As easy as ABC
A simple way to improve your business.

by Patricia Webb When was the last time you read the Code of Ethics? I worry about the answer some of you might give. Please tell me that you’ve looked at the code a few times—preferably more than a few—since your REALTOR® member orientation a decade or two ago. If not, that’s about to change.
The deadline for NAR’s required Code of Ethics training is December 31. Fail to meet this deadline and your membership (local, state, and national)—along with all services and benefits—will be suspended until you complete the course.

In my view, mandating members to take a refresher on the code is a welcome step. In fact, I was in favor of requiring the training every two years rather than every four. A four-year window makes it possible for a REALTOR® to go eight years with no formal Code of Ethics instruction. That’s too long. And it’s too easy even for people with good intentions to spend their time on endeavors more closely tied to the everyday businesses of real estate—prospecting, showing properties, making listing presentations, and the like. You might tell yourself that you act ethically even if you don’t know the specifics of the code. If that rationalization sounds familiar to you, you’re missing the point.

For a REALTOR®, the Code of Ethics should be as important to your business as those other activities—perhaps more so. Why? Well, what good is prospecting if your actions lead to an ethics complaint, despite your ethical intentions? How effective will your listing presentation be if you can’t articulate what separates you as a REALTOR® from a non-member? You undermine your efforts if you do not conduct your business within the guidelines of the Code of Ethics.

Practicing good ethics in conjunction with providing excellent service leads to satisfied clients. And satisfied clients will hire you again and recommend you to friends.

The Texas Association of REALTORS® has launched a campaign to promote the importance of ethics. It’s called The ABCs to Good Ethics. You can think of it like this: A stands for avoiding litigation and risk; B is building better relationships; and C stands for consumer satisfaction. By practicing good ethics, you lessen the chances that someone will name you in an ethics complaint, file a complaint against you with TREC, or sue you. You boost your image and the collective image of all REALTORS®. And you improve your business. That’s a powerful combination.

Some agents I know go beyond simply abiding by the Code of Ethics; they use the code to help market themselves. They include a copy of the code in their listing materials and explain that this is the standard people can expect from them. Now that’s a statement.

There are other ways to do more than the minimum. You can read NAR’s Pathways to Professionalism, a document that goes beyond the code into issues of courtesy and etiquette. The San Antonio Board of REALTORS® produced a brochure that takes this concept even further, with specific tips for listing agents, selling agents, risk-management, and other topics. Perhaps there are more local associations that have launched similar efforts.

If you didn’t before, I hope you’ll now agree that reviewing the code once every four years doesn’t cut it. On top of the mandatory training, you should read the code yearly and take note of any changes. (Changes are published in the January/February issue of Texas REALTOR®.) Read and put into practice NAR’s Pathways to Professionalism and anything your local association provides on the subject. Strive to adhere to the highest standards in the industry. You will find that good ethics is indeed the foundation for good business.

Patricia Webb, RCE, is director of board
services for the Texas Association of REALTORS®.

Illustration © Artville.

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