Doorify Real Estate Podcast

Rehumanizing Real Estate in the Age of AI with Skye Michiels

• Doorify MLS • Episode 98

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Real estate is changing faster than most agents can keep up with. Between the noise of new tech and the pressure to stay relevant, it’s easy to lose sight of what really matters.

We sat down with Skye Michiels right after his talk at PropTech South to unpack what it really means to rehumanize the real estate experience. Skye is a national real estate coach and founder of With Heart Coaching, working with agents and brokers across the country to grow their business with clarity and connection. 

In this conversation, he shares why AI isn’t the biggest threat to agents, it’s distraction. We get into the core human skills that will still matter five years from now, the hamster wheel dilemma of chasing every new tool, and why consistency always wins over complexity.

We also talked about how agents can stay focused on human connection in a world full of tools trying to automate every part of the process. He breaks down the three skills every agent needs to master if they want to stay valuable: empathy, tolerance for ambiguity, and consistency. 

Skye’s message is clear: real estate will always be a relationship business but only if we treat it that way. If you’re ready to rethink your approach and cut through the noise, this episode is for you.

Specifically, this episode highlights the following themes:

  • Why distraction is a bigger threat than AI itself
  • The three human skills every agent must prioritize
  • How to train teams in short, actionable sprints

Links from this episode:


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Host [00:00:08]:
Skye Michiels, welcome to North Carolina. Your first PropTech South. We are so happy you are here.

Skye Michiels [00:00:16]:
It's awesome. It was honestly, I was really impressed with what you guys pulled together.

Host [00:00:20]:
Oh, thank you. It takes a village. But I am so impressed with all the speakers and I want to dive into a little bit more about what you spoke about today in your session. Your title was Rehumanizing Real Estate. So at its core, what is the biggest threat AI poses to a traditional agent's job and what exactly does it mean to rehumanize the transaction?

Skye Michiels [00:00:48]:
Two really, really big questions. So let's tackle the first one. The biggest threat, in my opinion, is actually distraction. Our biggest threat with AI is being overwhelmed and being so distracted with like, trying to figure out 10 different platforms that are going to do one little thing that we forget again to get back to the core of what real estate is. So with AI, I think people are avoiding it because it's either scary or overwhelming. And my general recommendation is that just figure out one platform to start and until you've mastered that platform, don't, don't add anything more in. So let's just pretend you pick chatgpt. All right, Once you get that to like a good space, then maybe.

Skye Michiels [00:01:32]:
All right, let me do zapier or let me do this other thing. But I think distraction is the greatest threat to realtors because we get so distracted on the hamster wheel over here that we forget about taking care of our business over here or we just.

Host [00:01:47]:
Don'T know how to use it or what we should ask it. And it can be intimidating.

Skye Michiels [00:01:51]:
Yeah, exactly. And I think it's similar to any new technology that, you know, gets out there. The people that can learn it fastest and quickest are going to use it to its nth degree. And that's what we need to do.

Host [00:02:04]:
Yeah, you know, if AI can handle data and scheduling and repetitive tasks with a perfect efficiency, what are your three non negotiable human skills or even emotional services that every agent must master to justify their value in the future?

Skye Michiels [00:02:21]:
The first thing for me is always empathy. You know, we are constantly worried about ourselves, which is, is good. But if you can learn how to practice empathy, that will carry you so far in your real estate career. The second one is one I just heard this the other day. Tolerance for ambiguity.

Host [00:02:41]:
Oh, I love that.

Skye Michiels [00:02:42]:
And it was so powerful. When I heard this, I was listening to a really good podcast and the speaker said, and I was like, whoa. Because you think about the people that are successful right now, they have A really great tolerance for ambiguity. The guarantee as Realtors that we have is we have no idea what's coming down the pike, you know, and we can just Covid. Again, you can just go down the list of the last five years so that, that term, practicing a tolerance for ambiguity. If you can really, you know, practice that at a high level, you will be very successful in real estate because you will just basically go back to what you do. Control, which is your actions. And then the final skill, I would say, is it's one word, which is the definition of success, and it's consistency.

Skye Michiels [00:03:28]:
Almost every agent fails because of the fact they they lack consistency. And there's many, many reasons why that. But most of the time we're making whatever is we're trying to do way too big. So, for example, you know, during my presentation, one text message a day to.

Host [00:03:45]:
One person or the time blocking. I love how you gave that example. We're all bad at that, right?

Skye Michiels [00:03:51]:
Time blocking.

Host [00:03:52]:
And we need, especially the end of the year, I'm going to just block off a month to do all of this.

Skye Michiels [00:03:56]:
It's not going to happen. And we need to throw out this idea that as Realtors, we're going to time block because the reality of our career is that most of the time during the day, there's so much unknown that is going to come at us. So I usually coach to a concept I call time chunking. Meaning rather than saying from 9 to 9:30, I'm going to work on my CRM, say I'm going to work on my CRM for 15 minutes today. And you create a chunk of time that is your goal. But it can't be big chunks of time. It has to be small. So I think the consistency piece is what we are never taught as agents, how to be consistent.

