Pay It Forward - Lend and Ear!

Yesterday an old buddy and past co-worker called me asking for some advice regarding a very difficult listing client she has been representing.  She has discussed this client with me over the past 6 months and I assumed that I would be receiving this phone call from her one of these days.  I know her well enough to know that she doesn't need any advice all she needs is a friendly impartial person to act as her sounding board.  Over the many years we have done this for one another.

The phone call started out "I just need some advice, what would you do in this situation?" to which I responded I'll bet this is about your listing client who knows better than you do and any other real estate professional about listing and marketing real estate.  She said that I was right on the money and that she was terribly frustrated with this client who insisted on doing nothing that my friend had recommended to prepare and market the listing.  The listing was coming up for an extension and now the client has decided that the best thing to do is to cut my friends commission and limit the extension to 60 days.  I let my friend chatter on and on about how unreasonable and condescending this client had been to her.

Finally I asked, "your bottom line is?"  To which she answered she didn't want to represent this client any longer.  I told her that it sounds like she has already decided what to do and that she should in a very professional manner let her client know that she appreciated the confidence that the client had placed in her by listing the property with her and that she felt it was time for the client to try a different approach to marketing the property with another agent and to thank the client for the opporunity to represent them.  I said this is an emotional time for both the seller and my old buddy and it was best to take the high road.  After all it is about representing the client even if it means saying good bye to the client.

She said to me "I knew you'd say that" to which I said "you knew what you were going to do all the time you just needed someone to lend you an ear".