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IEASA President comments on NAR survey of members   Article Date :26 Sep 2005 American experience shows membership of national estate agents institute carries sigificant image benefits The importance of estate agents belonging to their own national institute (in South Africa the Institute of SA Estate Agents) has been confirmed by a report received by the Institute’s President, Bill Rawson. This was passed onto him by the veteran property analyst, Rodney Hayter. “The report,” says Rawson, “ shows clearly that membership of the US’s National Association of Realtors (NAR), the American equivalent of our Institute of Estate Agents, results in their gaining greater respect and trust from clients and in their being seen in a more positive light by the general public. “Ironically, despite this now being a proven fact, a fair percentage of US realtors still, the report indicates, regularly forget to mention that they are Association members.” The realtors’ report also shows that Association membership generates higher earnings for members. “These claims, of course, can be difficult to substantiate,” Rawson admitted, “but an independent brand evaluation company, Brand LLC, calculated that the Realtor Association branding generates, on average an extra $32 000 for agents during a six to ten year stint in the profession. As the Association has over one million members, this is impressive and we are talking large numbers.” Rawson said that the National Association of Realtors’ Public Awareness Campaign showed, too, that consumer attitudes to US realtor members have improved by some 20% in the last three years even though a significant proportion of clients (almost half) could not recall whether their agent had been a member or not. “The findings of this very interesting study,” said Rawson, “show just how difficult it is to get top branding status. Compared, say, to Coca Cola, Unilever, Mercedes, MacDonalds or our own SA Breweries, the NAR has a long way still to go. However, the report also shows how valuable branding of this kind is – and in South Africa we can now confirm that Institute membership is beginning to give property clients a similar reassurance and confidence.” This, said Rawson, is based on two widely known facts about the Institute. The first is that they have a core of ethics and the second is that they will enquire into and discipline any member whom they find is not conducting his or her business according to this code. The popularity of the SA Institute, said Rawson, had never been higher than it is at present. It has grown by some 20% in the last two years, he said, and membership currently stands at a record 6 400, about 10% of all the agents (many of whom are part-time operators) in SA today. “What makes membership so valuable is not just the Institute’s branding but also the comprehensive training that we increasingly provide on an ongoing basis to agents,” said Rawson. CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE MAIN NEWS PAGE