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In this exclusive preview to the “Power to the People” speech to the regional owners of Exit Realty this year, Patty Plourde, a real estate veteran of many years will say:

“I started my Real Estate sales career in 1985 with a large independent firm.  We were a community.  Realtors worked hard and played hard.  Each of the 20 office’s had a softball team; we played each other Wednesday nights and went out for beer after the game.  I looked forward to it all week.  I knew everyone in my office. We talked shop.  I was motivated by those around me.  In the 80’s it wasn’t unusual to work the Midnight oil.  It wasn’t hard to get another Realtor to work late shift with me, we enjoyed it.  We lived and breathed Real Estate day and night. “

“Fast forward 23 years later…tonight I spoke to a Realtor who didn’t know the agent in her office I was referring to. They both worked there several years.  She didn’t know many of the Realtors in her 150 person office. She arrives at her sprawling place of business and walks straight to her office, without speaking to anyone.  There is a lack on connection with others in our business…..  In the late 90’s our large independent firm was one of 350 offices swallowed up around the country…. There are no more softball games, after hour’s jam sessions, or free love…. The Mega Brokers took the power away from our Realtors. They didn’t want free thinkers, team builders and entrepreneurs.   It was OK to have Real Estate Companies that didn’t make a decent profit.  The goal for these brokerages was not about making money on the Real Estate side.  They wanted to sell the Realtors and their clients everything from a lawn mower to a vacation.  The Realtors and their clients became a means to an end. Having 150 mediocre agents was better than 25 super stars.  ….   I know this story well, it happened to me too. I was depressed, lost my creative juices, and my belief I was to special and unique”.  It wasn’t about me…it was about the company, their plans, their model, their dreams.  As and independent contractor, I wasn’t allowed to be too independent.  We had all become dependant through subversive leadership.  I didn’t realize what I had become until I left my company of 20 years…for a dream.  Now I can look back and see how I had become white noise.  …. Engaging the Realtors and hiring the “free thinkers” who are passionate and creative.  …”

Much too long to print here:  Patty’s story and inspirational call to action literally brought tears to my eyes.  Like the classic story “Death of a Salesman” where Jack Lemon portrayed a used-up, ripped off, and no longer appreciated garment salesperson trying to make a living in a world of corporate greed, Patty tells the story of glory in days gone by; of the empowerment of the individual spirit; of the competitive fierce independence Realtors once had, and the decline of a way of life with the shift from an emphasis to selling real estate, to selling to Realtors which has destroyed the reputation of an entire industry.

She later announces the empowerment of her agents online at her new community news site underway at www.MnCommunityNews.com.

I know that I will be attending and watching the looks on the inspired faces of her audience; what a thrill! 

“Power to the people!” (with social media marketing)

If you want to know more about Patty’s quest to re-empower agents and brokers to sell real estate, you can contact her: Patty@PattyPlourde.com  952-230-9450

One Response to “Social Networking and Team Building”

1. RjPetershagen Says:
   April 9th, 2008 at 7:54 am

   Helping professionals and friends like Patty in regaining the camraderie, the connections and the passion for her industry and profession, is precisely how we as social human beings can incorporate the seemingly impersonal and vast network of the internet, into a tool that serves US, and fosters our inherent need for connections with others. I celebrate Patty’s words and her passion for being human!

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