Never offer more than you can deliver BUT never deliver less than you offer.
Soon after starting HomeStar Realty I established a bond with a Hindu orchardist from our town that has ever since then grown into a fantastic friendship and business relationship. Today, I consider Sushil Anand one of my best friends and a man I could count on for anything. Sushil is the hardest working, honest, and generous men that I know. Sushil has been a great example to me and has taught me a lot about life and business. Time after time again, I witness that chapter’s subject illustrated by Sushil in our business and personal dealings.
Initially Sushil had called me on one of my houses I had listed to get information because he couldn’t get his realtor to call him back. I base my daily business on serving people and so I always respond quickly (if not immediately) and Sushil told me that is the reason he decided to allow me to become his exclusive realtor. By returning someone’s call, I established a relationship that has brought me deal after deal and the honour to work with the model client that we as realtors’ only dream about.
The story of my friend and best client has been repeated over and over again in my business. I am really a one man ‘show’. I am a company of one yet I often outperform offices 10 times my size so I don’t even try to compete in bragging to be the biggest, oldest, newest or whatever. I don’t spend a fortune on advertising trying to make myself look better than I am. I try very hard to take my own advice.
My advice of “never offer more than you can deliver BUT never deliver less than you offer” is premised on “expect nothing and you will never be disappointed”. However, as a professional providing a service by default as soon as someone hears, speaks, or even thinks about you – you have a commitment and thus an ‘expectation’. Isn’t it ironic that what used to be known as ‘common courtesy’ has now become a business style? How far we have come in our business practices when the most sophisticated advice I could give to realtors right now is – return your calls!!
One of the most difficult words we as realtors should say but don’t is ‘NO’. For some strange reason we have been programmed to believe we are super men and women. It doesn’t matter how many listings we have or how many deals we have on the go we will always agree to more without ever considering if the request is even possible. This is not only bad business practices; it hurts your family, friends and your well being. To continue to over load your schedule resulting in you not fulfilling your commitments will only bring you less business in the long run. As stated in an earlier chapter I would suspect that you are not over loading your schedule as much as you are not scheduling the most important things first and making sure they get done.
I am convinced that you risk losing more business than you could possibility gain if you don’t do what you say you are going to do. As realtors, we can make hundreds of thousands of dollars in an increasing market without providing much follow up service. However, when (not if) the market turns down we will get hit so hard we won’t even know what hit us. Many realtors, mortgage brokers and trades people have gotten involved in the booming real estate market making lots of promises and when they don’t deliver they don’t care because there is lots of business. Eventually when the tides turn ‘the customer’ that was treated poorly will remember how they were treaded and will ‘stave’ us for not providing what was expected of us.
If you can’t return your calls then you are too busy or most likely too unorganized. You may want to reconsider where and how you are spending your time because your business practices are making guys like me rich. Thanks a million!!!
Advice: The lesson here was that if you say you are going to do something – DO IT!!
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