Navigating Changes in Real Estate with Matt Green
In this episode of Entrepreneurial Impact, hosts Joe Martin and Dave Donaldson welcome real estate veteran and former president of the Park City Board of Realtors, Matt Green. Together, they delve into the evolving dynamics of the brokerage industry, examining the shifting relationships between brokers, agents, and consumers.
Guest Introduction:
Matt Green, a seasoned real estate professional from Park City, Utah, shares his extensive background in real estate, from starting as an assistant to a mega agent to becoming a leader at Keller Williams International.
Episode Summary:
The discussion opens with an overview of the current state of the real estate industry, particularly focusing on consumer expectations and the broker-agent relationship. Matt provides insightful commentary on the necessity of brokerage services in an era where transparency and value are more scrutinized than ever.
Main Talking Points:
- [00:02:05] Consumer and Broker Relationship Dynamics: Exploration of the evolving relationship between consumers, brokers, and agents, focusing on how consumer expectations are driving changes in the industry.
- [00:03:10] Changing Commissions and Value Proposition: Discussion on the effects of commission compression on the value agents and brokers provide to consumers and how this impacts the overall structure of real estate compensation.
- [00:07:51] Integration of Real Estate Services: Insights into the potential future where real estate services could become more integrated, providing a seamless consumer experience through bundled services like mortgage, title, and insurance.
- [00:10:13] The Necessity of Brokerage Services: Examination of the essential role of brokers in supporting agents despite challenges in the industry, and the possibility of new business models emerging in response to market pressures.
- [00:13:22] Leveraging Technology in Real Estate: Consideration of how technology is not just a disruptor but a tool that enhances the ability of agents to meet consumer needs, improving efficiency and client satisfaction.
- [00:15:56] Future Trends and Agent-Broker Relationships: Speculation on future trends in real estate and their potential impact on the relationships between agents and brokers, including how these relationships may evolve to better serve the market.
- [00:18:30] Role of Agents in Consumer Engagement: Detailed discussion on how agents can enhance their engagement with consumers, focusing on personalized service and understanding consumer needs in a shifting landscape.
- [00:21:45] Ethics and Transparency in Transactions: The importance of maintaining ethical standards and transparency, especially in light of increasing scrutiny of real estate practices and the need for clear communication.
Quotes from the Episode:
[00:03:28] "We're at a point where a seismic shift is possible, where a new model or approach could significantly disrupt our industry." – Matt Green
[00:10:13] "The complexity of a transaction is still so emotional and sophisticated that brokerages still need agents." – Matt Green
Transcript
Well, thank you for turning and tuning into this week's episode of
Joe:entrepreneurial impact with myself, Joe Martin and Dave Donaldson.
Joe:And what I'm really excited about today is I've got the man, the myth, the
Joe:legend coming out of Utah, Matt Green.
Joe:I think our topic today is going to be a little bit Little, little sensitive,
Joe:a little diabolical if you will, for the brokerage industry, but I really do
Joe:like pushing the envelope on this stuff.
Joe:So our topic today is really going to be about the consumer and what we
Joe:should look for in the future when it comes to the broker relationship
Joe:with the consumer, but also the agent relationship with the consumer.
Joe:So Matt, before we kick off, who are you?
Joe:Give a little intro here for the listeners.
Matt:Yeah, I mean, you set me up for a real easy layup there,
Matt:the man, the myth, the legend.
Matt:Thank you.
Matt:I don't know about that, but yeah, I've been in the industry for a long
Matt:time, been around for a long time.
Matt:So started as a, you know, an assistant to a mega agent in park city, Utah.
Matt:As I was finishing up a business finance degree at the university of
Matt:Utah and just had tremendous success.
Matt:And so worked my way through You know, it's a number of different roles until
Matt:as partners in, in that business and then launched my own and eventually became
Matt:the president of the Park City Board of Realtors there in Park City, Utah.