Skye Michiels [00:04:34]:
And then I think as you know, the industry, your agents are being bombarded with messaging around all this stuff, which is social media, AI trainings, this, all these things. And it's really pulling us away from being consistent because we're trying to do everything and doing none of it well. Instead, pick one or two things, but you do them consistently. And that's the key to success.

Host [00:05:00]:
And it's so incredible that today you had someone that actually used one of your tactics and got a lead, which is incredible in that moment. And so you obviously know what you're talking about, but it's also just, it's the simple things, that human connection that you just constantly keep talking about, and that you can be consistent. And it's not gonna be so overwhelming where you just feel like I can't do all of this or I'm behind and you just kind of starts to sp.

Skye Michiels [00:05:29]:
Viral. Exactly. And I think it's that consistency of like connection. Right. Is to think of that concept. I'm going to consistently connect with conversations with people I know.

Host [00:05:40]:
Right.

Skye Michiels [00:05:40]:
And boil it down to that simplicity. And if every agent in here just did that scroll back for two minutes a day, their business, they would find deals just like we had happen randomly in the audience. But I've never taught anything that is as simple and as effective as that little scroll back tactic.

Host [00:06:00]:
And it's such a good and important one to remember for brokers and team leaders in the audience. How should they adjust their training mentorship today to ensure that their agents are focused on delivering that human connection instead of competing with AI on speed or data?

Skye Michiels [00:06:18]:
Yeah, I think as far as like training realtors, I think we gotta go more into a mode of very short sprints versus like long drawn out training programs. Most of the time when we do stuff that's very long and drawn out, people will fade and, you know, stop doing it just because of the attention span and busyness and all that stuff. So instead I really advocate especially for brokers who are trying to get create action inside of their agents. Try to develop short sprints like a two week challenge or a, you know, a 30 day challenge. Do stuff that is shorter in sprints and very focused on specific actions and achievable. And achievable. Exactly. You need to build into success.

Skye Michiels [00:07:00]:
So as you do that, that, that'll allow you to elevate your training because of the fact you're not trying to train an agent on everything they need to know about social media. You're just training them on a very specific topic for two weeks.

Host [00:07:14]:
Can you give an example of one that you've done?

Skye Michiels [00:07:16]:
Yeah. Yeah, my favorite one, it's, I call it the CMA Day challenge. 30 days, you send 30 unsolicited sort of market snapshots to 30 of your past clients. And you know, there's a template. So basically it takes 10 minutes maybe to do that. And if you can do that for 30 days, when I do this as part of my coaching program, I guarantee that someone will get a listing or I'll refund the money. Because if you send out 30 connections to 30 pest clients, in my opinion, it's almost impossible that one of them won't use you or refer you in that 30 day timeframe.

Host [00:07:54]:
I love that you've talked a lot about like the hamster wheel dilemma. Many agents feel pressure to use everyday new technology that's available just to keep up. How can agents strategically select the right one to enhance their client relationships without, you know, tech becoming that distraction that pulls away from that human connection. And you've kind of talked a little bit about this, the scroll, I love that. But would you want to add to any of that?

Skye Michiels [00:08:23]:
It's the age old classic real real estate CRM. I mean I wish we actually could create a CRM that only did four things right.

Host [00:08:33]:
These CRMs today, they're becoming intense.

Skye Michiels [00:08:35]:
They're so intense and they're so complicated and it's almost like your iPhone, like most of us, our iPhone, we use five or six apps on our iPhone but it can do a thousand things. But we don't need to know all those or have them really present. So what Apple does really well they just put right in front of your face the things you use all the time. And I wish the CRMs were geared like that as well. But if, if you are an agent out there and you are saying well what technology should I use? If you are not using a CRM at a very high level, you have to start there. Once you're using a CRM at that point then you need to create a hyper focus of what your business, what you want your business to look like. So I typically coach people into identifying, you know, one to three buckets of business and then underneath each bucket where will, what are you going to focus on? So obviously sphere of influence, repeat referrals, one, maybe it's open houses. So what technology will help me with this very specific bucket of business? Maybe it's Internet leads.

Skye Michiels [00:09:40]:
What specific technology will help me here? So rather than try to figure out what technology's out there and let me fit it into my business, figure out your business first and then figure out what piece of technology exists to help me in that, that specific bucket.

Host [00:09:56]:
I really like that it makes you kind of go a little more narrow in and hone in on what you really need to focus on because it can be so overwhelming with, I mean at Dorify everyone knows we are constantly innovating, throwing new technology, but we always say do what's best for your business. What's going to streamline your business and make you the most successful? Moving beyond the transaction. How can agents use technology in a humanized way to build that lifetime relationship with a client? So like in other words, how does AI enable agents to better long term advisors rather than One off closers, if that makes sense.

