Hi Everyone!

That is one of my favorite sayings from one of my favorite books, Good to Great by Jim Collins.  If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend reading it soon.  It's not good, it's great!  It is listed as the 2nd best book on The eHomes Realty Network, right behind e-Myth by Michale Gerber

I have often wondered why some Agents are more successful than other Agents or why is anyone more successful than anyone else.  The line Good is the Evil of Great really answers the question for me and most likely for you. 

What does it take to be a Great Realtor vs. being a good Realtor?  To me, it takes giving your customers 150% while everyone else gives 85%.  It means treating your customers like they are family and doing whatever it takes for them to be successful in their home search or selling goals.  It means that you work honestly and sincerely with your customers best interest in mind all the time.  The problem is, it's much easier to be good.  Being good is working hard for your customer and doing a good job.  However, how many times have you had a transaction that you know you didn't give it everything you had?  You know that you could have given better customer service, kept your customer informed better, or skirted the line a little to get the transaction done.  Was the transaction more important than your customers needs?  I know many Agents that their goal is the transaction, not the customer.  Many of them are good Realtors, none of them are Great Agents.

I'll give you an example.  Keep in mind that I haven't really sold homes now since the beginning of 2005 when I opened my Brokerage.  I'm not a believer that Brokers should be selling homes when they have Agents, they should be managing and helping their Agents grow, not competing with them.  With that said, I still sell a couple of homes a year to keep in practice and it's always a referral.  My last transaction was a challenge.  The couple, who have bought homes from me in the past, were buying their retirement home in Florida.  Without going into a ton of detail, I ended up putting about $650 of my money into different things to help my customer out.  For instance, the seller gave a basic home warranty, but I wanted them to have a better one that cost an extra $200.  They wanted to take the pool as is without an inspection, but they were not here to see what I saw and how it looked.  I had a pool company come out and do an inspection at my expense.  There were a couple other things not to mention they were always wanting more pictures and room measurements so they could make plans.  I went above and beyond in many ways.  Near the end of the transaction my closing coordinator asked me why I was doing so much for this customer.  Of course she had never seen me selling to many homes in the past because when she came on board I was already the broker and had stopped selling homes.  I told her that was the difference between me and most other agents.  I will do whatever it takes to help my customers accomplish their goals. 

I have worked hard to instill my beliefs onto my Agents about being the best you can be and to sincerely do what it takes for your customer and not for yourself.  Recently two of my Agents on two different occasions spent a weekend and several hundred dollars making repairs on their customers homes so they would pass FHA.  They didn't do this to get a closing, both homes were very inexpensive homes, they did this because they wanted their customers to get the homes they wanted.  They did it out of the goodness of their hearts and knowing that their customers would be very happy when they found out what my Agents had done for them.  Both their customers were elated and both gave awesome reviews on my Agents.  I was smiling from ear to ear. 

So what's stopping you from being great.  Usually its Agents and people who are good that keep them from being great.  Good is the evil of Great because most everyone is very happy and successful being good.  Why put so much effort into something if you can get it done with less effort.  The only person who will know that you didn't do a great job is you.  Everyone else will think you did a great job...maybe, but you will know you didn't do your best.  Our society is moving more and more toward being good and not being great.  It's very acceptable for everyone to be good.  Nobody expects anyone to be Great.  That's why when you are Great, you stand out from the crowd.  My dad taught me that no matter what you do in life be the best at it.  I live by those words. 

The next time you are doing a transaction, go above and beyond.  Do a Great Job for your customer and make it their best home buying or selling experience of their life.  Make it memorable.  Don't just do a good job, take your business to the next level and do a Great job!