Matt:And so, you know, very involved in the Association of Realtors is.
Matt:At, at both the local level and the state level eventually a little bit at
Matt:the national level and, and just really kind of found a niche in leadership
Matt:and enjoying, you know, that brokerage business supporting agents and, and
Matt:really passionate about helping agents learn how to grow their businesses in
Matt:a way that is sustainable and can, you know, build wealth in, in their lives.
Matt:So eventually I got involved with Keller Williams Realty my brother and I
Matt:ended up buying a couple of franchises.
Matt:And then for the last four or five years, I've been in leadership with Keller
Matt:Williams International in Austin Texas.
Matt:So stepped down from my role about a year ago and just busy as can be you
Matt:know, running different organizations that my brother Marcus and I run.
Matt:From tile companies to mortgage companies to brokerages, et cetera.
Matt:So Joe thrilled to be on with you.
Matt:And David, thank you for the invite.
Joe:Well, I'm excited for you.
Joe:And then for those of you who didn't catch that, he's a big Utes fan.
Joe:So, I mean, it's kind of great to see Matt rising through the ranks of real
Joe:estate and everyone's actually seen cam rising play there's the like my terrible
Joe:dad joke, but I, Matt, I think it's, I'm really excited today mainly because
Joe:I've had the pleasure of getting to know you over the past, like, you know, 10
Joe:years or so and being able to actually work together on a local level with our
Joe:community called future of real estate.
Joe:I think it's really interesting when you think about the future of real
Joe:estate, which is why we picked this topic was that, you know, a lot of
Joe:the future of this is going to be.
Joe:I hate to keep reusing the analogy of netflix and blockbuster uber with taxi
Joe:cabs, but I think there's needs to be a really big focus within the future of real
Joe:estate around, you know, What the consumer experience is, what the relationship is.
Joe:I mean, we're already seeing that with any are defining what the
Joe:relationship needs to be from a buyer rep agreement for transparency.
Joe:But I wanted to think you're like, when you think about the consumer relationship,
Joe:let's start like at the 10, 000 ft level.
Joe:When you think about the consumer level to the agent, what does that
Joe:relationship look like to you?
Joe:And what does that need to evolve to if I'm an agent?
Matt:Yeah, it's a, it's, it's an interesting question.
Matt:And I think we're at a really interesting time in the industry for sure.
Matt:Like there's this, there's these moments in the industry that there is
Matt:kind of a seismic shift in how things are either done or how the consumer
Matt:perceives the value that we're providing.
Matt:But in any regards, there's just Huge opportunities in those shifts.
Matt:You know, I think a good example of that is when Gary Keller really started
Matt:Keller Williams and, and, and very kind of similar to what REMAX did.
Matt:A number of agents were looking up and saying, I'm paying my brokerage way too
Matt:much and the value I'm getting for my brokerage started to get scrutinized.
Matt:And because of that, it created an opportunity for someone to step into that
Matt:space and provide value in a different way and, and grow significant businesses.
Matt:And I think we're.
Matt:At that point again that inflection point in the industry where we could see
Matt:somebody Whether it's an agent with a new idea or a brokerage model Or maybe
Matt:someone outside the industry that really sees this landscape from a new perspective
Matt:in a way that's going to be attractive to consumer and step into that space, fill
Matt:that void and really disrupt our industry.
Matt:And it just feels like, you know, we're, we're at that moment where something
Matt:like that could really happen again.
Matt:And, and, you know, you brought up the, the Uber and Netflix examples.
Matt:And I think those are relevant, right?
Matt:I, you know, it's interesting.
Matt:I think as.
Matt:We start to experience an environment right or wrong based on some of
Matt:the variables that have occurred, including, you know, some of these big
Matt:lawsuits that are you know, kind of rocking our industry that the consumer
Matt:is looking up and really starting to question the value proposition.
Matt:And maybe less around what value they're getting, but how much
Matt:they're paying for that value.
