and proudly displayed the #1 finger, while their team is ranked who-knows-where.
I think that a lot of real estate agent marketing is done by reflex. Words mean things. There must be more meaningful words out there. . .
Daniel Rothamel, The Real Estate Zebra
“#1, Top-Producing Blogger in the World”
Kris, what if we stop altogether with the “I am the best this”, or “ I am the best that”? Check out this blog http://robhahn.wordpress.com/. I don’t think Rob even has a “contact me” button. His “about” is fun reading, and his RSS is at the very bottom. His content is what tells me that he knows his stuff, and knows how to make it interesting reading. This, of course, will shift the entire real estate paradigm, leading to abrogation of the RE agents sacred duty to put themselves on every refrigerator, thus necessitating diminishing returns for appliance manufacturers, and causing job losses for a plethora of otherwise employed workers☺
Okay – We are a smart people (not to mention Market Experts and Your Best Choice for Real Estate). How does one go about gracefully saying “I know what the hell I’m doing, and I do it well?”
Mr Rothamel (May I call you Mr. Rothamel?) – Great analogy. Now, if the people holding up the foam fingers really are number one, shouldn’t they be entitled?
That’s it – I’m am getting a big foam finger, but so as not to be perceived as arrogant, my foam finger will be the number 24. Maybe I should make that two foam fingers.
How ’bout we don’t pay attention to others, regardless of their good intent, telling us what we should or shouldn’t be saying?
Anyone reading this blog knows Kris is an experienced, knowledgeable and very effective agent. Regardless of her choice of words, she’ll always be #1 from where I stand.
Yea, Bawld Guy! You’re Number One! (Waving foam finger.)
Kris has one of my favorite blogs, and her experience, knowledge and effectiveness are clearly visible from everything she writes. To me her blog represents the best in the RE blogging world. I could see, that if someone didn’t know my views, my comment could have been misinterpreted. That’s the danger of the comments:) In “we” I was referring to the generic tendencies of many in RE (me included), not to Kris. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Faina, No misunderstanding at all. I thought your comment was very funny and on target. (And, you didn’t need to say all that nice stuff, but thanks!)
So what advise would you (anyone) give to a “new” agent? How does someone without the plethora of experience promote themselves? How did any of you begin? I’m new to the business, I would love to hear your advise……..
Chris,
I would say something like, “Mr. Rothamel is my Dad,” but that would be cliche. You can call me just about anything, just keep it for the kids.
No matter what you call me, I’m sure I’ve been called worse.
You earned your foam finger, that is for sure. I have absolutely no problem with those who can claim a title actually claiming the title. I do think that as a profession, we might be doing ourselves a great disservice by individually touting the “#1″ thing.
Your blog is a perfect example. As Faina pointed out, it is pretty damn obvious to anyone reading that you know your stuff. That means something to people. I contend that it means a whole lot more than any type of sales ranking, title or “diamond circle” could ever mean to an actual client. This is one of the beautiful things about blogging, especially when it is practiced in the way that you and Steve do, to actually inform, educate, and enlighten consumers. That type of value is something that will serve to make you #1 in the minds of every potential client, regardless of what your sales statistics are.
For Carmen,
The question you need to ask yourself is this: What do I bring to the table? What is the added value that you can bring to your clients? Once you have found it, market the heck out of it and use it to build the relationships that are necessary to succeed.
@ Carmen – I work with lots of new agents who ask that same question and I tell them all to focus on the experience they DO have. My partner came from corporate sales and is an expert at negotiating, my background is marketing and so if we were new we would focus on that. If you are a family woman, get to know the school systems and kid related activities in the area, attend functions and let people know that is your specialization. OR just tell them that you will be the only one focusing EXCLUSIVELY on thier listing since you don’t have as many as some of those other agents…:) Hope that helps!!!!
Thank you Tara and Daniel for carrying the torch on the comments while I declared a blog-free Saturday.
Carmen – All good advice. The key is in determining your own strengths (which will be different from mine and Tara’s and Daniel’s) and in making a distinction. Getting started in this business is hard, no doubt about it, and there is unfortunately not a prescriptive play book for success. The is no one thing that is going to bring success; it will be a combination of things you do and a purposeful business plan executed consistently and with patience.
This is timely in that we were discussing how new agents can get started in a recent office meeting. The “Top Producer Panel” (yes, they called it that) agreed that it took 2 to 3 years on average before they reached the point where the phone would consistently ring. The ways in which they reached this point, however, were as different as the forty agents in the room. The common thread was that they experimented, tried a plethora of approaches, and eventually settled on a model that worked for them. And they stuck to it.
This is especially true on the listing side. Clients want to feel comfortable with an agent before entrusting their most valuable asset to them. A wrong choice can mean a lot of wasted time and wasted money– and stress. So it behoves (is that a bad word?) the experts to effectively communicate their expertise to the potential client– past performance is always a good indicator– so as to relieve the stress associated with hiring an agent.
Also, I think experts have to market themselves differently: get on the local news or in the local paper (it may be as easy as sending the real estate section editor a blog post). Mainstream media still carries a lot of marketing clout. There are a plethora of (OK at least 5) expert marketing options:
http://tinyurl.com/ytruo8
Of course we all think (or should think) we are the “top producer” or the “million dollar agent”, thats not vanity its confidence. But to a client, words are just that and in the end your actions will prove far more results.