When I worked at The Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia, the hotel business was a great place to be. For Luxury Hotels, the Hotel side and Rooms Division was looking for a 70% profitability while the Food and beverage was profitable at about 18 or 19%. The food and beverage was necessary to bring the people in to the rooms. H"eads on Beds" was the catch phrase. Once a night has passed, if the room wasn't occupied, you could never recoup that revenue. so...The Sales Staff got busy and reduced rates for groups all the way down to $99.00 per night. We had a full hotel but the groups that came in really put the hotel through its paces with regards to wear and tear. They sold the hotel too cheaply.

Does the same go for Real Estate? If you discount your commissions lower and lower, with customers still expecting the same level of service, can you sell yourself too cheaply? We hate to lose a customer and as customers have been more scarce lately, we want to hold on tight. Once you reduce, can you go back up in your commissions again? If you value your own service level highly, shouldn't others follow that guideline?

We have agents in our company and marketplace that only work a single zip code, a certain price range or even a certain group of people that have commonality. Where do you see yourself?