Gimme That Mop - My Client Needs Me
The RealEstateJournal.com article discussing these demands says "As a result, client demands are escalating to the point that brokers say they're instructing their agents on how to walk the fine line between being helpful and being stepped on."
This behavior begs the question of whether we're viewed as professionals at all by most of our customers. Or another question might be if our compensation is viewed as so excessive, that when times slow down, it's time to get back some of it in the way of extra services. Obviously we all do small things outside of the listing services package or the transactional duties we owe our clients. Where does one draw the line?
Many in our industry, especially when fiduciary is considered, like to compare our services to those of an attorney. And there are very likely attorneys who do, or have done, some non-legal tasks for their clients. I would bet that this usually only happens in those high profile contingency cases though. And the attorney will be very highly compensated IF they win. However, in the vast majority of attorney-client billing situations, the client would be well aware of the high hourly cost of requesting extra services of any kind. You'll rarely see an attorney shuttling their normal clients to and from the courthouse for that reason.
Perhaps the small but growing niche of real estate consulting is one answer. It isn't for everyone, but it's quite interesting to see the difference in required services when anything outside the normal package carries a billable hourly rate.
I really like that quote, “As a result, client demands are escalating to the point that brokers say they’re instructing their agents on how to walk the fine line between being helpful and being stepped on.” That’s so true! Thanks!
James,
So true, I am amazed at what other agents and brokers are doing to list or get a property ready to show. I think some of the problem goes back to the initial listing interview and the fear that being up front could lose the listing.
I have done some things for clients (replaced 2 light fixtures – to give more light to a very dark area, painted 70’s striped paneling) that they were unable to do for themselves, but if the client can physically and financially do the work, that’s who does it – not me.
To remedy some of the unreasonable requests, be up front about price, what will be needed to get the property ready to show and how the property will need to look to be shown.
Take them to another of your listings to see how a property should look when it is listed and ready to be shown.
Many of my sellers are older and have been in their home 10-20 years, they can get overwhelmed when it comes to getting ready to list. The link below goes to the “Getting Your Home Ready to List” system developed to help Sellers with this process – they love it and it works! http://wwwstormlakerealestate.blogspot.com/2007/10/preparing-your-home-to-sell.html#links