Have you ever had to fire a client? I fired a client this week.
Great post.
Today was a sad day because I had to fire a client. I spent a lot of time working with him to help save his house from foreclosure and he decided to kill a deal because he didn't want anyone to make money off of his house. You see there was a cash investor who made a fair offer on the property that would have been accepted by the bank as it was close to the Bank ordered BPO and my seller killed it.
He was being a bit unreasonable about the whole thing and said that he was having second thoughts and decided he only wanted a person who was going to live in the property to buy it. I told him that was novel, but when you have a foreclosure sale date on your house, you may want to consider all offers. On top of that he accused me and the investor that I was working with of being predatory. That was the last straw for me, I will not allow someone to attack my character, no matter what their circumstances are. All we have as Realtors is our reputation and we need to guard that with our all. My reputation is far more valuable than gold to me.
He called me today and asked if I would be willing to help him because he changed his mind and wants to try and sell it now. The kicker is that he says that he spoke with another Realtor that said she had a buyer (there are a few ethical issues there but I won't go there). I told him that he is released from our agreement and may pursue a real estate relationship with the other Realtor. I can no longer work with him because I have some trust issues now that I cannot overcome. I value my time and I cannot afford to waste it with someone who is playing games. I work with a lot of distressed homeowners so I know how to deal with them. Typically I am very sensitive and accommodate them whenever I can, this time was not that time. I spent a lot of time explaining the process and answering his questions so that he was not in the blue. He appeared to be very clear about what his role is and what needed to take place in order for his house to sell.
You see, one of the pitfalls we Realtors fall into is the pitfall of not having enough self respect to only work with people who fit our business model. You can't work with everyone, there are time constraints, we sometimes don't have time and sometimes the people are not prequalified. There are a host of other reasons, but my main point is that we are not here to be whipping boys and girls for the public. I know that some of them don't think we do much, but that is probably more our fault for not going into more detail of the countless hours we spend for each of our clients. If you divide our commission by the number of hours spent on any given deal, they quickly see that the more time we spend the less we make in Corporate America terms.
This technology age is wonderful and it will drive some of us out of business if we don't get up to speed. But it will not take the place of a seasoned Realtor. A website can provide you with lots of helpful information and lots of book knowledge, but it won't help you navigate a sticky deal. There is a lot of psychology in the game that we play and it is a game. A game that requires us to be very savvy and on our toes. Some are better at it than others, but we all have to play. Personally, I find the game to be very satisfying and I enjoy it immensely. It is not for the inexperienced or the week of heart.
I would be interested in hearing your responses to this post. Do you agree or disagree with me? What would you have done?
Steven Wright
My Website (I just did a lot of work on my website, I would be interested in getting your input)
720-989-5283
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