Success Comes by Focusing on the Client, Not Commissions

Success comes by focusing on the client, 100% of the time for this Sacramento Realtor.

When agents ask this Sacramento Realtor for advice and I give it to them — like success comes by focusing on the client not on your bank account — they often come back with a bunch of reasons as to why they can’t follow my advice. It usually starts by pointing out they are not me, they are a different person. If they didn’t figure that out at the inception of our conversation, I can see where they are having difficulties because, like it or not, we are all different people. How much fun would it be if we were all alike, like Donald Trump, for example? Would you want to see a bunch of Donald Trumps running loose in the street, no, you would not. In fact, that would be called a nightmare of enormous proportions.

When agents start out in real estate, they know success comes by focusing on the client, but they can find it very difficult to conduct business that way. There are often financial pressures. It takes a while to learn the business, find a client and get into escrow. At that point, it can become an internal struggle, even among the most ethical and honest agents. They might feel torn between doing the right thing or making sure the escrow closes so they can get paid.

It might not even be a conscious thing. I’m not saying agents are evil and only thinking about themselves, far from it. It’s human nature. Agents need to make a living. Pay a mortgage, make a car payment, maybe support a family. They can’t do that if every transaction cancels, blows up or falls apart. It can be agony. Some agents decide they can’t be in sales due to these types of conflicts the business can present, so they go back to safety of the 9 to 5 grind.

I decided early in my career that I did not want to face conflicts like that. I did not want find myself in the position of being forced to choose between putting bread on the table or doing a good job for my clients. The only way I found to get around that dilemma was to make sure if a client expressed a desire to cancel a contract, for example, because it was best for the client, that I would acquiesce without trying to talk them out of it. Because I am not motivated by money and I never want to be. I purposely made that leap to believing that success comes by focusing on the client.

It was a leap because I harbored initial hesitation. Well, you just have to get over that. With great conviction, I soldiered forward, repeating that mantra over and over: success comes by focusing on the client. It became true for me. My reality. I shot my sales into the stratosphere. And the best part is I feel good about the service I provide and derive great joy by hearing how happy my clients are with my performance. There is never a doubt in their minds whose best interests I serve. And if that isn’t a good enough reason to turn around a real estate practice to really serve your clients, I don’t know what is.