Image is not “everything”

I may have the opportunity to contribute to a discussion (a Virginia Association of Realtors (archived: 2007) “workgroup”) regarding how to improve Realtors’ image. I try to enter everything with an open mind; that said, my first thought is a simple one – improve the product. I have yet to hear a successful Realtor say that either the entrance standards or continuing education standards were remotely sufficient. Let’s work on raising the standards of practice and then work on image. So long as people enter this profession because they don’t have anything better to do and because it’s perceived as “easy,” our profession’s image will suffer.