A LETTER FROM CHRIS SUAREZ
THE CERTAINTY OF UNCERTAINTY
I know. I read the headlines too. In fact, I also read the entire articles. They did a good job, for what their job is. Newspapers, and websites, and social media all make there money the same way. They sell eyeballs to advertisers. Well, they certainly had about 4,000,000 eyeballs…since there are about 2,000,000 real estate agents in the country and most of them have two eyeballs each.
There is definitely some irony in the fact that so much of the narrative is built by media companies trying to make money, telling the story of an attorney making money, by making claims that another industry makes too much money. But this letter to my team is not about that.
This evening I am writing to you to remind you of the divisiveness of uncertainty. My normally scheduled Friday was nearly derailed this week by a constant stream of texts, emails, DM’s, and voicemails asking for my opinion on the news around the NAR settlement and what that means for us and the industry. The fact remains that nothing changed overnight. So there was no reason to cancel my regularly scheduled meetings to set up emergency meetings to deal with the settlement, the statement from NAR, or answer the number of news outlets that reached out for a statement.
What happened on Friday? For many, a bit of unexpected uncertainty showed up in their world. And as uncertainty increased, so did stress levels and fear. After 25 years in the industry however, if I have learned anything, it’s that uncertainty is definitely certain. Those that can manage uncertainty in their future, deal with changes in their business, and handle the unexpected, are the ones that can continue to navigate the challenges of being an entrepreneur. After all, the literal definition of being an entrepreneur is, “a person who organizes and operates a business, taking on greater than normal risks in order to do so.” What did you think risk was? Great entrepreneurs are able to handle uncertainty. They can handle it because they expect it. When we expect things to always be certain, our expectations will always be missed.
This year, we have been doing quite a bit of work around change management. We will continue to do that. Because put simply, things will continue to change.
I wasn’t disappointed by the news, by the proposed changes, or by other industries trying to capitalize on the uncertainty. I was disappointed by how we as an industry reacted. By the overwhelming conversations on social media. Conversations being had without even reading the settlement terms, reading the statements from the parties involved, or understanding what the next steps were. I was disappointed by those trying to exploit the fear by selling something to those that were fearful, or positioning themselves as the solution to the fear. Word of caution: those looking to build businesses and make money on the things that change, well, things will change again. And you will once again need to find a new business to capitalize on, a new problem to exploit, or a new story to build your audience around
Are there things we all need to figure out? Yes. Are there things we all need to learn? Yes. Are there conversations we need to have? Yes. And a promise I make to our organization? We are already prepared and we will be reaching out to you privately as a group to have those conversations as your partners - and as an organization that loves this industry and loves those that work in it.
I also ask you to keep in mind a piece of advice Jeff Bezos gave in a shareholder letter some years back. To me, it has been some of the greatest business advice ever delivered by a modern day founder and CEO. He suggested never to build a business on what will change. Rather, we should be building a business on what we know will not change. Amazon is built on three things Bezos has been certain of for decades:
1) Customers will always want things fast
2) Customers will always want choices
3) Customers will always want things for less money.
He built a Trillion dollar company by focusing on what will not change in the retail industry.
This week, as the majority of the industry is freaking out about what is changing, ask yourself, “What will never change in the industry?” Ask yourself, “What will customers always want?” Those answers will bring some certainty to an uncertain moment in the industry. That certainty will not only bring you some peace of mind. That certainty will lead you to building an incredibly valuable company.
Chris Suarez