Meet Bill Risser
Bill Risser is Undisruptable
“Being undisruptable means I do things no one else can do the way I do them. When I’m talking to people, helping people, trying to make someone better.”
Bill Risser is a beloved figure in the real estate industry. His award-winning podcast, The Real Estate Sessions, has given him the chance to interview and connect with hundreds of real estate leaders and influencers. But Bill knows that these conversations were just the beginning of a relationship that he would be intentional about nurturing for years to come and has resulted in a loyal network that is both wide and deep.
“So my thoughts on being undisruptable, we’re starting to call it the D word now, right? I think everybody that talks about disruption, because it was such a cool buzz word for a few years, at this point now it’s getting kind of old hat. I think that people who know what they’re doing, people who care about their customers, people who provide excellent service and experience, it doesn’t mean anything to them anymore.”
He takes his reputation seriously and knows what he can do differently and better than anyone else. This isn’t false confidence, it’s based on self awareness and a deep understanding of the value he brings and how he can help others. And guess what, he loved the idea of being undisruptable so much, he decided to join the RateMyAgent team to help agents and brokers learn how to make their reviews work as hard as they do to create that more important than ever digital word of mouth buzz. This is what makes him undisruptable.
Read more from our conversation here:
Bill Risser: I’m Bill Risser, the host of the Real Estate Sessions podcast.
Molly McKinley: Perfect. What does it mean to be undisruptable for you, what does that mean?
Bill Risser: What is being undisruptable mean to me? Being undisruptable means I do things no one else can do the way I do them. When I’m talking to people, helping people, trying to make someone better.
Molly McKinley: That’s awesome. So tell me a story of something that you do that you wish people knew how hard you worked.
Bill Risser: So, something I do that I don’t think a lot of people know that I do would be, for example, at Inman Connect events. Right? This is my, I think my 12th Inman Connect event, and the opportunity for me to then create content as I’m at the event, right? Which is a video shot in my hotel room, sometimes at midnight or one in the morning. It’s not the best kind of quality content to be shooting, I’ll tell you right now, because usually you’re out a little bit too late and just having a little bit of fun. But my promise to our team is to get that information back to them in a timely manner so they can distribute it out to their customers and say, “Look, we’ve got a guy up at Inman and he’s learning and this is some of the things that he saw today.”
Molly McKinley: That’s awesome. And what are some of the things that you are seeing agents doing that are undisruptable that you wish they would tell those stories?
Bill Risser: Some of the things I see agents out there doing to make themselves undisruptable? Guys like Anthony Malafronte. I watch what Anthony does with video and the way he communicates with people, stays connected. Or someone like a Sean Carpenter who, the things he does, for example, on a birthday for somebody, if it’s somebody he knows well, then he’s going to actually create a video shoot, send that video to them saying happy birthday. It’s just spectacular. Right? And everything he does is intentional. Everything he does is there to create that relationship, make it stronger. And that’s not going to be done by any sort of artificial intelligence or machine learning for a long time.
Molly McKinley: What advice would you like to give agents who are worried, with all the fear mongering?
Bill Risser: My advice for agents worried about the fear mongering going on out in the space today is, why do you care? Stay connected to your sphere. Learn how to work your database, learn how to communicate with people. I think people have this opportunity in real estate, agents have this opportunity to have a database of information about somebody and to use that on a regular basis to stay connected, stay tight with those people, right? I mean, here’s something artificial intelligence will never be able to do. And that’s understanding when somebody needs a little bit of help and provides that help. Right? You see on Facebook, they don’t feel well. So you Uber Eat over a bowl of chicken noodle soup just to say, “Hey, I hope you feel better, and I’ll see you soon.”
Molly McKinley: That’s awesome. Love it. Anything that you want to say about this whole idea of being undisruptable? What are your … parting wisdom on this.
Bill Risser: So my thoughts on being undisruptable, we’re starting to call it the D word now, right? I think everybody that talks about disruption, because it was such a cool buzz word for a few years, at this point now it’s getting kind of old hat. I think that people who know what they’re doing, people who care about their customers, people who provide excellent service and experience, it doesn’t mean anything to them anymore.
Molly McKinley: I love it. I think we have it. Do you think we have everything, or did I miss anything?
Bill Risser: Let me tell you how important my reputation is in this industry. It’s absolutely everything. I have to live up to standards that I’ve set for myself. I have to make sure that the information that I’m providing to the people that I work with, especially back in Florida, is relevant. The people that I communicate with to get that information, the people that I work with around the country, it’s important that they understand that what I’m doing is to help other people, and reputation is critical to all of those pieces of the puzzle for me. I think reviews are important for agents in today’s world in one very critical way and that’s this. Social reputation management. It’s so important. We’re all being Googled way more than we could ever imagine, and understanding that having reviews there, right? Third party endorsements that say, “Hey, this person is going to live up to these standards,” is very powerful. Very important. And when I talk to agents, it’s one of the things I always talk about. Either they’re doing a great job or they got a lot of work to do. It’s one or the other.
Molly McKinley: Yeah. Closing thoughts?
Bill Risser: One, I’m so excited to be talking about the word disruption. I think it’s great that a company like RateMyAgent is saying, “Let’s kind of take care of this problem right now.” Why are we so worried about this word when we’re in a business where it’s all about these one-to one communications, it’s all about these conversations? And like I said before, there’s no way technology is ever going to replace that. I’m excited to be talking about the word disruption and the word undisruptable. I think that’s amazing. I’m a huge believer in that word, and the fact that RateMyAgent is creating information to talk about this is huge, because really, if you’re doing your job well, if you’re a Realtor that creates experiences, if you’re somebody who really pays attention and listens to your clients and helps them, you’re never going to be disrupted. So I think it’s great.
About RateMyAgent
RateMyAgent is an Australia-based review platform now expanding rapidly in the United States. In Australia, RateMyAgent is used by agents who sell 80% of property across Australia and get reviews for 1 in 3 homes sold nationally. RateMyAgent launched in the United States in 2018 and has partnerships with MLS’s from Florida to California, including CRMLS, the countries largest MLS. They are the first review platform to be included and endorsed by the National Association of Realtors® 2019 NAR’s REACH Accelerator Program. RateMyAgent is listed on the Australian stock exchange. More information about RateMyAgent can be found at www.ratemyagent.com