Matt:And so all of a sudden they're looking up and going, am I paying
Matt:too much for the service I'm getting?
Matt:And are there other options?
Matt:For me to consider.
Matt:And when we think about that, right, the, the reality is, is this concept or
Matt:belief over the last two decades that the agent could potentially be disrupted or
Matt:displaced by technology or the consumer would choose to work with an agent less
Matt:just simply hasn't panned out every single survey we've seen for the last
Matt:two decades shows that the consumer chooses to work with an agent more today
Matt:than they did 10, 15, 20 years ago.
Matt:They want that that, that handholding, that, that advice of a great
Matt:professional, the true fiduciary.
Matt:And so I think the agent doesn't need to be concerned about, you know,
Matt:do they, does the consumer still perceive that they provide value?
Matt:But I do think that there's some real opportunity for us to, you know,
Matt:get into some conversation around How do we communicate about that?
Matt:What what what value is it that we're providing etc?
Joe:Yeah, I think matt you bring up a really good point
Joe:for those that are listening.
Joe:I think the brokerage as an industry has felt this compression that matt's
Joe:bringing up about like Commission compression like the broker itself like
Joe:just in northern virginia In the DMV area, you've seen a almost 1 percent
Joe:drop in commissions that are paid to the broker over the past 10 years.
Joe:So about 10 years ago, you're averaging about a 20% GCI cut to the brokerage.
Joe:They're averaging somewhere between 8 to 12 percent based on where you're
Joe:at in the country to the broker.
Joe:So there was basically a top line haircut to brokerage by about 10
Joe:to 12%, because the agent woke up and said, Hey, I'm providing
Joe:most of the value to the consumer.
Joe:Hence they control the transaction.
Joe:I think what we're looking at right now is with the transparency around
Joe:buyer rep agreements and that commissions have always been negotiable.
Joe:But for some reason, now, it's going to be more transparent.
Joe:You're going to see, I believe, some what Matt's bringing up is a consolidation of.
Joe:Costs to the consumer because they're looking at the services
Joe:being provided from mortgage title, homeowner's insurance, and brokerage
Joe:fees all get combined into one because that's what they're looking for.
Joe:They're looking for ease of transaction says, these are all the things I need
Joe:to close on a house or sell a house.
Joe:I don't want to be nickel and dimed by individual products
Joe:and like, give me the full suite because that's a better experience.
Joe:And I think that's like, as an agent, I'd be very focused on
Joe:that consumer engagement and that relationship around that.
Joe:future focused change of experience for the consumer.
Matt:Yeah, I mean, I think that the complexity of a transaction is still
Matt:so emotional and sophisticated that the brokerages still need agents, right?
Matt:And they always will.
Matt:We need someone to have that high touch.
Matt:Hi, service, you know, experience with the consumer.
Matt:The question is, does an agent still need a brokerage?
Matt:Right?
Matt:And I think there's a lot of conversation occurring right now
Matt:within the brokerage business who has experienced this compression.
Matt:Joe, you referred to some data points.
Matt:Some of the data that I've seen around brokerage profitability Is in
Matt:the last five to 10 years, brokerage profitability has dropped in half.
Matt:And in many parts of when you look at these kind of national statistical numbers
Matt:around profitability of a brokerage margins are down to like 1 percent in
Matt:many cases for, for brokerages, that that's really hard to justify doing
Matt:the business and taking on the risk.
Matt:For a 1 percent profit margin.
Matt:And so you've got a lot of brokerages looking up and
Matt:going, is this even worth it?
Matt:Especially now that they're starting to get sued for some
Matt:of this stuff and they're really questioning, like, how do I do this?
Matt:And so I think now we're starting to see the commission, you know,
Matt:compression happened at the brokerage level, or we've experienced that
Matt:for, for a couple of decades.
Matt:Now you're starting to see that same pressure being applied
Matt:towards the agent commission.
