Do Tribes Exist within the Real Estate Industry?

The concept of a Tribe in business is a term made famous by marketing guru Seth Godin. Seth believes that alliances and relationships are created in business for the mutual benefit of all parties. I pondered the concept of a tribe and how it relates to the real estate industry and realized that this theory holds very true.

The relationships made between agents of different offices are vital to the success of all real estate agents. It is important for agents to both network with and trust other agents that they work with. Any client working with an agent that is disconnected from the tribe will immediately have to overcome an issue of trust with other agents of the tribe. This distrust will be passed through the agent to the client. Therefore, if an agent is not trusted by other agents, their clients are not trusted by other agents.

Another benefit to working with an agent that is associated with the tribe is the power of networking. If your agent already has an established relationship with the other agents, they will be more likely to hear of properties that might be coming on the market soon. It will also be easier for the agents in the tribe to negotiate among each other on the client’s behalf. By understanding how certain agents handle their negotiations, other tribe members that already know them will have a better understanding of to deal will objectionable points of contention.

In addition to tribes among real estate agents, there are also groups of real estate affiliates that work together as tribes. Real estate affiliates include lenders, escrow companies and home inspectors. While it is illegal for these affiliates to accept monetary gain for business (referral fees), there is a huge advantage for real estate agents to work with affiliates within their tribe. The power of networking and trust are the major benefits to working within a tribe of affiliates.

When choosing your real estate agent, find out if they are a member of a tribe.