The other morning I read a wonderful article by Rich Jacobson.  He wrote about how we as real estate professionals need to the voice of reason and trust to our clients,as well as telling us about a real life situation in which this was conveyed professionally by him to his clients and vice verse.

As I read his article I found myself nodding my head in agreement with him, and also remembering the times that speaking honestly and at times, bluntly, with my clients has caused me to be fired over the years.

You see, I have this funny quirk of bluntness that leads my mouth to spill out the  words: 
"That won't work"  or  "It isn't a good idea" or  "I can't do that".

Recent examples of my quirky bluntess: 

• The FHA buyer who wanted to look at condos in subdivisions that I knew wouldn't
  fly with HUD.
  
  
• The home owner who wanted to put their home on the market for $30,000 more than
  the current value to "just give it a try."
  
  
• The first time home buyer who insisted on viewing short sale homes with the Federal tax
  credit being the overwhelming factor in his buying a home this year.

I lost all 3 of those potential clients because of my bluntness when it became clear that no matter what I said or how I worded it that they were going to go full head on with their decisions.

On the flip side, I had a Rich Jacobson moment just a short while ago in which my buyer client said "This is why I hired you.  Thank you." when giving her advice and explaining why something wouldn't work out and wasn't in her best interest.   

Lose a few clients and sleep better at night?     I'll do that every time.