“Control Your Client!!” Say WHAT??

It happens. The deal starts going sideways, backwards, nowhere.  My client may be making very strong demands that the other side doesn’t like at all.  Maybe he is taking a WAY LONG time to respond which is frustrating the other side, or doing things that are a little or very “off beat’. So the other agent is getting testy, and calls up, telling me pointedly: “Control your client!”  To myself I say well, my client is not an unruly child acting up in the store.   How is it my job to control them?  The implication is that I should crack some whip and get my client in line (as defined by the other broker).  For sure, it is my duty to let the client know what the other party is expecting, and what the conventions of negotiating are, and what may be the likely consequences of any action or position he may choose to take.  But beyond that, the client is the decision maker. Beyond giving my most sound and well considered advice, my ethical obligation is to obey the client’s instruction and to be loyal.  If I disagree with my client and he does not follow my advice, I still have the obligation to do all I can to achieve the best results, always and only in my clients best interests.  Here’s to a modicum of humility. Confidence for a broker is good, but its always important to remember that it is the priorities of the client that are driving the bus.