Price Is The Only Issue…
At first, I thought it was Seth Godin who said it. I’m sure he has said it but he wasn’t the first and what I learned from Google the original author of the following quote could be Joe Plumeri the CEO of Willis.
“Price is the only issue in the absence of value.”
I have been thinking about price and value a lot lately as I have been struggling with some choices I need to make. Being in business for yourself you are always presented with choices. In the industry I work in, real estate, I have seen and continue to see a dramatic difference in how some agents and brokerages choose to operate. I’m not saying one way is superior to the other, they are just different.
One of those differences over the last few years is for agents and brokerages to dramatically cut commission. Or what people see as commission cutting. Due to anti-trust laws set by the government real estate brokerages aren’t allowed to conspire together to set a standard commission. What I see and what I believe the general public sees within the real estate industry is a lot of people that seem to be overpaid for the amount of work they do.
And I’m with them. There are a lot of agents that are extremely overpaid for what they do.
I know I have real state agents that are friends of mine that are bound to read that last sentence and want to start to get a little irate.
I get it.
I was with you up until a few years ago.
But before you get to upset and decide that I’m the first person you’re going to send gummy genitalia anonymously to, I want to ask you some questions. Because maybe you are feeling the same things I am feeling. You just didn’t know it yet.
Have you ever seen an agent post sloppy cell phone photos and think to yourself, how did this agent even get this listing?
Have you ever had an agent fail to return your phone call to set up a showing only to try multiple times over the next few days before they finally respond with a go ahead and show? Then they fall to call and let you know that the house went under contract hours before the showing which resulted in an annoyed homeowner and a frustrated buyer when you show up for your appointment?
Have you ever been asked by the agent on the other side to alter documents their clients already signed because they are too lazy to go about the right way to fix it?
As a buyer’s agent have you ever seen the appraisal come in low to the benefit of your clients, knowing the appraisal is bad, and see the listing agent not encourage the seller to fight the price costing them to lose tens of thousands of dollars?
Have you ever been the 17th agent that has a called an expired listing only to be yelled and sworn at? And take it personally?
I could go on but I’m sure you get the point. Some agents just aren’t working as hard as they should and in the world, and it shows when I’m flipping through the photos on the MLS and read those all-caps two sentence property descriptions. We as agents talk about it all the time. Do you want to know a secret? The general public does too!
Am I perfect?
Nope.
Am I trying to do better?
You bet!
I’m constantly trying to think of a way to bring more value into how I do business.
When we sold our house a few years ago if the first time I could implement some of the ideas that I had had. I didn’t want someone else to be my guinea pig.
That is why I get the home covered by a home warranty, send in a home inspector for a pre-listing home inspection. Hire a talented stagger to come in before the professional photographer comes in. Take the time to have a story written about the home and create a single property website.
And I have started to send in professional cleaners.
Why?
“Price is the only issue in the absence of value.”
If there isn’t a perceived value than the price is too damn high.