Matt:And, and And I think there's a couple of dynamics that we can talk
Matt:a little bit about that are really interesting and how we might see
Matt:the industry shift relative to that.
Matt:But one of the things I don't hear people talking about is
Matt:our existing model, whether you want to argue it's broke or not.
Matt:The dynamics of the existing model is really interesting when we think
Matt:about the value and service that we're providing to the consumer.
Matt:Joe, I heard in one of your previous podcasts, you talked to and
Matt:differentiated a little bit between the client and the customer, right?
Matt:And.
Matt:You know, when we think about the experience generally in the country right
Matt:now, relative to how an agent provides value to a buyer, a potential buyer,
Matt:we spend huge amounts of hours and time setting up showings and getting people
Matt:into houses and counseling them on how it works without any expectation of
Matt:payment until the transaction occurs.
Matt:And in certainly in my market in Park City, Utah, where, where my team
Matt:sells, you know, we may have gestation periods of a buyer for eight, nine, 10
Matt:years before they actually transact.
Matt:And we work with hundreds of people who never transact.
Matt:So a lot of times when we look at the consumer or the consumer considers the
Matt:commission that they're paying, one of the reasons why, as a buyer's agent or an
Matt:agent in general, we're willing to work with all these people for no fee at all.
Matt:It's because we know when we do get paid, it's a significant amount to
Matt:justify all of the other work that we're providing for everyone, right?
Matt:And so when we start to think about, you know a, an environment where the
Matt:resources start to get constrained, meaning the commission dollars, right?
Matt:As commission dollars start to compress and get smaller and tighter, the, the, the
Matt:inevitable, you know, pivot that occurs both by the brokerage and by the agent.
Matt:Is starting to scrutinize every single cost more intent, intentionally, right?
Matt:So, you know, one of the examples I think about is a lot of people, you know,
Matt:talked about Zillow being the Uber or the right, that, that, that disrupter.
Matt:And I don't know that that's true because Zillow didn't create more home sales.
Matt:The same number of home sales is occurring and you can, you know, I say Zillow, but
Matt:there's a number of different players that have just inserted themselves into an a,
Matt:a rich you know, kind of money set, right?
Matt:Like the commission amount is significant enough that they
Matt:could insert themselves without necessarily providing much more value.
Matt:And the agent was willing to do that in some of these circumstances.
Matt:Because the commission was good.
Matt:The pay was good.
Matt:We was justifiable.
Matt:As that gets compressed, they're going to start looking up and go, and
Matt:there's no way I'm willing to pay that.
Matt:MSAs might fall in that boat, right?
Matt:Like all these different things where we see people kind of
Matt:pulling at that commission.
Matt:Agents and brokers are going to start to get way more particular about
Matt:what fees they're willing to, to, you know, pull from their commissions.
David:We look at a lot of the, the education or we can have
David:consultation advice, education of.
David:What the associates are able to bring to the consumers, right?
David:And when we talk about, I think, unfortunately, I think a lot
David:of times people hear the word disruption, they automatically
David:lean in towards technology, right?
David:They like, cause they say, well, it's the technology that may step in
David:and change how we do, but it's not the replacement of the agent through
David:technology, that's the disruption.
David:It's the utilization of the technology and the information that that provides
David:that I don't think the agents has Grasply understood how to leverage
David:that to change the conversation to get ahead of where the consumers need to
David:be It's not always I mean you have to ask questions for questions sake to
David:understand the need But you also have to understand that hey if i've asked
David:a question, do I have the information?
David:That's going to take them and show them why they need me.
David:And that's the gap from an educational training that I think people miss so
David:much on, Hey, I have tech technology.
David:Isn't the silver bullet technology is just changing how we're delivering
David:or receiving the information that we need to coach our consumers.
Matt:Yeah, I think that's exactly right.
Matt:And I think the analogy of Uber is a perfect example of that, right?
Matt:The, the, the number of.
