IS TECHNOLOGY GOING TO REPLACE REAL ESTATE AGENTS - KEVIN WARD

Foreign. Hey there, it's Kevin Ward. And I am shooting this video because the talk about Zillow's instant offers. And I shot a video on that a couple of weeks last week and there's just been this furor of agents going like, oh, no. And especially new agents who are like, oh, no, should I even get in real estate? Is it too late? Is real estate dead? Is technology going to completely replace real estate? And that kind of conversation is not new. It's been happening for years now. And that is, is technology going to make real estate agents obsolete? Is technology going to replace real estate agents? And they're basically, real estate agents are not going to be needed anymore, that real estate agents are just overpaid, whatever. And I wanted to make this video to answer those specific questions. Now, let me say first that I love technology. I love the Internet, I love the websites. The ability that is a marketing tool, as a tool for generating business, as a way to help people get educated and have information. I think technology and the Internet and all of that, Internet portals, I think all of that is awesome because it delivers value to people. And so people that are opposed to, like a particular website or a particular business model, that doesn't mean that technology is bad or shouldn't be supported or, you know, it's the enemy. Look, anybody thinks technology is the enemy is an idiot. It's just, this is the way things are going. So you simply have to learn to adjust, to adapt and to fit into find your place in that world. And so the question is, what is the place that real estate agents are going to hold in the future? When you look at what's happening on the website, on the Internet, what's happening with websites and web portals like Zillow, like Open Door, and so many others that are out there that the conversation has been going on. Realtors are going to be a thing of the past. Just like Uber has, you know, crushed the taxi industry, just like Expedia crushed the travel agent industry online, the online reservation and portals where you can book out your own hotel and all of that. And it's not going to happen. Let me tell you why the Internet is not going to replace real estate agents and why portals like Zillow will not replace real estate agents now. Don't think they're not trying when you understand that Rich Barton, who was the founder of Zillow, was also the founder of Expedia, and Expedia was one of the leaders in almost literally annihilating the travel agent industry because people were now able to get the same results and do it on their own for in a fraction of the time. It was easier. People think it saved money. You know, whatever it was, it was. And through all of that, Expedia and Priceline and Travelocity, all of them claimed to be not enemies of travel agents. We're not out to destroy travel agents, we're not out to get rid of them and so forth. And yet their model was designed to say, we want all the customers, we want all the eyeballs coming to us. We want to make a platform that's easier for them to get results and easier for them to get what they want. And that we make money. And. And it worked great. And that is the same leadership that they have now in places like Zillow. So you have to understand that tech companies in the real estate world, in the real estate industry, can win if we don't do anything. And I believe if they win that, obviously real estate agents are going to be losers. But sometimes if an industry and the way we do things is obsolete, then you're going to lose. It's just the way it goes. The good news is what we do as real estate professionals is not obsolete. Now pay attention here. And I want you to stick with me through this video because this is really what I'm about to share with you is I'm going to share with you two reasons why real estate agents are not and are never going to be obsolete and why the real estate industry is not anything like the travel agent industry or the uberization of the taxi industry and transportation industry and all of that. Those are totally two different animals. And so we're going to talk about that. I'm going to talk about why our industry, real estate agents, is not threatened by technology. Now, are there threats to our industry? Yes. And I think the biggest threat to our industry is incompetent real estate agents. It's amateur agents who they one, they should be scared because technology already makes you obsolete. You've been obsolete for 100 years. You just didn't know it. If you're an amateur incompetent real estate agent who's just trying to get a commission check. So I believe that for real estate agents, the most important thing for you to do is become a master of what you do as a real estate agent to become great at delivering great results and serving your clients better than anyone else. And what I want to talk about is why that service that you can provide is necessary today and it will be necessary in the future. And if we don't do our work. If we don't raise the bar of real estate agents and do great work for clients and do a great job of representing them, technology could replace us. And if that happens, if technology wins, and in terms of making real estate agents obsolete, we lose. But also the big losers are our clients, the homeowners, the buyers, and the sellers. And here's why. Two reasons why technology can never replace a great real estate agent. Number one, because selling or buying a house is not like any other sales transaction on the planet. Now think about it. When you talk about online travel agencies, it's totally different animal than somebody moving. Whenever you are renting a hotel room or you're booking a vacation, you go on to Expedia and you're going to book a vacation, right? You booked a vacation, you, you go through the portal, you find the hotel you want, you find the airline, the flights you want, you find the cars you want, you compare the best deals. You can look at all the locations and all that, and then you book it. But when you book it, you're flying on the same airplane, the same flight. As if whether a travel agent did it or the Internet did it, if you did it on Expedia or you had an agent do it for you, you're still on the same plane, you're still staying in the same hotel, you're still driving the same rental car. Nothing changes. And you know exactly who, what you're going to get once you book it. It's just a matter of you're doing it yourself. If you're getting a ride and I'm getting a ride from my house to the airport, whether I get a taxi or I get an Uber, it's the same deal. I'm going to ride in a car with a professional, hopefully I'm going to ride in a car with a professional who's going to take me to his location and drop me off. And it's going to cost me a certain amount of money. But at the end of the day, nothing's changed in my life. I just need to get a ride. That's