Do Others Think Of You As An Expert? You Must Be Getting Results

by Jeff Brown

Real Estate Investments Broker

Author website

Ever noticed nobody wants to know how you skinned the cat until they ascertain the cat was actually skinned? In baseball, they ask you if you won. Or if you got any hits. They ask about the details after they find out what matters — results.

These days so many in real estate tell whoever will listen what experts they are. Think Babe Ruth ever had to tell folks he was an expert home run hitter? Don’t answer, it’s a rhetorical question, and silly on its face.

In baseball the first pitch of any particular plate appearance has been analyzed to death. Ricky Henderson made a career of hitting first pitches. Ted Williams, arguably the best pure hitter every to hold a piece of wood in a batter’s box — watched first pitches go right by him about 95% of the time. Pitchers knew this, yet still threw an amazing amount of balls, not strikes on all those thousands of first pitches.

Was Ted Williams an expert? You bet. Were the pitchers he faced for more years than 99% of major league players experts? Some. Probably way less than half. Did most pitchers realize Ricky Henderson was literally hoping for a fat first pitch for immediate deposit into the left field bleachers? Absolutely.

Both Ted and Ricky were real life experts. They knew what folks thought they knew — and knew it better than anyone in their day. Ted was the last hitter to bat .400 for a season, hitting .406 in 1946. Ricky was, no debate, don’t even embarrass yourself, the best leadoff hitter of all time. I’m not sure there’s a #2. That’s how good he was.

He was an expert. Experts actually know what they’re doing, and better yet, know why they’re doing what they’re doing. They know what situations they’re in while it’s happening in real time. Sometimes they have to analyze more or less, but their expertise is what makes the difference.

Today there’s been an explosion of experts in every possible discipline. Real estate is no exception. In fact in real estate there seems to be an expert’s mug on every bus stop bench in every town in America. Are they all experts? Stop laughing.

Experts aren’t self proclaimed. I know what I’m doing when it comes to real estate investing, investment analysis, and various related activities required to render my services to clients. I am in fact, very good at what I do. Do I claim to be an expert? Nope. Do I promote myself as an expert? Never.

The Point

Expertise is in the eyes of others, at least for the most part. The self proclaimed experts, in my opinion, must climb a steeper mountain. Those proclaimed experts by others are in a position of having merited the compliment. Whether or not you are an expert isn’t up for debate really. Either you are or you aren’t. The proof is in the pudding as our grandmothers used to say endlessly.

As a pro in real estate or one of it’s many ancillary industries, do you consider yourself an expert? If so, why? If not, why not?

Though an expert will certainly have an opinion on relevant issues or specific cases in real estate, most of the time what they know doesn’t come down to opinion — theirs or others. It comes down to cold hard empirical facts — actual applicable knowledge. You can’t fake that.

And there’s the rub.

So many ‘experts’ with so many opinions on so many subjects. Most of these so called experts end up undressing themselves when the fur starts flying for real. They have to shout loud cuz their points are usually so damn weak. I can’t speak for others, but my preference is to let the screamers have the stage as long as makes them content.

Open houses are great. Open houses suck. Find the real life expert who conducts them regularly. Look hard, but you might wanna pack a lunch cuz I’ve not found a residential expert who touts open houses. They’re the experts in sell homes, I’m not. In every walk of life, expertise, and the results it produces is what separates the wheat from the chaff.

Take baseball.

Tony Gwynn, probably the best hitter of his generation, hit just under .340 for his 20 year career. He consistently defined what an expert hitter looked and acted like — when hitting. What the hell does that mean, you ask? Here’s an example.

It’s a critical game situation with Tony at bat. He’s down in the count, 0 balls and 2 strikes. Now, if you asked a self proclaimed hitting expert what he’d do in that situation, he might begin pontificating on what the next pitch would be. Get five of these ‘experts’ in a room, and you’d no doubt get six opinions.

Tony would chuckle at most of them. Why? Cuz he’s not worried about what pitch is coming next. He’s an expert hitter for God’s sake. He can adjust to whatever the pitcher decides to throw next. The rest of us could be told exactly what pitch in what location, and it wouldn’t matter. The expert though, can adjust. That’s what makes him an expert.

See, the expert knows, while the psuedo expert spouts. The expert does, while the wannabe talks. And for the record — experts fail, and are sometimes wrong. Tony failed over 66% of the time. Of course, his peers failed about 70-80% of the time.

You ever see Russell Shaw claim to be an expert? I haven’t. I’ve spoken with him several times on the phone, and enjoyed a long lunch with him. Not once did he even imply he held expert status — in anything. You read his stuff though. You know what he says on various real estate related subjects. He doesn’t mince words, does he? Not even. Bet you think he’s an expert don’t you? You probably disagree with some of what he says, yet you still classify him as an expert.

Same goes for Greg, and so many of the BHB contributors. Do I classify Russell as an expert?

I sure do. He knows what he’s talking about. He’s learned, applied, screwed the pooch a thousand times, then figured stuff out. It’s never just about facts, figures, and concepts. It’s about combining the whole recipe into a coherent symphony of success after success — and more than a few failures on the way. Experts aren’t self proclaimed, regardless of the high opinions they hold of themselves. Experts are usually experts at failing too.

In the end, experts are producers of results.

Tony Gwynn tells a great story on himself. Seems Ted Williams was irritated with the way Tony approached the inside pitch. Pitchers knew he hated that location. Tony complained he had to hit most pitches to the opposite field because of the pitches he faced. Ted told him to stop complaining and ‘turn’ on those inside pitches from then on. Once he started hitting a few homers off that particular pitch, pitchers would begin throwing him the pitches he really wanted to see. See, pitchers are allergic to home runs. They’d rather a hitter go 5 for 5, all singles, than 1 for 5 with a 3 run homer.

Williams was correct — one expert to another. Gwynn followed his advice and got the results Ted predicted — in spades. I’ve heard Tony tell that story a few times, and each telling ends up with Tony throwing his head back in laughter.

Experts — real experts — know what they are. Whether they proclaim it from the mountain tops or let others do it for them — doesn’t change reality. You either know exactly what you’re doing or you don’t. Either way, others will hang the label of expert on you, or not as the case may be.

Let others make that decision on their own — based on reading what you write, listening to what you say, and observing the results you produce.

There are many baseball players living in San Diego during the off season. Many of them are among the elite as hitters. (Hell, I umpired some of them before they were pros.) Know where you’ll find them in November, December, and January? In a lonely batting cage at San Diego State’s baseball field — listening respectfully while Tony, sitting on an old stool, fixes the minor flaws in their swings. They’re paid millions a year to hit,– yet they drive to SDSU to listen to every syllable coming from Tony’s lips, waiting for their turn to be criticized by the expert. Show me a baseball player who averages .338 for 20 years and is a Hall of Famer, and I’ll show you a real live expert.

Those words never came out of his mouth though. He just did it, and let others decide.

Who thinks you’re an expert?