Matt:Rides needed by the consumer didn't change because of Uber.
Matt:Uber stepped in and provided a better value than the traditional taxi
Matt:experience and it was through leverage.
Matt:And so if you kind of, if we rewind back to the conversation about do agents need.
Matt:But we, we're absolutely clear that brokerages need agents because
Matt:there's no way to really scale that human touch that experience that,
Matt:you know, so the, the agent is, is absolutely necessary in, in this role.
Matt:I kind of asked it maybe controversial question is, does
Matt:the brokerage still need to exist?
Matt:Does the broker role still need to exist?
Matt:And what I would argue is that whether it's the broker or the association,
Matt:whoever fills that role, The only path to do what you said, David, is scale,
Matt:which is technology and big dollars, and so the agent needs the brokerage
Matt:to continue to step into that space and provide that value piece so that
Matt:they can provide a consumer experience similar to how much we enjoy using Uber.
Matt:Versus, you know, the taxi experience.
Matt:And if you think about that, that's all about helping control the consumer, you
Matt:know, perception of when is the car going to show up and how much does it cost?
Matt:And, you know, all those experiences that it makes that experience better
Matt:than the traditional taxi experience.
Joe:Yeah, I think that then this shifts into this conversation of what's the
Joe:role of the broker to the consumer?
Joe:Because like, I think what you're bringing up here is now like, Hey, the agent's
Joe:always going to be need there to deal with the emotional side of the cons, like the
Joe:customer and client dealing with that.
Joe:What I think is fascinating is that number one, most agents don't understand
Joe:the liability that's exposed to them.
Joe:So I don't think most agents want to be dealing with like,
Joe:you know, and negotiations and lawsuits and things like that.
Joe:So let's just take that one off the table.
Joe:But I think that the real question is, is that like, how does the brokerage.
Joe:Relationship of all with consumer, not in like the traditional sense, but going
Joe:back to like, what's the platform of products and services that the agent
Joe:actually has to be a part of with that brokerage divide to provide a better
Joe:value experience to the consumer.
Joe:And then what things from scope and scale does the brokerage need
Joe:to provide direct to consumer?
Joe:Because the agent doesn't have the financial means or the
Joe:operational scale to do that, right?
Joe:That's the real question.
Joe:I think that evolves and that whatever brokerage is able to get out in front of
Joe:the consumer needs, then the agent has to then say how I do business needs to change
Joe:because the consumer is demanding it.
Joe:And I think that's where the agent and broker relationship actually comes
Joe:closer as we move forward, because the agent's never going to have
Joe:that type of, like, Let's be real.
Joe:So what you've got 100, 000 contacts in your database.
Joe:Are you able to actually put enough people on it to get value and actually
Joe:adoption of whatever that technology solution may be or whatever that
Joe:product offering is necessary in the home and the home purchasing process?
Joe:That's what the real question I think is needed.
Matt:Yeah, I totally agree.
Matt:I think especially, you know, at this environment where the resource of
Matt:commission dollar is getting compressed and shrunk, the traditional brokerage
Matt:model where the broker perceives their value as providing, you know, Brokerage
Matt:oversight or, you know, contract oversight, compliance, you know,
Matt:you know, those kinds of things that largely has been commoditized and it
Matt:is almost a race to zero as far as who can provide that for the least amount
Matt:of money and one of the things that's driving the The margins in brokerage
Matt:business to be tighter and tighter.
Matt:And so if we assume that that's our value only, it's, it's akin to an agent saying
Matt:that their value is the gatekeeper to the data, which I still hear in some
Matt:instances, like you know, the number of agents that would love to just go
Matt:back to the book where they can only control the data and You know, hand
Matt:out the listings because they're the gatekeeper to the data that day's over.
Matt:And I think the brokerage business is similar.
Matt:The idea that your value proposition, assuming that you want to create
Matt:a meaningful business that has profit, can't just be You know,
Matt:transactional, transactional oversight.
