In 2006, Harris Interactive published a poll listing the most (and least) trusted professions. Doctors topped the list, and were "completely trusted" by only 50 percent of respondents. Real estate agents neared the bottom of list, again, barely beating out stockbrokers and lagging auto mechanics, lawyers and insurance agents.
Musings, press clippings and polls taken in the United Kingdom show estate agents are viewed in a similar light there.
World over, real estate agents are not trusted.
I, for one, trust that the only things polls measure correctly are the respondents’ satisfaction with their own ignorance.
People don’t trust what they don’t know
Only half of respondents in the Harris poll trust doctors evidenced by the second and third opinions we seek out after each important diagnosis. As laypeople, we don’t know enough about health, law, stocks, auto repair, real estate. By nature, we are suspect of those who know more than we do — especially if that knowledge is used to sell us something.
Another recent Harris Interactive Poll shows only 30 percent of respondents say they trust the press. A greater percentage of respondents (41 percent) trust Internet news sites and publicly generated information. People feel they have control over the Web to a greater degree than they do mainstream media.
A common thread among every profession listed in the Harris poll is how each regard things we hold most vital to our existence — our health, money and prized possessions. These things are just too important to hand complete trust over to another person.
And yet, despite this overwhelming amount of distrust, Americans are addicted to medical treatment, to collecting ever more prized possessions, and to a passion for real estate.
Where does the distrust come from? Is it real? Is it affecting how consumers engage with these professions?
When citizens can’t tell real from fake
In 2007, Naomi Wolf wrote an article for The Guardian titled, "Fascist America, in 10 easy steps." With regard to the media, she writes, "” you can have a steady stream of lies polluting the news that is so relentless it becomes increasingly hard to sort out truth from untruth. It’s not the lies that count but the muddying."
I will argue that this correlates to messaging and marketing as well, and how an abundance of unbelievable, erroneous, gratuitous statements can and will pollute the well of trust for any profession.
This is real estate’s greatest folly. The industry’s greatest foe is itself. Consider the continuous stream of mercury spilled by the National Association of Realtors’ "this is the right time to buy" campaigns into real estate’s Love Canal. And then consider all the other contaminants released by individual companies and agents in the form of grandiose untruths that seep into the consumer groundwater. They see it, hear it, read it, and they honestly and obviously don’t believe a single word of it.
The 7 percent trust factor speaks for itself. And while I believe it correctly measures the respondents’ satisfaction with their own ignorance, in this case the ignorance has been deeply cultivated by the real estate industry itself. Consumers are sprayed with phrases like "Internet Gurus," "Gateways to Tomorrow" and "Expert negotiators" in advertisements and commercials despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of these "Internet gurus" can’t remember their e-mail address or know what a URL is.
The secret
Are agents untrustworthy? Some are, some aren’t. But most paint themselves with the brush of mistrust by adhering to modes of marketing, branding and verbiage that fail to set them apart and distinguish one from the other.
Untrustworthy agents hear what their clients say. Trustworthy agents listen.
Untrustworthy agents make deals happen. Trusted agents help people buy and sell homes.
Untrustworthy agents work hard and make a case for it. Trusted agents work smart. They perform magic and do it quietly, with grace.
Untrustworthy agents stress about deals. Trusted agents never lose their cool.
Untrustworthy agents are about me and I across all their brand touch points. Trusted agents place their entire emphasis on "we" on "you."
Untrustworthy agents claim they got into real estate to help people. Trusted agents got into real estate to make a living. They are transparent about that.
Untrustworthy agents say what the consumer wants to hear. Trusted agents tell it like it is.
Untrustworthy agents work with anyone. Trusted agents hand-pick clients.
Untrustworthy agents hide behind templates. Trusted agents speak in their own voice.
Untrustworthy agents use platitudes to market themselves. Trusted agents have stopped marketing themselves in the conventional sense altogether.
Building trust
Years of experience is great, as are designations. Continuing education — better yet, self-education — rocks. But none of these things cultivates trust. Doctors and lawyers have experience, designations and education, and at least half the Harris poll respondents don’t trust them.
Trust comes from a deeper place. Sophistication cannot be faked. Honor leaves a long, visible trail and results are easy to quantify. These are the only things that matter and they are wrapped up in something called truth.
The real estate industry will continue to grapple with distrust, and practitioners will continue to fight to prove their value as long as they continue to believe that pulling the wool in over consumers’ eyes is their best shot at redemption.
- Davison
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Hi Mark, love the coverage on agents getting a bad rating. There was a study released last week by the WAV Group (wavgroup.com)stating that almost 1/3 of agents polled in a survey found the agents responsiveness to be very unsatisfactory. Maybe you can add " Untrustworthy agents say they are responsive, Trusted agents jump on Requests for Info immediately"
Al With realPING
I'd say the large majority of real estate agents are honest and trustworthy. It's just the few dishonest ones that really stick out.
Real estate agents didn't come out of this Harris Interactive poll very well. They've been listed on the bottom of the poll, with insurance agents, lawyer and stockborkers. All of them are not trusted by public. However, they have one characteristic in common – people let them operate with their money, often an important sums. Unfortunately it happens they fail from time to time, and those failures may be very important. In addition, I think that public see all these professions as "milions making" (which isn't most of the time true) ,so it's envy, I'd say?
I think consumers have a hard time believing that anyone, even if they are hired and paid for, can selflessly represent their interest if they are being paid a commission.
When I consider all the issues that lead to this "distrust" from low barrier to entry to the awful way agents go about presenting themselves publicly, it is the commissions that I feel are the greatest contributor.
I remember reading a NY Times article a few years back that detailed one particular agent's real estate lotto weekend. He earned $90,000 on several deals involving one client. The article focused on the easy money made – a result of a hot market rather than the great skill-set of the agent.
Bulls-eye.
I'm not making a case for or against commissions. I'm just focusing on what the problem is in hopes that practitioners sensitive to these issues consider creative ways they can tackle and overcome them.
What a great post and gives a lot to think about and very thought provoking.
Great post. I believe that much of the mistrust arises from the actual process of house buying/selling. In the UK, house buying is not fun, it is very stressful! Similarly, when an individual visits a lawyer it is rarely for reasons that one would associate with the word fun. Add to the mix the fact of having to pay for the stress and the problem is compounded. I don't think agents and lawyers always fully understand what their customers are going through. It can be a hellish process and the agent who makes it tolerable will be respected and trusted.
A place at the bottom of the "trust ladder" was accorded to realtors. Well..those are the (few) untrustworthy ones that blur our clear picture. The profession of a realtor is actually very important in order to bring a certain credibility to the field. However, the risk is out there. Don't be affraid to check on your possibilities of purchasing a real estate property, but please do pay attention while choosing a real estate agency.
A place at the bottom of the "trust ladder" was accorded to realtors. Well..those are the (few) untrustworthy ones that blur our clear picture. The profession of a realtor is actually very important in order to bring a certain credibility to the field. However, the risk is out there. Don't be affraid to check on your possibilities of purchasing a real estate property, but please do pay attention while choosing a real estate agency.
Hi Mark, love the coverage on agents getting a bad rating. There was a study released last week by the WAV Group (wavgroup.com)stating that almost 1/3 of agents polled in a survey found the agents responsiveness to be very unsatisfactory. Maybe you can add " Untrustworthy agents say they are responsive, Trusted agents jump on Requests for Info immediately"
Al With realPING
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