Car salesperson? Real estate agent? What's the difference?

Car salesperson? Real estate agent? What's the difference?

"Not much", might be your response, and you wouldn't be alone.

The Gallup and Harris opinion polls don't give us a chance to directly compare the public's opinion of agents and car salespersons. But we can extrapolate, and what we get doesn't flatter either profession.

Gallup's annual survey on the perceived honesty and ethical standards of twenty-two professions doesn't mention real estate agents, a real mistake if, like the mass media, Gallup is looking for a quick laugh from the peanut gallery. Perhaps the closest stand-in for agents in the Gallup poll is "advertising practitioners", who score third from bottom, just above lobbyists and, you guessed it, "car salesmen". Apparently Gallup doesn't know that women have a sizeable presence in auto retailing these days.

It's interesting to see local political officeholders rank higher in honesty and ethics than state officeholders, who in turn rank higher than Congressmen. Since we're talking about essentially the same political animal as it evolves—no one is elected to Congress without paying dues in the lower elected and appointed offices—this may be one of those rare factoids that struggles to tell us something meaningful. My guess is that the closer the officeholder is to the level of the survey respondent, the more likely he or she is to be perceived as honest and ethical. Your neighbor who's on the Parks Commission is still a swell guy. Someone else's neighbor who started on a city commission twenty years ago and is now a member of Congress must be some swell crook.

In other words, the perceived ethicalness of a politician—perhaps of any profession—may correlate with degree of immediacy or intimacy. The closer your profession is to the survey respondent, or the more likely the respondent is to have had contact with it, the more likely the respondent is to think your profession walks the straight and narrow path of righteousness.

Hold that thought.

The annual Harris Poll, on the other hand, which rates the prestige of twenty-three professions and occupations, does include "real estate agent/broker" and, tragically, this noble calling ranks at the very bottom. Harris doesn't bother to ascertain the perceived prestige of car salesperson, which I guess answers that question before it's asked. Probably the best stand-in for car salesperson in the Harris Poll prestige sweepstakes is "axe murderer", which has received consistently low rankings over the twenty-nine year history of the poll.

What's interesting about these Harris and Gallup polls is that the professions and occupations rated highest by the public in prestige and honesty are invariably the lowest paid among those ranked. Firefighters, teachers, military and police officers, nurses and clergy all find themselves at or near the top of both polls, yet often, at least in the Bay Area, these are the people who can't afford to live in the communities they serve. (Some have great retirement benefits, but that trade-off doesn't move them into better or more convenient neighborhoods.) Yet real estate agents, stockbrokers, lobbyists, lawyers and business executives, all of whom poll at or near the bottom in prestige and perceived honesty, are largely the people who can and do live in the most desirable communities. This is significant if you believe, as I do, that nothing shows better a society's real priorities than the way it distributes its financial rewards.

You'd be amazed at how unrewarding real estate sales can be for the vast majority who stay in it just long enough to find out they can't make a living. And after dealing with hundreds of car salespersons over the years, I don't think too many of them are making the big bucks. On the contrary, most give the impression they're really sorry they answered that ad.

And neither group basks in public adulation. One story will illustrate.

About eight years ago my Brand X car was at the dealership for warranty work—again. Brand X sent its (many) immobilized customers to Enterprise Rent-a-Car, and I got to know Enterprise pretty darn well while driving (or not driving) Brand X. As one of their staff was ferrying me to the lot where a rental I wanted was parked, we started talking. Enterprise staff were, at least in those days, consistently young, bright and personable and we got along well, comparing guitar heroes circa 1940 to 1960...until he asked what I did for a living. "I sell real estate", was my careless reply. I'll never forget the look on his face: as if I'd just kneed him in the groin.

"Ohhhhhhh!", he said.

Since then I've always answered that question more discretely: "I dump toxic chemicals in marine wildlife sanctuaries". People seem to warm up to me a lot better.

So how to explain a recent National Association of Realtors® survey claiming that 84 percent of homebuyers were very satisfied with their agent's honesty and integrity (sellers weren't asked this question)? Only 97 percent of homebuyers surveyed said that honesty and integrity were important, which makes you wonder what qualities the other 3 percent were looking for.

Sure, the NAR isn't known for its impartiality, but it is true that buyers and sellers are remarkably loyal to their agents—at least after they commit to a relationship. An agent who represents a buyer in a successful transaction will generally get the listing when the buyer sells. And it's the rare seller who won't stick with her agent, at least up to a point, if her home doesn't sell right away. Yes, buyers and sellers have been known to throw their agents under the bus, but it's rare enough to cause pointed comment within the real estate community.

So what causes this gaping discrepancy between, on the one hand, the NAR's findings and agents' experience and, on the other, and the results of the Harris and Gallup polls? Is the real estate industry just lying again? Or is there a more rational and less conspiratorial explanation?

In real estate there's always a more rational and less conspiratorial explanation. In his January 31, 2008 article "Home Buyer and Seller Surveys Give Agents Good Scores on Ethics", Realty Times writer Bob Hunt advances this plausible theory: pollsters are asking the wrong people. Hunt cites statistics suggesting that "there is barely a one-in-ten chance that a Gallup respondent would have bought or sold a home within a year. On the other hand, NAR only surveys people who have bought or sold within the year...Indeed, a significant portion of [Gallup poll respondents] have probably never had such an experience".

