You're Eventually Going To Run Out Of Suckers

You're Eventually Going To Run Out Of Suckers:
"Inspired by Phone with Rome!"

Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400 and I were chatting on the phone, not long ago, about a referral I gave her to a NorCal Agent, when we wandered into a broader conversation sharing a couple "war stories" about our industry (pros and cons). We got on the topic agent behavior in the market and this phrase popped out of my mouth:

"Agents that work transactionally, especially with their own agenda prioritized, are eventually going to run out of suckers."

Always the positive encourager, Margaret immediately announced "That sounds like a blog title" and encouraged me to write about it...as Margaret is quite good at doing 😉. 

The fact remains, especially with today's social media and online reviews, if you're a transactional agent vs. a relational agent, eventually, you're going to run out of people to take advantage of; you'll run out of suckers! You can be a great transactional agent without it being selfish, but you'll work much harder to keep your pipelines flowing with new business and you'll likely succumb to buying leads. If you are a dishonest agent, one that puts his/her own needs in front of your clients, your clients will remember how you treated them; they will remember how you made them feel and they will broadcast it. This is why you will eventually run out of suckers willing to work with you and your ways.

It takes a lot of effort to earn a positive online review, but bad service is effortless for your clients to announce to all that will listen. You want to be in the acknowledgement section, not the cautionary tale.

I really like connecting a REALTOR® with a referral to a REALTOR® with the ability to serve that referral; I do this often in Active Rain and with Buffini & Company agents. Typically they have a client needing service in a city in another state and they need to meet a good agent to serve their client. I make these introductions weekly and once you've made the introductions, I step away and let them do their thing. I've completed your part of the process, no obligations or referral fees, just good will.

I've heard of contractor getting referrals to clients from REALTORS® that then expect to have a piece of the action, they want the contractor to pay them for referring them. That is NOT a referral, it's called PIMPING or expecting Payola.
So, unless the Stiletto's fit, walk away from people that only want to cash in on you vs. champion you!

At some point your market area will run out of suckers and you will stop getting business if you're a "find'em, fleece'em, forget'em" kinda salesperson. Your well will run dry. I watched this happen to an agent that could have really made a hell of a career for himself during the short sale years here in San Diego. He was dominating the distressed home San Diego Market with TV ads and signage and could have blossomed that into a huge repeat and referral business from 2012-present.

But instead, he was screwing 80% of his listings and eventually lost his license and his prominent office on HWY 5 that everyone had to drive by daily and be brand-brainwashed by. He had it made, but made poor choices. Now, he's a cautionary tale instead of a business legend and 10 years later, I only remember him negatively.

Giver's Gain is the motto of Business Networking International (BNI) and
"Do Unto Other AS You'd Have Them Do Unto You" is The Golden Rule. 

I've created a "Karma 401K", it's a philosophy that dictates my actions; give first, put the good will out into the universe and trust it will it respond in kind or greater down the road. This is faith, not a technique and you have to believe in your heart, by doing enough good, life rewards the energy with like energy. I believe it because I experience it often. Tip: Don't keep a scoreboard, that's a transactional accounting of this relational believe. But do remember this -
If You Give It Out In Slices, It Comes Back In Loaves!
It's the power of the Compound Effect from the universe!

In the spirit of giving, I'm giving Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400 a proper shout out for her inspiring this post with our conversation and congratulating her on 10 years in podcast-radio! I didn't forget Margaret and Thank You so much! 

Happy New Year to all!

(Fun Fact:  12/31/2022 7:39 A.M. I just received a very nice phone call from Margaret about this post. It's fun to make people's day and it's a good life!)

Photo 1 by Nathan Cowley: https://www.pexels.com

Photo 5 by Suraphat Nuea-on: https://www.pexels.com