It all depends on who you are loyal to!
This seemed to be the theme today in my appointments.
As we prospect and look for new clients we run into a lot of people who say things like "I would go with you but I have to go with..." because they feel like they owe that person something whether they are a family member, friend, or previous agent. While I can appreciate loyalty, of course I want all of my clients to be loyal to me and refer ALL of their friends and family to me, I also want them to work with me because they know I will do THE BEST job for them and their loved ones. If the person you are being loyal to is not going to do the best job for you or provide the best service, why do you owe them anything? After all, don't they owe it to you to provide you with the best service and in the end the best results? Just because someone is a family member or friend doesn't mean that they have a clue about what they are doing and generally I have found that consumers just want to go with them so that they will discount their commission. What kind of friend would do that or expect their friend to make less money just because you are friends? Wouldn't you rather have an agent that is going to make you more money and provide a better service because of their experience? It is proven (on many occasions) that if an agent discounts their commission, they will sell your home for less money. They will also focus more of their time with clients that they know they will have more incentive to devote their time to, all the while leaving you wondering "what happened to my agent, why aren't they doing anything for me?"
Some recent examples that inspired me to write about this topic are...
1. J-We knocked on J's door and she told us that she was moving and that she was going to list her home with her previous agent, 'IF they tell her that they can sell her home for what she needs'. So, she wanted us to tell her what we thought we could sell her home for. We obliged and continued to educate J by bringing her comparables on a steady basis for 3 months. When the time came for her to list her home, she let us know that she felt obligated to list with her previous agents even though they did not once provide her any information or try to continue to earn her business whatsoever. They told her that they didn't think that they could get her what she needed (even though we proved to her with market data that we could). She told us that she was going to give them a chance and IF they can't get her what she needs then she will list with us. Poor J will most likely sell her home for $10,000-$20,000 less than had we listed it. Over the last 3 months of following up with her, we became the experts in her area because not only did we educate her, we educated us! Her previous agents are going into the listing blindly.
2. Mr J- Today we met with Mr J who had us come to see his home and give him a value of his home and said "the only reason you are here is because you are the neighborhood experts". Mr J was deciding on if he should list his home with us or his good friend. He thought that we could tell him the price that we thought his home would sell for in the area and then list with his friend for that price. Poor Mr J! Little does he know that the price that I can sell a home for is not necessarily the price that another agent can sell it for. There is a lot more to marketing a home than the price. I will sell Mr J's home for $15,000-$20,000 more than his friend because of my marketing strategy and ability to handle and generate multiple offers. Because of my proven marketing strategy rather than having buyers offer less than the asking price and the seller come down on their price because they have one offer to choose from, multiple offers drive the price up above the list price and the seller has the ability and confidence to accept higher offers.
3. Miss T- Miss T has been trying to sell her home off and on with her previous agent for a year. In the last year while market prices increased and the average days on market decreased to less than 1 week on the market, Miss T had several price reductions, to reduce the price $30,000 below competing homes in the area. When Miss T's listing expired I called her and explained to her that with my marketing strategy and the current price of her home, I could help her to sell her home for atleast $20,000 more than she was asking when her listing expired. Miss T felt that her agent has worked so hard for the last year that she was obligated to re-list with her agent and possibly reduce the price more. I explained to her that an agent earns their wage WHEN they sell the house, not by NOT selling the house. Even after some very logical explanation Miss T said she would give her agent one last try FOR 6 MONTHS!!! I explained to her that I never take a listing over 3 months and IF I don't sell her home in 1 I would let her fire me! Miss T felt that she should be loyal to her agent and give her another chance. Miss T's loyalty cost her $30,000.
4. Faye- Faye has been a client of mine since 2006. I have sold 5 properties for Faye in addition to 2 homes for her sons. Faye told me today that you can never tell if someone is good at what they do or if they are telling you the truth. She said "Amie, I tell everyone to go with you! I know I can trust you and that you are the BEST at what you do. If only we had met you before we decided to work with our neighbor, She is nice but I would never go with anyone but you! And when my husband dies, you will be selling ALL of our properties." Faye and her husband have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars by working with the wrong agents and trusting the wrong people. Faye knows that the value of being loyal to the right agent is PRICELESS!
I am so thankful to my clients, friends and family who have seen the value of doing business with me and have trusted me enough to refer their loved ones. To me, Your Loyalty is EVERYTHING!!!! And I hope to continue to Earn it!
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