Matt:So you've got to expand kind of your role in how you provide value
Matt:to both the consumer directly in some instances and engage in direct
Matt:to consumer type of behavior.
Matt:As well as amplifying David, you said it perfectly, right?
Matt:Providing the resources to agents such that they're smarter, better have leads
Matt:that they otherwise weren't all the things that maybe we can do at scale
Matt:that are difficult for them to do.
Matt:So I think you're gonna start to see Joe Brokers is being more intentional about
Matt:maintaining their own Consumer database.
Matt:As agents come and go, get out of the business, et cetera, and then
Matt:you're going to start to be more systematic, intentional on how they
Matt:market to to, to, to that consumer.
Matt:Additionally, I think they're going to start to expand their value offerings.
Matt:We've seen that to some extent in these Joint ventures and different
Matt:agreements that they do with title and mortgage, et cetera.
Matt:But I think you could start to see that more into home management and a, a broader
Matt:experience of total home ownership.
Matt:We're starting to see this consumer and the homeowner stay in the home longer.
Matt:So that makes it even more challenging to stay in relationship with the, that
Matt:homeowner for a longer period of time in between transactions so that at
Matt:the time they're ready to transact, they're working with you again.
Matt:But In that instance, in between that 10 year period, how do you continue
Matt:to stay relevant, provide value and collect fees for the value that
Matt:you're providing during that time?
David:Yeah, I think that's an interesting thing when you talk
David:about the viability or the success of brokerage of the future, right?
David:And I look at all the things that have changed to now, and now we are looking
David:at the settlements of the lawsuit, but who's covered, who's not covered.
David:And also look at, you know, will independence or small brokerage houses
David:survive Or will they be forced to change the market to become a Work with the
David:larger brokerage houses because they can't provide the things right technology's
David:gotten cheaper But how much of that can they actually provide from an education
David:training and awareness standpoint?
David:You can take out, you know, which has always kind of been
David:there like do I go to my own?
David:Do I start my own company?
David:But how much more now can we provide as a brokerage standpoint?
David:and fight The larger brokerage size, because they understand
David:that it's a land grab, right?
David:We have to have productive agents, and at the same time, we have to provide value
David:for those productive agents to see that they're getting what I can provide for
David:them, and they can't get it anywhere else.
Matt:Yeah, it's, it's a really interesting dynamic that, you know,
Matt:You know, a few people want to have this conversation because I think it's
Matt:really controversial, but But I don't think it needs to be controversial.
Matt:I don't I don't get emotionally wound up about this conversation, which
Matt:is you know Does the association of real and i'm a big fan of the
Matt:association of realtors as I shared in?
Matt:You know our prelude that I was president of the park city board I think that the
Matt:association of realtors can do some really really positive things in our industry.
Matt:In my opinion It You know, they've started to step into a space to provide
Matt:value and services that traditionally aren't provided by a trade organization
Matt:and historically have been provided by, you know, a brokerage business, right?
Matt:And so, David, you asked the question, can some of these small brokerages survive?
Matt:Well, In many instances, those small brokerages are helping their agents
Matt:capture scale and the value of a big brokerage Because of the services provided
Matt:by the association the question remains Especially in this environment where
Matt:things have started to shift and they're starting to be a real challenge to the
Matt:association of realtors and the value besides Just having to be a member in
Matt:order to access the mls Are us, are we at a point where a lot of the big brokerages
Matt:are going to look up and say we're done paying fees to the association just so
Matt:that you can turn around and provide value back to all of the other agents that we
Matt:are already providing to our own agents?
Matt:And does that really trigger this kind of movement to dismantle the association
Matt:that levels the playing field for so many of those small brokerages?
Matt:Or does someone else step into that space like a CoStar or a Zillow or someone else
Matt:that then helps normalize the ability to create scale in some of those experiences.
