How Much Experience is Enough When Hiring a real estate agent?

Straight up right out of the gate...I lost a listing because I didn't have enough experience. It was a substantial property as well...I would have priced it at around $1.2Million dollars (will be interesting to see where the Agent that got the listing lists it).

I was going up against 4 other Calgary real estate agent, not something that I get to worried about. I feel I have a pretty dialed in system on helping people achieve what they want...it means LISTENING most importantly.

I got a call from the owner, it was a great message they left and I felt even better about the experience. They told me the loved my marketing plan, they felt I was tenacious and that I would do very well in real estate, and they felt like they connected with me as well.

At the end of the message is where they dropped the bomb..."In comparison to the other agents we felt your 5+ years was not enough, they all had 20+ years experience" 

So I had to ask myself...How Much is Enough Experience

Typically after every transaction I am a part of, every appointment I go on, no matter if it was successful or not I always ask myself,"What could I have done differently?" This is how I continue to grow as a business owner and an Agent.

I couldn't ask myself this question this time. I should ask you, the reader, how much do YOU think is enough? Have I done as many deals as a real estate agent that has 20 years in the biz? Nope! Can't even compete with that.

So how much experience is enough? What I believe these home owners were thinking was....A guy with 20 years experience has been privy to a few more situations than the guy with 5 years. But...how do they know that? Maybe he has a pretty boring career(Which btw...is what most agents want...not one filled with drama).

As a home owner that has gone through the selling and buying process before I was a licensed real estate agent, the number of years, the number of transactions didn't matter to me. What mattered was that person's ability to think outside the box to present different solutions to their clients.

Different solutions in terms of marketing their home, if a problem arises how would they handle it, how do they deal with other Agents and what does their database look like? 

How will I continue to push forward? I will take this experience and know that in terms of my experience, there was nothing I could do. However I think the solution to this issue for me and any other Agent dealing with this problem in their business would be to present different situations that you have been a part of and the 'out of the box' solution you provided to solve the problem.