LOOKING THROUGH ANOTHER LENS …

Have you ever been at a cross roads in your life or business and for some reason you can’t find the answer, sometimes the forest is so thick you can’t even find the questions to ask yourself?  Then out from behind one of the trees a friend shows up and just gives you the answer you were seeking.  You walk away wondering how could they find the right path so easily?  How did they see the issues, options and answers with such clarity and purpose?  Over the years, I have been inundated with these moments – the walls seem to have no doors or windows, and then out of no-where someone beckons me from a door I never noticed.

This week I had the opportunity to be the observer observing.  During an ALC committee meeting at Keller Williams Coastal Properties (KWCP) we were asked to evaluate the options over a commission split arrangement regarding real estate teams.  As part of the ALC, our roles are to remove our agent/broker hats and view the issues from a Company perspective.  The issue at hand was the current policy by which every KWCP agent pays a commission split (a negotiated percentage of every deal) to the Company on every closed transaction up to a maximum of $19,500 per the agent’s annual anniversary date (date agent started at KWCP).  Once the agent closes enough business that the cap maximum has been paid into the Company, then every deal after that the agent gets 100% of all commissions with no offsets to the Company.  This commission split is the primary revenue for the Company to offer a platform of services, and to cover the risk for operating the business.  Agents desiring to build a “team” with other agents working under them have requested that the Company accept a ½ cap ($9,750) from these agents.  So in affect asking the Company to waive this revenue when an agent on the team closes any transactions over the ½ cap limit.

Agents argued that any modification to the existing ½ cap team policy would unfairly “penalize” teams if they paid an amount over a ½ cap when these agents never in the past closed a sufficient number of transactions to warrant owing the Company more than $9,750.  They argued that it would be a win if under the team these agents closed more than four deals (using an average price of $300,000 at 3% commission); and that if this happened the team would be responsible for creating the platform for the agent to earn sufficient money to exceed the ½ cap.  I contend that paying the split to the Company is not a “penalty” but a cost of doing business.  When an agent doing less than four transactions per year joins a team and closes over four transactions, then maybe the agent, team AND Company created the environment for that agent to perform at a higher level.  Furthermore, if the committee endorses a policy that permits this ½ cap scenario, then agents who are “full cappers” (agents/brokers paying $19,750 to the Company) would form teams just to reduce their costs of doing business.  Several agents quickly responded that “successful agents” would never join teams; that in fact, their experience is that as an agent joins a team and receives the value of the “rain makers” training, knowledge and systems that the agents leave the team and work on their own.  Their assumption is that successful agents WOULD NEVER BE PART OF A TEAM SALES ENVIRONMENT.  Under their assumption I agree – no successful agent would leave their own business to join a team just to avoid the “full cap” policy (because under their team model the agent would significant lose commission to the team leader/rainmaker – the team split).  But, what if you changed the team model?  Ah, what if the lens you look out from was changed?  The other people in the committee looked at me like I was an alien from another planet. 

Changing the lens or the platform in which we operate from is happening all around us at warp speed (whether we like it or not).  Maybe that is why so many of us are struggling to keep up.  The committee should critically look at every assumption and don’t assume that just because history may bear out evidentiary proof for their assumptions, that tomorrow will be the same – I would contend that every assumption is being stretched and challenged by the market place and the Internet.  In fact, I would contend that if we don’t challenge our assumptions (change the lens we look out of) periodically, then we will become obsolete, and thus irrelevant within the market place. 

Gary Vaynerchuk in his new book entitled “Why Now Is The Time To CRUSH IT” (allegedly the book is number 2 on the New York Times Best Seller List after just a month or so in the bookstores) states a compelling argument for the value of social media, the Internet and changing the lens from which we operate our business and life.  In fact, he makes a compelling argument that all of us should be working diligently to create our own ‘personal brand’ even if we are gainfully employed at a traditional Company.  Great book, I strongly recommend reading it!  Why is Gary’s book relevant within this conversation … because he is all about challenging the assumptions and changing the lens to build a massive market presence or personal following on a global basis (now that is changing the lens).  In his book, he systematically outlines how all of us can leverage the shifting sand underneath our feet to move ahead of our competition and crush it. 

Just this past Thursday, I was meeting with a successful realtor in Long Beach that currently works at a competitor’s brokerage company.  I was asked to meet with him as part of KWCP’s recruiting efforts with this gentleman.  He in fact operates a realtor team that operates from a different platform than the typical KW team model.  Yes, he has changed the lens and is extremely successful even in this market operating within a team model that has a different focus.  But having said that, when asked about this thoughts on technology in our industry he could not wrap his brain around the concept of a ‘media channel’ and how social media could be leveraged for anything but a social outlet.  He is struggling with understanding social media’s relevance in business, and how we can monetize these platforms.  I encouraged him to challenge his assumptions and look at it from a different perspective.  Will he?  I think given time this realtor will have no choice but to embrace the social media platform, however today … probably not.

In a recent teleconference, Tom Ferry asked Gary Vaynerchuk what is the one thing realtors must ask themselves today?  Gary responded that each realtor must ask themselves “whether they plan on being in business more than three years?”  “If so, you better learn how to leverage and monetize the social media platforms in your respective businesses or you will be obsolete and irrelevant” – otherwise you risk becoming a nonentity in the sea of change that is sweeping all businesses.  Do I agree with Gary’s prediction – three years or done … no, but at some point I think that his prediction will become our reality.  So where do we go from here?  Are you in the same situation … even worse are you in the same dilemma and you don’t even know it yet?  To some degree or another, I would contend that we are all in the same boat!  So the only remaining question is what are you going to do about it?

I encourage you to be aware of your assumptions; be aware how your patterns and choices of the past affect your assumptions.  Challenge them to see if they really fit with your goals; challenge them to see if a changing market will see your assumptions having any value moving forward; and then have the courage to consider viewing the situation from a different lens.  As a friend suggested that I do regularly … don’t be afraid to operate outside the “cockpit” every once and a while.  The change of scenery may just offer a different perspective that affords you solutions and opportunities that didn’t exist previously.  Just a thought or two!

I hope you enjoyed the reflection, and take the time to consider how these questions may present opportunities for you today and in 2010.  Most importantly, I hope you make it a GREAT day and week!!  If you wish to read all the other Monday Morning Mojos written for you, then visit: http://mondaymojo.blogspot.com.  As always, I welcome and encourage your feedback and your reflections (please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with me).  If I can be of service to you or your friends, please let me know or visit us at http://www.coastalcommunityhomes.com.  And, thank you for your continued support and inspiration … each of you are a cherished gift that enriches my life in ways you will never understand … Thank you!!  Jim Peys