all it is if it's a movie. How Blockbuster was completely crushed because they didn't adjust to technology into the Internet and Netflix basically took over and replaced them. Well, it's just a movie. And whether I go to a store and buy a DVD or I'm able to log in on my Internet and get the watch the movie there, it's still just the same. It's the same movie. But when you buy a house Someone buys a house or someone sells a house, they're moving. And that transaction and that life transition is greater than anything else you do in your life. Even if you were to buy a car online, it's still a car. And what's going to change in your life when you buy a car? Virtually nothing. But when somebody moves, when they buy or sell a quarter of a million dollar asset, or a 3 million dollar asset, or a $750,000 asset, whatever price range home you're talking about, it's not just the price of the asset, it's that. It's the complexity of a transaction. It's the decisions that have to be made along the way in terms of repairs, in terms of who's going to pay for what, in terms of things that you need to know about the use of the property and deed restrictions and zoning restrictions and homeowner association restrictions and costs and fees. And there's just so much complexity in a real estate transaction that having a skilled professional who knows how to educate and lead and guide is so critical. Because when somebody moves, everything in their life changes. When they sell a house, move, buy a new house, everything changes. Where you, how you go to work changes, where you sleep, changes, where you shop, changes, where your kids go to school, where you worship, where you exercise, where everything changes, it's literally a life transition. Unlike virtually any other type of online sales transaction, selling or buying a house is a life transition, not simply a purchase. And for that reason, having a skilled professional that can guide you through the complexities of that transaction and lead a family through that transition, who knows what they're doing, critically important, and is a great value that you, as a real estate professional can provide. Now, if you don't know what you're doing, like, unfortunately a lot of real estate agents out there, you're a risk, You're a risk to our industry, and you're a threat to homeowners. And you got to get better. You just got to get better. You owe it to the industry and you owe it to your clients to get better. But your job is not in danger because of technology, because of the complexity of real estate transaction. The second reason that our business as real estate professionals is not endangered by technology or Zillow or anyone else is because we are agents. Now, I want you to think about that for a minute. What does it mean to be an agent? And here's what it means. It means, unlike any other sales industry, almost any other salesperson out there. Real estate agents, as salespeople don't Just sell stuff. We represent clients. We represent buyers and sellers as our clients, which brings in something that doesn't exist in other sales, and that's called a fiduciary responsibility. Now, that's not just a legal term. A fiduciary responsibility means you have a responsibility to act in the best interest of your client. So a great real estate agent is not in it to sell stuff. A great real estate agent is in the business to serve their client's needs and their best interests and help them get the best results. Whether your client is buying a house or selling a house or both, your number one responsibility is to their best interest. Now, if you look at almost any other type of traditional sales, whether it's a car salesman, an insurance salesman, retail salesperson, almost all sales, the salesperson does not represent the customer. The salesperson represents the company. They represent the manufacturer, they represent the store, and they represent them only. And their job is to sell you a product or service and make money off of you. That's their job. Their job is not to represent your best interest. Their job is to represent the interests of who they work for, which is the company, that's the manufacturer, the store. And so their job is to be great at selling you something and getting you to buy something. And it is essentially serving themselves to make money and serving their company, who pays them. Okay, now, there's nothing wrong with that. And hopefully they sell a product or service that actually has value so they can do it ethically and feel good about it. But it's different than real estate agents. What we do. An agent's job is to serve. An agent's job is to represent a client. You see a lot of people out there because of the amateurism in our industry, because there's so many agents that are out there just looking for a commission check that's given real estate agents, frankly, a bad name and has caused a lot of this, is that people believe that agents are just in it for the money and that you're overpaid and your commissions are just big, expensive fees that are outdated now because we don't need you anymore because of the Internet. But what they don't understand, people that feel that way do not understand, is the value of a great professional who knows what they're doing, who knows how to lead and guide them through the transition and the transaction, the complexities of that transaction, and who's there to represent the client and serve their best interest. When you own that and realize that your responsibility is to serve their best interest to protect them, to guide them, to educate them, to lead them, and to help them get a result that's in their best interest. You have value that technology cannot replace and an Internet portal cannot replace. Zestimates has been proof of that. Zestimates is trying to use a computer algorithm that you can punch in a bunch of variables and it can figure out something that takes a lot more skill than just a computer algorithm, in my opinion. Now, right now, they're offering a big bounty for any agent that can create a better algorithm that allows a computer, allows an Internet platform to replace a valuable service that you deliver. You got to be great at the service you deliver. Care about your clients. Understand how important your responsibility is that you're not just selling houses that you represent. And if you're great at it and you represent clients, your job is never. Your career is never going to be threatened. Technology. Technology is going to be a great tool to serve you, to serve the people that you get the opportunity to serve. And it's going to be a great place for you to find them and build that relationship and reach out to them and connect. But you got to be good. You got to be great at delivering results. Remember, it's not about us. It's not about technology. It's about the people we serve. Be the best. That's your responsibility. And when you do that, you. You can always expect, yes.