‘Unfiltered’: There’s no ‘magic script’ — success is about skill
Watch the conversation as Real Brokerage President Sharran Srivatsaa shares his own selling experience, and the real key for agents (hint: it’s not charisma).
Editor's note: The Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered podcast explores the people and forces that shape the real estate industry. Check out our top takeaways and watch the latest episode from NextHome CEO James Dwiggins and Keith Robinson, NextHome's chief strategic officer.
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On this episode of Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered, Real Brokerage President Sharran Srivatsaa talks about the post-settlement landscape and the need to move from being a "charisma-focused industry to a skill-focused industry."
"We are advisors and professionals who are hired for our skills," Srivatsaa said. "It's not a marketing presentation, it's a listing presentation." It's about "how I'm going to take you through this process" and make people feel safe on the journey.
There is no "magic script" for this conversation, he added. "If you need to have a magic script to explain buyer representation and compensation, the rest of your presentation sucks."
And leaders, Srivatsaa said, need to do more. "We have not done a good job to focus on skill development as the core determining factor for the success of agents in our world."
See what happened when Srivatsaa's agent kept quiet about compensation: Srivatsaa was recently a seller himself, and he talked about experimenting with a different approach — which turned out to be "a good one" — by telling his agent not to advertise any buy-side commissions (though he did intend to pay 2.5%).
"I said, hey, if a buyer agent calls you and asks [about compensation], this is what I want you to say: 'My seller is open to paying buyer representation compensation based on the terms of your offer.' And he's like, … 'Wait a minute. You don't want to tell them the number?' I'm like, 'Do not tell them the number.'"
What happened next? Srivatsaa received four offers above asking, a range of agent compensation requests — and an epiphany.
"A lot of people are considering this to be a buyer-centric issue," Srivatsaa said. "I actually think this is a listing-centric issue: How you actually explain it to the seller and how the seller is going to actually manage this process."