Rob Cook, 2007 Chairman of the Board of Directors, Houston Association of REALTORS®, is a 27-year licensed broker whose experience runs the gamut in the real estate industry; home building, land development, commercial development, commercial leasing and management and residential sales and management.
His first job in real estate was as a leasing agent for a shopping center developer. But that came after his first job in retail, which is where he says he learned about service and patience. In the late 1980’s, Rob formed Robert D. Cook Properties. The FDIC was an early client and Rob says working with their offices in Houston, Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas offices heightened his career in real estate.
In addition to serving as Chairman of the Houston Association of REALTORS, Rob has served as a Director of the National Association of REALTORS, an HAR Regional Representative to the Texas Association of REALTORS and President of the Houston Independent Real Estate Brokers Association.
Rob has served on several HAR and TAR committees with emphasis on broker issues, political affairs, international business and technology in the real estate industry.
Rob is credited with being a strong voice for governance changes that opened candidacy to the HAR Board of Directors to all members. The Board now has designated seats for small, medium, large and largest brokerages.
During his near 30-year career in real estate, Rob has earned ABR, Accredited Buyers’ Representative, CRS, Certified Residential Specialist, CSP, Certified New Home Sales Professional and GRI, Graduate of Real Estate Institute, accreditations.
He is currently a member of the National Association of Realtors, the Texas Association of Realtors, the Houston Association of Realtors, Houston Independent Brokers Association, Woman’s Council of Realtors, ABR Council and the CRS Council.
Rob also generously gives his time to the American Diabetes Foundation, American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, Cystic Fibrosis, Habitat for Humanity and the Leukemia Foundation.
My sense is that the industry has been enhanced by many of the young first career agents who have entered the field over the last three to four years. They are bringing an intense drive, technical expertise and a desire to work effectively and efficiently. While some senior brokers suggest that they are not as hard working as their boomer generation predecessors I would differ. In fact they are not only working harder but more efficiently. While successful agents during the 1990’s felt they had to work 60 hours a week, these new agents are striving to do it all within 40 hours. I think they are going to succeed in this quest and in doing so will teach all of us a lesson about living a balanced and quality life.
Speaking of change, with respect to today’s consumer it is my sense that all traditional bets are off. They are confident, knowledgeable and powered by having spent weeks and sometimes months on the Internet. They clearly want to work with a professional REALTOR® but they are not going to be fooled by an agent who doesn’t know their stuff. Competence is a clear prerequisite to working with this customer. They are going to take us to a whole new level.
I think the first thing today’s consumer wants, actually demands, is to be to provided quality service. This generation of consumers has no patience with being “processed” by an agent who has attended a course in high performance high-pressure interactions.
The consumer’s second expectation is that their agent will respect the study and research that they have done to prepare for the home buying or selling experience. While I think it is true that many consumers today have way too much information, the fact is that we REALTORS® must start the relationship from the perspective of working with someone who believes they have prepared themselves to be a good client. Many clients are conducting their own real estate research for over a year before they contact an agent.
Most businesses are learning that high on today’s consumer’s list of expectations is a great experience. At every stage of the transaction process today’s consumer expects to be entertained, stimulated, educated and, yes, reinforced relative to their decision that real estate is a good investment for them.
The final consumer expectation, and the one that we REALTORS are most out of touch with, is currently being referred to as the “value proposition”. While today’s consumer is making a clear statement that they want to work with REALTORS® they are making an even louder statement that they don’t think we are worth what we have been charging. The alarming decrease in real estate commission levels over the past four years is the direct result of this statement. In a world in which consumers are paying premium dollars for everything from motorcycles, steaks, coffee to sports shoes consumers are sending a clear message to REALTORS®; “Align your service experience with our expectations and we will pay you premium commission rates. I have heard industry experts predict that if we do not deliver what the consumer seeks we may soon be selling for three and listing for free.”
The responsibility for responding to consumer expectations is and hopefully will remain the exclusive providence of brokers and agents. However, REALTOR® Associations and MLS operations can position themselves to support brokers and agents in their efforts. Most brokers, certainly the mid and small size ones, lack the resources to maintain internal research capabilities. Association and MLS staff can be most helpful here. However, Associations and MLS operations must be careful not to put themselves between the consumer and the agent or broker. I am proud to say that our HAR.com operation has managed this balancing act with a great level of skill and success. Beyond the fact that HAR.com delivers an amazing range of tools for the consumer and over 500,000 leads to REALTORS annually with no additional fees, at no point does that offering fail to promote the value of the REALTOR® to the consumer.
Hopefully most brokers understand that the basis of profitability has always been customer satisfaction and referrals. Accordingly the only change that needs to be made is to make sure the entire focus of the brokerage is on continuing consumer satisfaction or “consumer centricity” as it is currently known. As consumer expectations shift brokers must transition their value propositions to meet that new expectation. There is, however, one other change that would definitely impact profitability. If a broker is not confident that their current service package warrants a full commission their response shouldn’t be to discount that rate but rather to enhance services to meet the consumers’ concept of value. Great experiences, not cheap, are today’s consumer expectation.
I can relate the experience I have with the Houston Association of REALTORS. HAR delivers free leads to its members, provides free REALTOR Websites, has developed a software to allow agents to make showing appointments online, provides all listing on HAR.com in 7 languages and constantly promotes the value of REALTORS to consumers using billboards, print, TV and the Web. It has also conducted a consumer survey to help its members better understand and service the consumer. Every thing HAR does is with the intent of ensuring broker profitability.
As a broker, like most of my peers, I am trying hard to walk the walk and talk the talk. As the leader of a 26,000 member leading edge professional organization known as the Houston Association of REALTORS® I am working even harder by investing my influence and energies and doing everything possible to make sure HAR is supporting its members and their annual investment. I believe HAR should support its member brokers and agents who want to move forward in meeting consumer expectations and generating profits that make a real estate brokerage worth owning.
My current focus is on better understanding consumer behavior as I try to plot a course for my brokerage moving forward. As a starting point I would recommend A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink. I would follow that read with Treasure Hunt by Michael Silverstein and then Priceless by Diana LaSalle. Taken together these three books will provide an excellent vision with respect to where we, as REALTORS, need to be and what we need to do to prepare for where we are going.
Brokerages need to decide whether they are part of the industry’s future or the steward of its past. From my vantage point I see too many firms whose principals are either too tired or too disinterested to do what is necessary to ensure the firm’s future success. This is an amazing time to be a broker. There is more opportunity for brokerages today than at any time since 1947. The first decision is not whether to make all the changes but rather to make the simple changes that put our firms on the right course. The news today is filled with stories of firms who are making changes that, however admirable, just don’t make sense for most of us. Success in the future is not about copying the outrageous but rather about being all we can be.
If you are an Association or MLS decide whether you represent the status quo or the future. If you believe your function is to protect the status quo then start buying sandbags and building higher walls because the assault of change is upon us. If you see your role as facilitating your member’s success in the future stop protecting your turf and move towards the future in a manner that is responsible and respectful of your members and their future success.
Be an innovator! For example, HAR displays its listings on Google for viewing by consumers, it offers quality service certification to its members so consumers can rate them, and its Website has over 700,000 unique visitors each month which creates over half a million leads for REALTORS and it will spend $1 million dollars in 2007 to promote the value of the REALTOR.
Step out of your comfort zone, be a leader and stay relevant!
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