Um, did you forget that there is a PERSON involved?

I've recently been reviewing junk mails about their products to see the sales pitches and how my gut actually responded to them. Time after time I saw a sales pitch that I just didn't relate to. Almost never did I see relevance to the consumer. The undertone of each of these services' market plan was basically how to use a person's needs to make more money. Whatever happened to Zig Ziggler's mantra "You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want?" 

Many of us get unlimited junk mail everyday. Seems that everyone in the world wants me to see their new listing, pitch their new miracle cure for a bad market and promise me wealth that no other agent can have, if I just buy their stuff. Funny thing is, that these folks are very "smooth" in their e-mails. They always "personalize" it with my first name and then are sure to let me know that they can understand my "frustrations". If they really knew me, they'd know that I no longer actively list and sell, and that the e-mail address they are using, hasn't been used for anything other than junk mail in six years. I have stopped clicking the unsubscribe button, because I think it actually generates more junk mail, so I move it to the junk mail folder. 

I am not naive enough to think that this industry is all about being of service, otherwise everyone would do it as a volunteer, but it is a service industry. It's time that practitioners stopped thinking of consumers as stupid. People inherently see through insincerity, and will eventually figure out if they are being used. That's fine if you just want the one "deal" or if you want to "convert a lead"; but it doesn't help generate referral business. Insincerity will also not build repeat clients and will not give you a good reputation.   

Here is an excerpt of an e-mail sent to me (several times) by a Drew Adams of www.LearnToShortSale.com: 

"The course, Short Sales for Real Estate Professionals, will teach you how to work the deals, what to say and how to insure your success. You will learn how to find these transactions and how to work them. Short sale experts are cleaning up in this market. I like doing well but I also like helping people and this work has been very rewarding, both financially and emotionally." 

 

The bolding and underlining is my own emphasis.  Yes, the author of the e-mail actually ends this paragraph with the fact that he "likes helping people." I get that, but look at the many other references in the e-mail. Phrases like "work the deals", "insure your success", "how to work them" and "Short Sales experts are cleaning up in this market" are all  (IMHO) sleezy phrases that reinforce the consumer's perception of the industry. The premise of this e-mail is that people's suffering and hardship are great opportunities for agents! That's simply not the case. Short Sales are very difficult for the consumer, there is devastating effects to the client's credit. There is fear of the unknown, the humility of the process and the need to trust a complete stranger to help you with one of the most difficult process's that most people will ever need to endour.  

I recently purchased a new car and the salesperson tried to be professional, but having gone through extensive salesperson training I found that he was simply going through his list of "tricks." The clincher was after battling about costs of warranties and me declining options, we were ready to sign and the closer (not salesperson - he was great) gave me the double thumbs up and said "Don't forget us on that survey." Ok, the thumbs up was SOOO indicative of the car salesman persona and the statement about the survey just made me wonder if everything he did was to get a good score on this evaluation, that I am now not inclined to complete.  

I don't expect a car sales person to care about me and my family. It's my responsibility to do that as a husband and father. However, I would expect an agent to be concerned about me and my family's needs. I am hiring them to do so, but I also have options. Most areas have a large number of Realtors in their market areas and interviewing folks gives me the change to follow my gut or intuition. Agents using "techniques and closings" are more worried about converting the lead than serving the client. Serving the client goes much, much further...