It’s been interesting following Inman News and the ongoing debate about agent compensation. Granted, the majority of the blogging has been about how the traditional resale commission structure may change going forward as companies strive to add value in an era where information is ubiquitous.  I have to side for the most part with Kris Berg  (a wonderful blogger in her own right) that you can’t paint this topic with a broad brush and that agents who earn their commission are worth every cent. Hard to disagree. There are, and will always be, agents who earn it and agents who just stumble onto it.

But it got me thinking about the compensation structure in new home sales as well. I’d say a similar debate is going on – just under the public radar. What are agents “worth”? How do the real estate companies that support them add value and justify their fee structure. Why not go “in-house” and pocket the savings and perhaps pay the broker a fee just to access MLS? It all sounds good on the surface and I’ve seen it all come and go in my 30+ years in the business. And now I guess it’s time to jump in with my two cents worth.

I’m more riled up about something else than counting the pennies I might save by going in-house. I have to say in my many years knocking around new homes that I’ve never seen any industry that so distains their front-line salespeople. All we do as an industry is bitch when they make the big money (and at the same time make their builder clients millions) and insult them with phrases like, “Even a trained monkey could sell right now!” during the boom times. And then we’re content to watch them starve during the inevitable downturns. “Well, they should have saved their money!”

It all baffles me. These folks are our only links to our customers. They have entered a business that forces them to work almost every weekend and miss their kids ballgames, warm days on the beaches and the occasional mid-afternoon Happy Hour. And what for? So they can represent a builder who doesn’t understand basic marketing? Who  can’t design, merchandise and price a product to the market? And these folks don’t even get paid until the home finally closes? Wow – I’d have to think we’d be holding these people in the highest regard, when so often we do just the opposite. I wonder how this pay structure would work with our field superintendents…? And does that mean during the slow times even a trained monkey can build a home when labor is plentiful and anxious to report to the site and get something done? It’s beyond me to consider being that insulting to the trained professionals who strive every day to deliver a zero punchlist home.

So, is it time for a renewed conversation about compensation for new home sales professionals? I think it’s long overdue. Like any business, we have to separate the wheat from the chaff. But once that’s done (and that’s a key management responsibility to begin with, isn’t it?), isn’t it time we started talking about paying these folks a living wage and some benefits, and creating an incentive platform that let’s us all benefit when they blow that monthly goal out of the water?

It seems too obvious a question to even think about posing. But amazingly, I don’t see the debate on this topic even trickling through builder circles. It’s a shame. But somehow in this business we think we can violate Einstein’s tenant, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”