I'm a female broker/owner - I couldn't possibly be sexist! But I caught myself acting in a way that disturbed me. Maybe it's not sexist, but do we unconsciously treat one spouse different than the other?
Who do you make eye contact with when you're going over contract paperwork? Do you talk to the person who looks the most professional? If the husband's in a suit and the wife is the mommy-type, do you find yourself directing your statements to the husband? If the wife is in a suit and the husband is dressed blue-collar do you address your statements to the wife?
I realized I was addressing my statements to the husband even though the wife was a paralegal. If I hadn't known this couple for years I would not have even had known that the wife was a paralegal. She had been staying home with the children for a few years, but I'm pretty sure she had not gone brain dead. I was horrified when I realized what I was doing. Now I wonder how many times I have done that.
In training we are caught to identify the decision maker, but I think we need to train our agents to not make assumptions about who comprehends what we are saying the best.
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