Matt:And that's where I think there's just such an opportunity right now that
Matt:that disruption might be occurring, that it could really upset, you know,
Matt:who is that person that's going to step in and provide that value piece.
Joe:Yeah, you're dealing with there's 2 things that I was
Joe:thinking about when you're talking.
Joe:Matt was 1 was there's an opportunity to fill this transparency and
Joe:lawsuits and all this thing and getting eyes balls on it.
Joe:It's going to cause a level of professionalism inside the
Joe:trade to actually have to go up.
Joe:Like, so you're looking at a broker's agents level of professionalism has
Joe:to go up is now you're going to have to say, here's my value proposition.
Joe:Here's what my compensation is as if I was on a retainer, like
Joe:any type of professional, like a lawyer or, you know, a sports agent
Joe:is not a good way to look at it.
Joe:The 2nd part around this consumer experience part is also from the
Joe:agent broker consumer, or you look at those 3 different like categories and
Joe:how they interact with each other.
Joe:The 1 that I keep going back to was speaking with Bo about so much is that.
Joe:You have a free market right now.
Joe:So free market economics are great because it basically gets rid of like
Joe:fat and it gets to efficiencies and like services and product offerings.
Joe:The thing that I get back to is that going back to those 4 services around
Joe:brokerage, mortgage, title and insurance that you have to have to close on a house
Joe:is that the majority of those people, The mortgage title and insurance are
Joe:constantly paying agents or brokerages for access to the agent to the relationship.
Joe:And what happens is, let's be very clear in business, if I'm spending 30
Joe:percent of my operational expense on lead acquisition, because I'm buying you
Joe:donuts, buying you champagne at closing, and I'm, you know, spending out 10, 000
Joe:a month for your MSA on your website.
Joe:That money has to be funneled into the fees and services costs to the
Joe:consumer, which means the consumer's actually paying an inflated price.
Joe:Now, my question is, does the consumer get a better service offering from
Joe:the professionals that they're able to hire in those businesses?
Joe:And are they actually getting a better product offering because of that?
Joe:I don't actually agree that they are.
Joe:So hence, when you think about the consumer relationship, the broker,
Joe:Can the broker get to a place where they have great product offering and
Joe:services at a 30 percent less than market rate because they're actually
Joe:able to provide lead generation without having to pay for donuts, champagne and
Joe:like marketing dollars on your website.
Joe:And I think that's one big consolidation.
Joe:I think it's gonna happen that the broker is actually set up because
Joe:of scale, be able to partner and internalize that lead gen.
Joe:So it's a sphere that just keeps feeding each one
Matt:of those businesses.
Matt:I think that's right.
Matt:And I think that those relationships, that interconnectivity.
Matt:Doesn't ensure a better service or a less expensive value
Matt:proposition for the consumer.
Matt:But it does set the stage for that to happen.
Matt:And I think over time, what the consumer will find is that they
Matt:will find a competitive service that bundles all of that stuff that
Matt:provides it in a better way for less money than those who haven't been
Matt:able to figure out a way to bundle it.
Matt:Does that make sense?
Matt:So, so it doesn't guarantee it, but it does set the, the
Matt:platform for it to happen.
Matt:And when it does happen, It will be a distinct advantage for, you know, that
Matt:business entity that bundles it well provides it in a really great service
Matt:and then captures the scale to do it less expensively than anyone else.
Matt:So I think that's true, Joe.
Joe:Well, on that note, I think, Matt, was there anything you want
Joe:to leave, like, as your parting gift to the listeners today around the
Joe:consumer relationship with brokerage and agent just kind of finish us up here?
Matt:Yeah, I mean, I think it's all about marketing and communication, right?
Matt:So I think we've done a horrific job as an industry explaining to
Matt:the consumer, one, what our value proposition is and how their fees
Matt:are utilized for value for them.
Matt:For, for, for that, that they, that they achieve, that they get right.
Matt:And so I think as we I had a great opportunity years ago at a marketing
Matt:company that me and a partner invested in, we started and we did
Matt:the original designs for Skullcandy.
