Reasons That’s The Way We’ve Always Done It Does Not Apply

Don’t ever say that’s the way we’ve always done it.

That’s the way we’ve always done it is an excuse. And it’s a damn lazy excuse at that. Stupid even. I know this because as a Sacramento Realtor, I’ve used that line myself when maybe the situation wasn’t important enough to employ a better tactic. But I certainly know better. It makes me cringe when I hear an agent use that lame line. Yet just the other day, that’s the way we’ve always done it popped up in an email. Without going into details, let’s just say the agent who originated the email works in a closed environment, sort of how San Diego is considered a test environment because it’s an isolated metropolitan city that is fairly self contained. If this place were a family, it would multiply through incest.

Since using that argument holds no water with me, I didn’t particular care. I am not a Realtor who believes in the premise that’s the way we’ve always done it. It just rubs me the wrong way because it’s such an idiotic thing to say. Everything changes all the time. The world continually evolves and what was true today is not necessarily true tomorrow. There might be a better way to accomplish a directive or goal. A different way that produces better results. And I’m constantly searching for it.

I challenged the agent who sent me that email. Explained that we are taking a different approach. Against the grain, against the way we’ve always done it. Discussed how that particular action is certainly allowed in the purchase contract. It’s another way of looking at the situation, a way I had not previously considered, and it made a lot of sense. Bucking the norm. It’s a way of life for me.

The agent was not happy with that outcome. The agent was used to doing business a certain way and this was not that way. The agent said that’s the way we’ve always done it, and then even sent statistics from MLS as evidence that, on average, many sellers responded in a similar manner. I put little credence in the way average works. Average is for average people. Average means there are people who do better and people who do worse, and when that accumulated result is divided by the number of participants, that calculation produces an average.

I strive to do better than average. I strive for superior performance. But some of us are wired this way, I suspect, and other Sacramento Realtors are satisfied with the status quo. How do I consistently move $30 million of inventory year after year? I don’t subscribe to the premise that’s the way we’ve always done it. I blaze new trails. I recognize that door of opportunity and welcome change. Change is constant. If you prefer creative innovation over the same-o same-o from your Realtor, call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.