Listen and ask questions, my job as a real estate broker

I've been going through this type of thing quite a bit of late. Both with finding pet treats that are made of sawdust, and having to listen -- the holes in my tongue are proof.

That store will be out of business soon and the owner will blame everyone but himself.

HI Tammy. Great lesson. I know I need to be a better listener and I need to ask better questions.

Tammy, I would have walked out as well. However, I likely would have looked them in the eyes and told them why I was leaving ... and then wish them well in all of their right-ness. 

Congratulations on this Feature Post! 

Tammy, as you (and Bob Stewart recently) have written, the ego can often get in the way. Excellent service requires it be put aside and the focus put on the other person: not always easy but essential.

Ego of the store manager telling you that the other store was not THEIR store, destroyed your relationship to them. I would say you would be more likely to drive further and buy more at a time to avoid the situation. Or go on Amazon as you did. It could have been handled differently and it is a great lesson to anyone that owns a business to listen first and then ask questions to determine needs and your ability to help. I hope days get better for you!

I think we have a generation of people who were never trained in basic customer service skills.  This permeates all avenues of business. Which is why, if we as real estate professionals, treat people respectfully, we stand out in a crowded profession.  There is no reason why you cannot have success in any field if you treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.

Was the manager the owner?  If not, I believe I would be sending the owner a letter.

Good life lesson for all of us.  I'm heading out to show property in a bit - it started with a call for one of my listed properties, but some back and forth showed it was not a good fit.  We dove in deeper so I could understand the vision, and to my delight the prospect said "you're the first agent I've found who really cared about what I'm looking for". We're both excited to see if the property we're looking at this morning will be "the one"!

This is an issue that I struggle with frequently.

Some folks talk in a rat-a-tat stream of consciousness style and never seem to hesitate long enough to come up for air and it is almost impossible to get a word in edgewise to answer their question or to make a point that might help them in their thinking and so the one sided "conversation" goes on and on until one of us gets tired and breaks it off until the next time when the same thing happens all over again or it starts to rain or maybe one of us has to go to the bathroom or maybe the cat gets stuck under the couch or . . . . (Get the idea here?)

I love texting, don't you?  

Listen 2/3, ask questions 1/3.

Tammy,
I can totally empathize with your entire post! Everything from focusing on nothing more than wanting to care for a four legged family member, being beyond frustrated with someone who is not listening to your needs, and wondering if my own actions have made anyone else feel bad. You did your best to put a positive spin on having a bad thing happen when you were already having a bad day, and brought a lot of people's attention to doing the same. Fantastic post! Thank you for sharing and I hope today is a better day!

Great post!  I've caught myself making that mistake and have been working on consciously listening to everything they say before commenting or answering.  It is easy to make this mistake as we have worked to always have the right answer at the ready!