Which suggests that Harris and Gallup are polling urban legend, sometimes dignified as "collective wisdom", and not real-world experience. Look through the list of occupations and you have to wonder how much meaningful contact those 1006 Gallup respondents have had with the union leaders, entertainers and actors they claim to hold in low esteem, or with the firefighters, scientists, military officers and farmers they profess to admire.

In fact, it might be interesting to do a telephone survey of typical respondents to telephone surveys, just to find out who they are. No, that's a can of worms I don't think the pollsters want to open.

Of course, respondent subjectivity doesn't matter when Harris polls the prestige of professions, since this ranking is by definition based on the perception of its respondents. It does, however, matter when Gallup asks the public, or at least a representative sample of it, to rank professions on honesty and ethics, because this poll is, or is often represented in the media as, a national report card on these professions.

My own experience with union leaders and entertainers is sketchy at best, but I do have extensive experience with the folks who fall in the "real estate broker/agent" and "car salesmen" categories. I can assure you that real differences exist.

Walk up to the typical car salesperson and it's likely you'll know more about the product he's selling than he does. That's because he wasn't selling it yesterday and won't be selling it tomorrow. That's the impression he gives, and his training and attitude reflect this transiency.

Harsh words, I know, and I don't lightly put down any occupation except perhaps that of Mafia hit man or TV writer. And I do occasionally run across a car salesperson who seems to know what he's doing. But not often. Most are cannon fodder, plain and simple, hired to sit in the back seat while the prospective buyer test-drives the car. The heavy lifting in car sales is reserved for the Finance & Insurance and sales managers, guys who've been around long enough to prove that they're tough enough to make a living in a very tough business.

But the agent you hook up with at the open house or that a friend refers you to will be your primary point of contact with the real estate industry. That agent won't just drive around with you. She'll also advise you, write and present any offers you make, negotiate for you, liaise with the escrow company, hand you the keys to your new home and generally hold your hand through one of life's most stressful experiences. Not all agents do this—sometimes a "top producer" will hand you off to a member of her team—but that's how most do it.

The agent-client relationship is time-intensive, knowledge-intensive and emotion-intensive.

Real buyers and sellers know this. But let's say that Bob Respondent is neither. Bob Respondent is just a lonely guy with a telephone and a need to spill his guts to any well-modulated voice on the other end. It's Harris or Gallup calling. "You want my opinion? You want my opinion?"

Let's also say that Bob Respondent is a bystander to the real estate market. Because of this, his perception of the real estate industry is necessarily based on hearsay and chance and collective wisdom and perhaps a few meaningless encounters at open houses. But Bob Respondent will have a firm opinion on "real estate broker/agent", not because he's informed, but because he senses that to not have an opinion on the subject is to not be a man of the world, to not know what life's all about. Bob hasn't reached the point where he knows that 1) most of us know little more about life than our name, rank and serial number, and 2) the few who do know more than this know how little they know. For Bob, uncertainty is still a greater sin than ignorance. Bob knows you can't trust agents, not because he's worked with an agent, but because everyone in the know knows you can't trust agents. And if Bob has any doubts, he can tap into the collective experience of the Internet where people just like him—with the same limited or non-existent experience—will tell him he's got it nailed.

A world view, off the rack and ready to wear, no hard-won experience or tedious thinking necessary.

Which is why the blogs are so popular with people like Bob.

Now let's turn our enquiring gaze to the car salesperson-customer relationship. Remember, I've said that the agent-client relationship is time-intensive, knowledge-intensive and emotion-intensive. About a year ago a painting contractor described for me his son's brief career in real estate. The contractor said his son took out one client, once, showed her several homes and, failing to get a firm commitment to buy by tour's end, told her, "Call me when you want to buy a home".

The son is now selling cars. Which is better for all concerned.

Recently I had an interesting talk with a car salesperson who, when he learned I sell real estate (I save that toxic dumping stuff for people I'm trying to impress) confessed he'd picked up a real estate license with the intention of getting into the business. Something had held him back—probably a vague realization that selling real estate is even tougher than selling cars—but he'd hung his license with a mortgage broker just to pick up loose change brokering the occasional loan.

This guy told me the typical car salesperson spends perhaps two or three hours with each customer. I'm jealous: I spend months or even a year with my clients.

He says that the typical conversion rate for a good car salesperson is 30 percent—he'll end up selling a car to about three of ten customers he talks to. If I could count on a 30 percent conversion rate for the direct mail I send out, the floor calls I take or the open houses I do, that's all I'd do, aside from eating and sleeping. No, I admit that's hyperbole, but I'd actually do direct mail, actually take floor calls and actually hold open other agents' listings. All the things I haven't done for years, because they're a waste of the two things I hold most precious, my time and my patience.

And do them gladly.

And as I reminded this car salesperson, his customers come to him; he doesn't have to find them, although I'm sure this is part of any highly successful car salesperson's business plan.

I won't even mention that you need a license to sell real estate but not cars, because Bob Respondent knows that anyone can get a real estate license (I'd like to see Bob take the licensing test). And I won't mention that the real estate agent owes her client fiduciary duties, the highest form of business relationship, while the car salesperson simply owes his customer honesty and fair dealing, because Bob knows that neither agent nor salesperson deliver on these obligations.

Even so, real differences do exist between the car salesperson and the real estate agent, in commitment, time, knowledge and emotion invested. Simply put, car sales is a demanding business. Real estate, done right, is an even more demanding business.

And neither will get a city park named after you.