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The emergence of large language models, like ChatGPT, has transformed artificial intelligence from an esoteric plaything to a tangible tool that influences business and everyday life. While AI has proved its utility in taking on some of agents’ most dreaded tasks, like crafting quick emails and analyzing long documents, Buffini & Company Chairman and Founder Brian Buffini said he fears that the industry’s AI obsession may be feeding a simmering apathy toward the basics of good business.
“We just launched a hugely successful launch of our AI training program, and I don’t want to be part of the people thinking, ‘Oh yeah, AI is going to do all the work for me. I’m going to sit by the beach, and they’re going to click ‘add this home’ to my shopping cart and email me the check,'” he told Inman. “That’s just not the deal. That’s just not how real estate works.”
“People have to snap out of it because it’s 90 days to sell a home now, not 10 days. You have to work,” he added. “I’m excited to kind of help people to put a fresh look on fundamentals, to bring a fresh approach to training, and help agents be at their very best. That’s my drum that I’ve been beating.”
Ahead of his first-ever Inman Connect appearance, Buffini dove into the challenge of leveraging technology, battling apathy amid strengthening market headwinds, and building the attitude it takes to pull yourself out of a business rut.
The conversation that follows has been edited for length and clarity.
Inman: This is your first time speaking at Inman Connect. What are you most excited about?
Brian Buffini: You know, you only get to do something for the first time once, right? So I’m excited. I’ve known Brad [Inman] a long time, I’ve done interviews with Brad, and I just have always had huge demand on my schedule for our Buffini & Company events, and then demand outside of it. So the planets never really aligned. And then when [Inman CEO] Emily [Paquette] reached out and said, ‘Hey, we’re coming to San Diego,’ my schedule was open and I was fired up. It’s right here in San Diego, in my backyard, and so it’s exciting. I’m fired up. San Diego is the best place in the world to come to, so it’ll be great.
Your session for Inman Connect San Diego is ‘The Era of High Tech, High Touch.’ That’s such a timely topic, especially in light of the intensifying conversation about artificial intelligence, its role in business and society, and the fear that it will replace humans. Can you talk about your philosophy through the lens of the latest tech revolution we’re experiencing?
Buffini & Company’s brand is that we’re old school — just fundamentals, pick them up and put them down, write your notes, and make your calls. But our company probably has as much tech as anybody in the industry. We have our own CRM, which is award-winning. We have our own AI training program. So we have all this stuff that does the heavy administrative and organizational lifting so agents can free up their time, improve their quality, so that they can spend more time face-to-face with people. It’s still a relationship business. The number one driver for people is trust.
Data just came out from the National Association of Realtors showed that 66 percent of all transactions are repeat and referral customers. Forty-two percent of all buyers and sellers are baby boomers, 24 percent are Gen Xers, and 29 percent are millennials. Millennials are very sophisticated with tech; they understand tech, and yet they’re more likely to go and get a personal endorsement for an agent than any other group. You know, Gen Z, which is the hyper-tech generation, is only 3 percent of the market. So the vast majority of the business still relies on personal endorsements.
But I believe the business has lost its focus. We had a super hot market for 14 years, and what’s happened is we have an industry that’s after the lawsuits, after the settlements, and has basically fallen into a state of apathy. Buffini & Company has 3,600 brokers who are certified mentors, and the number one feedback we hear is that the agents are just they’re full of apathy. They’re waiting for the market to change. They’re waiting for the rates to change. They’re waiting for AI to save them, and we have an industry that’s lost its way when it comes to the fundamentals.
It’s about building relationships, going the extra mile for people, exceeding expectations, pouring into people, and becoming their trusted advisor. So use the high tech, but you’ve got to leverage the high touch, and if you do that, that’s the winner. I’m concerned for the new people who’ve just come into the industry. I’m concerned for the people who never developed the fundamentals, and then I’m concerned with the people who lost the fundamentals by not practicing them. So that’s my passion. That’s where I’m at, and that’s why I’m coming to Inman Connect.
I’m a millennial. We’re the generation that grew up during the shift from analog to digital, and we’ve learned every corner of the internet, good and bad. I find that my friends and I lean on getting those personal referrals when making big purchases or decisions because we know how much noise, smoke, and mirrors are online. How can agents cut through that noise, especially when a buyer or seller can come across dozens of agents a day on their social media feed?
We have a whole system, which is sorting and qualifying the database and then building relationships. Building relationships with people is about providing value — systematically and on purpose. It’s about educating you and bringing you along. ‘Hey, here’s how you improve your credit score. Hey, here’s how you can eliminate higher-interest debt. Here’s how you can save money for a down payment. Here are the programs that are available to help someone who’s a first-time buyer.’
So there’s just an awful lot of ability to provide information and to serve and serve unconditionally. The key is what our philosophy is: you give, then you ask to receive. I’m not focused on the fact that Marian may be buying or selling a home. I’m focused on the fact that I want to be Marian’s go-to person. So anytime she thinks of real estate, she thinks of me. If she has a question, if her family has a question, I’m the person she turns to. I’m at the housewarming after closing with ketchup, mustard and relish for everyone. I’m the person who shows up with de-icer during the winter, and I’m the person who has a roofer when you experience a leak.
Here’s my final question. I want to go back to what you said about apathy. What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to the agent who’s never built relationship skills, and what’s one piece of advice you’d give to the agent who once had that fire, but who’s lost it over time?
Well, you know, I’m in San Diego and one of the things you’ll see every day is the Navy SEALs. And the Navy SEALs say a few things. They go, ‘We’re not trying, we’re training.’
There are an awful lot of people right now who are trying very hard to do business. They’re trying new techniques, they’re trying new technologies, but what they’re not doing is training. Now is not the time to try — now is the time to train. I’ve built all these training programs for years, like our 100 Days to Greatness program for brand-new agents. The average realtor sells less than six homes a year and makes $35,000 in gross commissions a year. We’ve had 79,000 people go through this training program and do seven transactions in 100 days, and we teach them the fundamentals.
We hear people say, ‘Oh, it’s a lot of work, and it’s 12 weeks.’ And what younger people are asking for is, ‘Hey, can you give me the three-minute YouTube clip that shows me how to build a successful business?’ That’s not real estate. You have to invest the time.
I was an immigrant and in America with $92 to my name, got in a motorcycle accident and owed $252,000 in 1986. Real estate allowed me to dig my way out of that hole. It’s about working for referrals — not waiting for referrals, not wishing for referrals. You actually have to work and put the effort in to get the results out.
