The CB Blog Estate
Something happened to me this week that has never happened: an agent leaving my office trashed me on FaceBook. In other words, I was slimed!
Now, I had a good relationship with this agent, and after two years of doing this I have hired agents and lost agents, and I know that sometimes it's just not a good match.
Usually, when an agent leaves I always wish them well, because the truth is things don’t always work out. In this case I felt sincere in my wish for him to start anew - but when I found out about his public (social networking) critique of having to actually pay what he owed on his agent account before I allowed his license to transfer, I admit, it affected me.
Why? Because he made it personal, and way public!
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I should eat his debt and call it doing business. But I'm tired of eating "bad debt," and I believe in accountability and running a business.
Now don’t get me wrong, i'm not naive enough to believe that everyone loves me. In fact, I know I'm somewhat polarizing. Public success can do that. But it's another thing to hear about yourself in a status update.
The fact is, I love social networking. Nothing has helped me grow my office better. I have been able to bring in some of the finest agents I have ever met by meeting them first on-line, and I have been able to connect with people all over the country because of the people power of Twitter, Active Rain, LinkedIN and FaceBook, but now having experienced the dark underbelly of the beast I feel gun-shy, wary, and maybe even a little miffed.
I have been slimed, and getting over it - well - I’m sure I will, but it still hurts. Maybe because, unlike in the real world, I can read all about it.
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