If you are a consumer, are you really turned on by promotion for an agent claiming to be a “top producer”? In this consumer-centric era, doesn’t that sound just a little salesy?
As Marc Davison of 1000watt Consulting noted on Twitter, “how about an agent promoting the number of people they helped through the housing crisis instead. That’s more sensitive than the number of dollars produced. I don’t want my transaction to be a notch on some agent’s sales belt.”
And as Sean Cutright of Delta Media pointed out, doctors who do lots of surgeries don’t call themselves “top producers.”
And from Jay Thompson, a Phoenix real estate broker and blogger, “Proclaiming yourself a top producer is almost as bad as calling yourself ‘Realtor for Life.’”
I’ve always hated this kind of personal promotion for all those reasons. It should be about the client, not the agent. If you take care of the client, he or she will take care of you and will tell others about you. That’s not to say that branding and promotion aren’t important – they are – but there are better ways to do it. Instead of how many sales you had had, maybe the fact that 95% of your sales came from past clients or were referred by past clients. And even better, comments from those people on why they recommended you. In other words, find ways to let others tout your skills.
The world and the consumer are changing. We can’t continue to use the same old tired terminology or tactics.
Posted By: 
Pam O’Connor
Email Us Your Ideas
Pam,
Glad you had posted this. I believe that there are actually two points that have to be taken in two different conversations.
1. What makes a Top Producer
2. What makes a great agent
I think that the problem is that we are crossing these two into the same. If an agent proclaims themselves to be a “Top Producer” that’s fine if they have the overall production statistics to back it up.
“I’m the Top Producer in my Company” – great if that’s true… how many agents are there? “Top 1% of Real Estate Agents in the Nation” – Congrats… if it’s true. “Top Grossing Commission Agent in the US” – Ok… you get to buy lunch then.
Does this make you a “great” real estate agent? Not necessarily. You might be a killer business person, killer team leader, rain maker for a group, or have the opportunity to work with a developer that sold alot of product. But to tackle this from the ground up, we have to look at what it is that makes a “great” agent.
QSC did a really cool thing a couple of years ago and served as a 3rd party “management” company that oversaw the agent’s ability to deliver exemplary customer service. They then made the information accessible to the consumer on websites dedicated to the agent. It’s a paid service, but I think it really hit on some great points. Here’s a link to her QSC page http://tinyurl.com/c98972
So, we have to decide on what it is that makes a “great” real estate agent before we argue this point too much. There are people out there that are going to be impressed with the amount of transactions that you sell, the money you earn etc… Are they the majority? Probably not. But there are still people that are impressed with that kind of thing.
I disagree that top surgeons don’t refer to themselves as top producers (or top cutters). There are surgeons out there (take a look at any high end magazines that publish ads from plastic surgeons, weight loss, lasik, etc…) that push these stats as far as how many people they’ve helped, cured, assisted, etc. How is this any different from businesses that rank themselves on the Inc.500? They’re out there and they’re doing the same thing.
I’m arguing this as a devils advocate. I don’t LIKE to agree with it, and I don’t necessarily promote my agents to promote themselves as such. BUT – many of us that want to focus on quality vs. quantity, empathy, etc., tend to get tunnel vision and take a “one size fits all” mentality when promoting to the masses.
There are those that will be attracted to Top Producer. There are those that will be attracted to Top Quality Service Agents. There are those that will be attracted to faster, sleeker, cooler, hipper. And yes, there are those that will be attracted to “Realtor for Life” – (I personally don’t mind this at all if the individual actually means that they are going to serve as an advisor to me throughout the lifecycle of my home buying and selling activity – a little presumptuous, but I’m ok with it)
Personally, I’d rather have the quality and personal attention than 100 million in sales, but then again I’m a bleeding heart liberal, cheer for the underdog, philanthropic hillbilly from Central Illinois.
Just a couple of thoughts to ponder…