Ethica CEO Judd Hoffman in conversation with real estate leaders, recorded on stage at industry events.
Where the work actually happens
At Inman Connect San Diego, Phil Hawkins, CEO of the California Association of REALTORS®, made a point about where an agent's day is actually spent.
"All of you have your phones on you right now. All of you are probably looking at your phones right now. REALTORS® are out in the field a lot."
That's the whole argument, and it's worth sitting with rather than nodding past. An agent's working day happens between appointments. In a car. Standing in a kitchen with a client. Waiting somewhere with fifteen minutes to spare. The desk is where the day gets reconciled, not where it gets lived.
Then Hawkins gave the example that makes it concrete, and it's a small one on purpose.
An agent is with a client. They say they want the wine fridge included. The agent drives back to the office to write it up. And in Hawkins' words, there's a good chance that by the time they get there, they've forgotten it.
That's not a story about being disorganised. It's a story about how memory works. The detail was captured perfectly at the moment it was said, and then it had to survive a drive, a parking lot, a few phone calls and whatever else the afternoon held. Some details survive that trip. Some don't.
So the question isn't whether an agent can remember the wine fridge. It's why the wine fridge has to make the trip at all.
If the work gets recorded where it happens, in the car, right then, the detail never has to survive anything. Hawkins put the odds plainly: fill it out in the car and there's a better chance you don't miss it.
That's a lower bar than most technology sets for itself, and it's a more honest one.
The full conversation with Judd Hoffman is here.
Quick takes
Where do real estate agents actually do their work?
In the field, between appointments. C.A.R. CEO Phil Hawkins noted that REALTORS are out in the field a lot and have their phones on them constantly, so the desk is where the day gets reconciled rather than where it gets lived.
Why does it matter when a transaction detail gets recorded?
Because a detail captured later has to survive the trip. Hawkins used the example of a wine refrigerator a client asks to include: by the time the agent is back at the office there's a good chance they've forgotten it. Recorded in the car at the moment it was said, it never has to survive anything.
Is forgetting a transaction detail a discipline problem?
No. It's how memory works. The detail is captured perfectly when it's said, then has to survive a drive, a parking lot and a few phone calls. The fix is shortening the gap between the moment and the record, not trying harder to remember.
Sources
- Ethica Blog: Judd Hoffman and Phil Hawkins on Stage at Inman: The full twelve-minute conversation this clip is drawn from
Transcript
188 words
JUDD HOFFMAN: So I would also say, if I can add to this, this is built to be a mobile product.
PHIL HAWKINS: This is built to be a mobile product, and all of you have your phones on you right now. All of you are probably looking at your phones right now. REALTORS® are out in the field a lot, and this hopefully, and this is the goal, this hopefully frees up that time, because you can start that transaction, you saw the video right there, on your mobile product and actually complete it at that time, rather than going back to your office and typing up things.
PHIL HAWKINS: And I don't know about you, I'm getting older. If I'm in front of that client and they tell me, like I think the example was there, we want to include the wine fridge, there's a good chance by the time I get back to the office, I'm going to forget that. But if I go to the car and I start filling that out right then, there's a better chance I'm not going to miss that.
