Since the dawn of human history, we have rewarded winners. Initially, maybe in a Darwinian sense. Today, every industry acknowledges the best and hands out awards. Science. Sports. The Arts. Restaurants. Finance. Even Real Estate. At a young age, we learn these prizes are merit-based, and if you are the best at something, you win the award. But that’s not really how it works.
An award closely ties to the credibility of the organization that is giving the trophy. Awards have become brands, and like everything else, these brands are built by their track record.
Over the past several years, the Olympic Games have evolved from a credible sports tournament to a full-blown multi-billion dollar entertainment extravaganza.
The Heisman Trophy is highly respected because it recognizes America’s best college football player’s ability, diligence, perseverance, and hard work.
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the most respected awards but boasts many questionable nominees, including Hugo Chavez, Benito Mussolini, Fidel Castro, Josef Stalin, and Adolf Hitler.
There are two categories of awards.
The first is based on performance and metrics. You cross the tape first, you win. You score the highest (or lowest), you win.
The second is based on popularity. If you get enough votes, you win.
Sometimes the categories meld. If Tom Brady wins on Sunday, he will arguably be considered the GOAT. But things aren’t always that clear, even if the numbers support the claim. Who was better, Jordan or LeBron? The Bear or Tiger? Serena or Martina?
Receiving an award can have the power to change the course of a career. The estimated brand value of winning an Oscar is estimated to bump a winner’s salary of as much as 81%. It is generally accepted and understood that creative awards are subjective. I’m not sure who The Weeknd pissed off this year, but he offended someone at The Recording Academy. A clear contender to be the frontrunner for the three major categories at the Grammys, he didn’t land as much as a nomination. The “Grammys” brand has lost its luster, but it never really had integrity. John Coltrane, one of the greatest artists who ever lived, won his first and only Grammy in 1981, 14 years after his death.
Then – there are the real estate awards—these border on the ridiculous. If you’re an agent at many firms, your business card will almost certainly boast that you are in the Top 1% of a Chairman’s Inner Circle Club, or a Platinum Producer for the President or some other bullshit. Before I started CORE, I sought advice from Barbara Corcoran – the grand dame and pioneer of the modern real estate brokerage. She confided in me that her most successful strategy for motivating her agents came from an idea she got from competitive horse jumping. Once a month, she would give her top producing agent a ribbon. It seems that the hefty 6% commission wasn’t enough to get the competitive juices going, but a ribbon did the trick! My first year as a sales agent, I was awarded the top Downtown Agent Award at the city’s largest firm – a title that I held for more than a decade and until my last year at the firm. However, that led to another top broker getting upset. She demanded that she should get an award. She wanted her ribbon! Honestly, she could have had all the ribbons and plaques and whatever else heart heart desires. I gave zero fucks. I was there to make money – not collect stars and ribbons. However, the owner was concerned that his awards would not look legitimate if I didn’t win anything, so – he made new categories. She received my Top Individual Agent Award (with her team of twenty), and I was awarded the new Top Team Award (with my one assistant). This particular real estate award show became almost as elaborate as The Oscars and created an entirely new culture of competition and drama. Some agents and teams would win one year, and then, knowing they were not going to make the cut the next year, recuse themselves from the running to save face. It was maybe the most absurd thing I’ve ever seen during my time in real estate – and that is saying something.
I understand why brokerages do this. It’s like what Barbara said – some people work harder for the shiny ribbon than for the money. Good or bad, it builds a culture and creates competition, and in a sales business, that makes sense. But then you have the rankings and awards by publications. As soon as the “submission” process starts, the absurdity goes into overdrive. My favorite made-up bullshit publication called this week to get our numbers. According to their crack team of journalists, they wanted to verify the accuracy of their data. To say it was wrong is an understatement. I don’t know where to begin, but it was laughable. They didn’t even have our top agent listed as an agent at our firm! They wanted us to gather all the data to prove our numbers – for their rankings! The guy actually left me a message asking for the correct data. When I sent it, he refuted it. So let me get this straight. I need to run around doing your job so you can make money from selling your rag, while the guys at the firms spending ad dollars with you can send in whatever made-up numbers they want, and you will print that? Got it – and no thanks.
I’m good with building a brand, making money, and taking care of my clients – you can keep your ribbon.
Let’s do this.
-Shaun