Skye Michiels [00:10:37]:
One of the benefits of using a CRM is technology can think for you at times, but it can't, it can't feel for you. So an example of this would be making sure, depending upon what your CRM is, a smart plan, action plan, something that will remind you of very important timeframes in your specific client's life, their home, anniversary, their birthday, you know, a random, you know, text message that you're going to send them. So if you were a realtor, you want to build out something that will think for you. So you in essence, technology can actually give you a to do list on what you need to do that day to build a relationship with people. Because if you have 2, 300, 400 past clients, it is impossible to remember everything. And what most agents try to keep it up in their mind. Or it's random, right? Oh my God, it's someone's birthday. I saw it on Facebook.

Skye Michiels [00:11:34]:
No, you should get an email every morning or in your CRM there should be a to do list that you go in and it's so and so's birthday, send them a text. And you can't automate, you can automate the reminder, you can't automate the action, meaning with people you know, with people you don't know, you could automate everything and that's fine. But if you are using a quote unquote drip campaign to your past clients, you most likely are missing the mark. So technology should allow us to make people feel like they matter to us at a higher level by thinking for us, right. And keeping us organized. As agents, we're horrible at staying organized. So if technology helps you stay organized, that's where it can make us really powerful in this human connection. The other thing we think about is social media.

Skye Michiels [00:12:25]:
And again I go, I did a little bit in my presentation today. We have this tool. People today are buying and selling real estate because of life changes. And as realtors we are, we wish we could every day could show up and help people around their specific life. And so when we are not using, let's just say social media, which is technology to actually reverse it. And rather than us putting content out there to be consumed, we are actually going and looking at our clients social media in order to understand what's happening in their lives. And when we see something that generates an emotional reaction, we can actually react to that and make someone feel like they matter. So I think the concept we want to adopt is how can technology make me more human? By increasing the Ways that I can practice kindness and generosity and gratitude to the people I know.

Host [00:13:22]:
I love that. On more of a. On more of a personal level, what is one piece of technology or AI that you use daily and how do you ensure that it doesn't diminish your own ability to connect authentically with the people that you work with day in and day out?

Skye Michiels [00:13:42]:
So this is a basic one, but calendly is. Oh, I love calendly for me and probably for most realtors out there like that, going back and forth via text or email. Hey, can you do Friday at 9? No. How about, you know, Monday at 2? No, I can't. You know, all of a sudden you spend hours going back and forth and.

Host [00:14:03]:
Sometimes you miss it and I miss.

Skye Michiels [00:14:05]:
Them, then it'll drop, right? And it just happens. So calendly for me is something that I think will really help people create some structure in their schedule. So for me, someone's like, you know, I met people today. Oh, can we grab some time? I'm like, absolutely. Here's my. I text them my calendly link. They go on, they see what times I'm available. And by the way, this is all blocked in the calendar and they can choose the time that works for them.

Skye Michiels [00:14:31]:
And I don't. We eliminate the back and forth, back and forth, you know, and it's a very basic technology, but in many ways, like you, you really need to do it. In addition, it'll also when you can have required questions. So I always get their cell phone number, their email, why the purpose of the call. So that way when I'm having a crazy day and I, I like look at my calendar, I'm like, wait, who is this person? I'll have the reason for the call. And if I'm running late or I need to call them instead of whatever it might be, I'm not like googling their cell phone number or whatever it might be. Do you know what I mean? So it's a really cool, so simple.

Host [00:15:09]:
I need to go install that actually later today because it saves so much time.

Skye Michiels [00:15:13]:
It does. And then what I also do is I have text replacement in my iPhone. So I just like, for my 30 minute schedule, I just type SSS and the link pops up and I text it. So it allows for even quicker speed where I'm not like finding it, copying, pasting. So if you don't know what text replacement is, like, work at finding out what that is and implement that into your, your cell phone.

Host [00:15:39]:
So smart to do. I'm gonna go do that actually later tonight. Okay, so final takeaway. If there is one single action every agent and broker in this room should take tomorrow to embrace rehumanizing real estate, the philosophy, what would it be?

Skye Michiels [00:15:59]:
Simple, basic text message. Make someone feel your kindness by saying, I was going through my records today. I saw your name, it made me smile. Hope you're doing well. The basic concept of doing that every single day is it's so simple. And again, the first thing you do, you make someone feel good by saying, oh, my God, I saw you and I. It made me smile. Like, I acknowledge who you are.

Skye Michiels [00:16:27]:
And then the next thing you do is you are just basically giving them the door to create conversation, but also giving them the space to not if they chose not to. And again, once a day, every day for 20, 26, people will be shocked at what starts to come through on their text message.

Host [00:16:44]:
Skye Michiels, thank you so much for being here. It was a true honor to hear you speak today. Do this podcast recording. Where can people find you all the socials? Where can they hit you up?

Skye Michiels [00:16:58]:
My website is withheart coaching.com so that's nice and easy. My Instagram is @skyemichiels. M I c h I e L s a little different there. And then my email is skyewithheart coaching.com.

Host [00:17:13]:
Well, thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it. 

Skye Michiels [00:17:16]:
Thanks, everyone.

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Matt Fagioli

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