Matt:And if you're familiar with Skullcandy, there's a competitor
Matt:to Bose and Beats and so forth.
Matt:And You know, it, it just helped me remind, reminded myself that 99
Matt:percent of the success in business that we experience is really around
Matt:marketing and telling our story.
Matt:Well, the Skullcandy headphones are great.
Matt:They are no better than anything else in the industry.
Matt:There was no significant technology that made the sound just so much better.
Matt:It was a marketing ploy, right?
Matt:Like they capped into the right community the X games, those type of communities.
Matt:And it blew up because of the way they told their story and created, you know,
Matt:this, this momentum around this brand.
Matt:And as an agent, like anything that you do to differentiate yourself, whether it's
Matt:great service or whatever it is, some, you know, some little widget that you've
Matt:created to, to make the experience better.
Matt:That's all going to be duplicated.
Matt:Someone else is going to copy it and rip it off.
Matt:So it really comes down to your ability to tell the story and communicate and market
Matt:yourself in a compelling way that helps the consumer demystify and understand the
Matt:value proposition that you're providing and the service that you're going to do
Matt:to differentiate yourself in the space.
Matt:It's about the, it's about that marketing piece.
Matt:You know, I frequently when I was coaching agents, Would tell them that when I got
Matt:I just listed or a call to just come list me right That's that call that you
Matt:get where the it's a friend or someone was referred to you And they've been
Matt:told how great you are and they say just call Matt and they call you and
Matt:they're like hey Just come list my house.
Matt:I'm like Great.
Matt:Are you talking to any other agents?
Matt:No.
Matt:That always made me nervous.
Matt:I'm like, okay, well I do a listing presentation.
Matt:I want to come over and walk you through.
Matt:And they're like, no, no, we just want to get the house listed.
Matt:And I'm like, I won't list your house unless I have the
Matt:opportunity to sit down and walk you through my listing presentation.
Matt:Because if I don't, what every time would happen is they would
Matt:not know all of the things that we were going to do on their behalf.
Matt:And they would always think that they overpaid me.
Matt:And so I always wanted to sit down and walk them through all the things that we
Matt:were going to do and kind of Preemptively address the challenges that they were
Matt:going to face and how we were going to help them So they had great confidence
Matt:in knowing that the fees that they paid me Were worth every single dollar that
Matt:they paid me and I think that's going to be the key as we roll into This shifted
Matt:industry and environment where there's less resources on the table for people.
Matt:It's going to be about really getting good at tuning up your value proposition.
Matt:But then more importantly, the people that are going to play at a higher level than
Matt:anyone else are the ones who can tell that story and communicate it most effectively.
David:Matt, you nailed that.
David:I really appreciate it.
David:There's a lot of conversations I've been having recently since the
David:settlement conversation is like where you live and how have you mastered
David:your conversations with your consumers?
David:Cause I think they have just gotten away from practicing it and executing
David:it at a high level and going back there will substantiate and balance out all
David:the other noise that's coming along.
David:But if you can get in front of your consumers and deliver on that
David:value promise, you're going to win.
David:So thanks for wrapping it up to that delivery that you hit
David:the right buttons with that.
Matt:It's gonna be fun to see how it evolves.
Matt:I mean, you might really start to see like a fee for service model evolve where
Matt:someone is effectively able to communicate that piece and say, I'm 700 an hour.
Matt:And you know, if you want me to start showing you homes, that's my rate, right?
Matt:So I don't know.
Matt:It's gonna be fun.
David:It's real estate.
David:It's fun.
David:There's a slogan in there somewhere.
Joe:Well, thanks everybody for tuning in this week's episode of
Joe:entrepreneurial impact and tune in for next week's episode as well.
Joe:Thanks, Dave.
Joe:Thanks, Matt.
Joe:And as always, thanks for everybody tuning in and listening.
