JOHN PERCUDANI: Reflecting on your business' evolution

However, the consumer continues to change quite dramatically. As a consequence, the relevancy and value proposition provided by the real estate profession, particularly in the sales arena, may continue to be increasingly questioned by the real estate consumer.

Resting on the practices, brand promises and methodologies of the past may not ensure ongoing success in the future, especially considering the volatility of the property cycle. Real estate agents continue to promote and push their success, their awards and their market standing rather than evolving to engage the client on a deeper level. Increasingly, the consumer seeks us to be more engaged in their agenda, their expectations and their needs; to provide a distinct advantage to them achieving their desired outcomes.

As a profession, we continue to be very focused on the 'what and how' of daily real estate activities, in particular the competency around the tangible aspects of real estate such as signboards, website presence, real estate selling skills, etc. These all relate to baseline competency, which is no longer a defining competitive advantage as competency levels have risen dramatically. I would suggest that a greater focus on the 'why' is more important and that just the IQ (intellectual intelligence) around real estate is now a basic expected. What today’s informed consumer seeks is a greater, emotional engagement into their situation and their needs.

A shift to having a higher focus on EQ (emotional intelligence) in the real estate proposition is difficult as it is an intangible. However, with an informed consumer that now expects baseline competency as a given, this can be the defining difference that may provide a greater relevancy with a greater value proposition to our consumers in 2014 and beyond.