Now is the moment to innovate, but tech alone won’t do it 

Home sales are at historic lows, brokerages are struggling with profitability, and the NAR settlement has changed the rules for how agents get paid.

"It's a little terrifying, right?" T3 Sixty President and CEO Jack Miller told the audience at this week's T3 Tech Summit. "It looks like a challenge, but to me, it's an opportunity." (Note: Real Estate News and T3 Sixty share a founder, Stefan Swanepoel.)

You can launch new programs, take big swings, Miller continued. "And what are people going to say? They're not going to say, 'I'm too busy, I'm making too many deals.' They're gonna say, 'OK, if you've got a better plan than what I've got right here. I'll follow you.'"

The hottest topic continues to be artificial intelligence, but it's less about AI as something shiny and new, and more about the specifics of how it can help turn leads into meaningful connections with people, coach and motivate agents, and create rich listing experiences for consumers. 

"The impact of what artificial intelligence can do for us is really just starting to be understood," Miller said. "Every single thing we do has an opportunity to be improved with artificial intelligence … and there are companies investing 10s and 10s of 10s of millions of dollars figuring out how to be more efficient and effective."

There are also companies that are "trying to retreat back into themselves and hold on to the old way of doing business," he continued. "That will not end well."

The human factor

The right technology can be a game-changer, but it's the people who can make or break your business.

"I tell people all the time, you're not buying technology. You are partnering with a team of people, and you need to like them and the direction they're going," Miller said.

Think about where you are going, he added, and ask yourself: "Who do you want to get in the car with you for a five to 10 year ride?" And are the people riding with you hungry? This isn't about road-trip snacks, he said — it's about commitment.

"We need people who are more ambitious," Miller said. "We need people who can learn and want to learn how to sell, who they are, their services and their value."

And it's those sharp, adaptable people who will move the real estate industry through this tumultuous era and other challenges that may lie ahead.

"We're undergoing a massive change in the way that the game is played," Miller said. "But at the end of the day, we'll realize it wasn't as big as we thought, and the professionals are gonna handle it really well."

Answer the call

The professionals don't just handle change: They are committed to handling the basics of human interaction. And Miller challenged the leaders in the audience to help the industry be better.

"How do we take the consumer and create a better experience where they don't just get that phone call back?" Miller asked. "Answer your (expletive) phone, return the email, follow up with somebody when you told them you're going to follow up. This is like the blocking and tackling of life, and our industry is very bad at it."

And do it over time.

Miller said when he built and ran a leads-focused team, almost a third of their business came from people who had been in the database for more than a year.

"When you don't have those longer-term processes, you're missing out on a lot of business."