87% out of 2 million real estate agents will fail in the next 5 years. But don't worry, they will be immediately replaced with new agents coming into the market hoping to build a successful career. Most of them will fail too. History will repeat itself again and again until we do something to turn real estate into an attractive career destination where agents are equipped with the right training and tools to succeed and prosper.
How it all starts
In order to obtain a real estate license, every agent needs to pass a state-specific real estate exam. The exams are purely focused on the legal side of the real estate transaction. So the real estate schools are more like law schools.
After the initial euphoria from passing the exam, most agents find themselves totally lost on what to do next. All of a sudden they realize that knowing how to draft a contract is only useful when you have actual clients to work with.
Wait... have I also mentioned that 87% of agents are independent contractors, which means they are fully responsible for running their business from A to Z including lead generation, branding, prospecting, online marketing, transaction management, accounting, and the list goes on.
Wait... have I also mentioned that the average age of a Realtor is 54 years old?
Ok, let's not panic just yet. The brokerage promised to provide all the training and tools we need to succeed. In most cases, however, the "training" is just a collection of educational videos and the "tools" is a CRM system for managing clients (that you are yet to find). Now you can panic.
The Educational Gap
To be absolutely clear there is NO shortage of educational content online for real estate agents. You can find an enormous amount of articles and videos with advice on lead generation, marketing, prospecting, and branding. However, there is a big gap between watching a video and using the key takeaways in your day-to-day activities. The gap is so vast that most agents will never take advantage of the best industry practices.
Here's another example for you. There are tons of videos on YouTube on how to get a perfect six-pack. If you simply follow those very clear instructions for an extended period of time you are guaranteed to achieve a certain result. In reality, only a small percentage of individuals possess a mindset that allows them to take advantage of someone else's learnings and experiences to consistently increase their own productivity or performance.
The Technology Gap
What about real estate technology? Maybe technology can make up for the lack of training and propel agents to success. Over 75% of all agents have a CRM system, which makes it the most widely used tech solution.
Traditional CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) systems are designed to automate and streamline well-defined business processes. They are built with the assumption that there are some customer relationships that need to be managed. This assumption is correct for the top 10-15% of high-performers and top-selling Realtors. However, this could not be further from the truth for the 85% of agents who struggle to get business.
By coincidence (or not), the CRM adoption rate in real estate is only around 10-15%, which means that only a fraction of those who have CRM actually use it.
Fundamental Flaw
What if there is a fundamental flaw in the way we approach agent training? What if the reason for the low technology adoption rate is not the "lazy agents", but rather the wrong technology?
What if career coaching is not an optional bonus, but rather a core component that should be built-in directly inside your daily tasks lists. What if instead of theory-based coaching we switch to task-based coaching with on-the-job learning? What if there is a "virtual coach" that would tell you exactly what they need to be doing to get business? What if we use AI to fully automate routine tasks like social media posting and lead generation and allow agents to fully focus on the human part of transactions?
Wait... what if we gamify the whole business development process and provide agents with daily guidance and accountability to help them achieve their financial goals?
What if we just invented a new, smarter way to onboard, train, and empower agents? See for yourself at Agently.com
