Leigh Thomas Brown argues that real estate professionals must raise their own standards through personal accountability, not wait for brokerages or licensing bodies to do it. She emphasizes appearance matters, agents need deep knowledge of zoning and local regulations, and clients should demand educational content and expertise over cheap commissions.
Hmm. How do we raise the bar on professionalism in real estate? Well, as your REALTOR® mama hen, today I'm going to be wildly unpopular and tell you that the bar does not get raised by real estate commissions and how people get their license. It does not get raised by trade organizations and how they select members. It does not start with any brokerage brand or large entity. It only changes when you decide to change it. Call me wrong, but frankly, I'm right and you're watching my video. So, haha, I win. But think about this, y'all. As real estate professionals, when we have decided to be competent, ethical, professional, raising the bar ourselves to bring a level of excellence to our neighbors that we serve through the largest financial instrument most of them will ever own, we have to realize that we make a lot of money doing this. Now, it's uncertain money, of course. Commission life is not for the faint of heart. Sometimes you're doing really well, and sometimes you are eating hot dogs and eggs because that's all you can afford. But when we successfully complete a transaction alongside someone, we're paid thousands and thousands of dollars. Do you look like you're paid thousands of dollars? Honestly. Or have you decided to lower your professional dress standards? Now, this is not just me saying, "Get off my lawn, back in my day." I'm telling you that it's ridiculous that we have real estate professionals running around out there in blue jeans with holes in them and skin-tight t-shirts. It is ridiculous to me that we have people who wear yoga pants to show somebody a home that's worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. You have to think about this. When you go to the doctor, Do you want your doctor to be completely dressed down and look like he just got out of a workout? No. You want your doctor to look like he's dialed in and focused on the purpose at hand, which is taking great care of you. When I meet a client, I want them to know that I am completely dialed in and focused on them, and I'm bringing my professional services to the forefront. This is not me being Leigh Thomas Brown when I am conducting my real estate business. This is me being Leigh Brown, the professional REALTOR®. So which one of you are you bringing up? Now, when you tell me that you're determined to be genuine and authentic, I am genuine and authentic. I believe that what you see is what you get all the time. But there are definitely variances on how I appear. Sometimes I appear in relaxed mode. That's the yoga pant mode. That's the mode that you probably never see because that's the home mode. And then there's the professional mode. In my office, treating my business like a business. Now, let's talk about what that means to the consumer. Hey, consumer, if you're watching this and you're a normal person who's thinking about, "Hmm, how do I find a professional REALTOR®?" You've got to ask better questions. You've got to tell somebody that you may or may not select their services because you don't know what they offer. That means you probably shouldn't hire your brother-in-law until you know that your brother-in-law is up to speed on state regulations, is up to speed on market conditions and consumer behaviors? Because a professional REALTOR® doesn't just look like they're worth being compensated, they act like they're worth it. They bring their knowledge to the forefront. They are asking questions and delivering value even before you ask. Look at the social media presence. What are they bringing forward that teaches you things so that you can then, as a consumer, conduct yourself? Which means that you, the REALTOR® who wants to be more professional, what are you delivering to the public? Are you delivering TikTok dances? That's cute, but that does not tell me that you understand your zip code in depth. Professionalism looks like somebody who has taken their career next level by diving into education. And not just real estate education. I mean, getting to know the planning and zoning board, getting to know elected officials, being up to speed on regulatory burden and zoning changes. You've got to be in front of so many different items. And a professional is willing to invest that time. And then, once they've invested the time, they want to give that back to the community. That's what a professional looks like. Now, I could talk for days about other aspects of professionalism. But I honestly believe that if the best REALTORS® would decide to look like they're worth it, and then deliver information like they're worth it. The public could then determine where on the spectrum of services they'd like to select. They might still select somebody with lower information levels because they charge less. That's consumer choice. But they also might want to pay more to get somebody who brings a different level of expertise to the table. That's good. Choice is good. What's not good is when the consumer can't tell the high level from the low level because there's not much of a gradient. So for 2024 and beyond, 2025, 2035, whenever you see this video, I want you to decide that you're willing to go next level, whatever that looks like for you. And then tell the public that you've decided that. The only way we raise the bar is if we decide that there are some of us that are willing to chase it upward, And that means leaving some behind. But here's the cool part. This mediocre agent could choose to get better. But that's on them. I personally am not lowering my level of service to meet the lowest level of agent. I'm going to elevate every single day, just as I expect my elected officials to elevate every single day. And I expect my trade association to elevate every single day. And I expect my colleagues in real estate to elevate every every single day, because that's what we should all demand of each other, because frankly, it makes us all better. And that's, my friends, what professionalism really looks like: elevating each other for the good of somebody else.
