Wednesday, 11th of July 2012 at 05:29:22 PMI’m a closet geek, I still write-up a Perl or Ruby script to have my systems do magical things to make my life and work easier. I like to solve problems. One of the blogs that I follow is for 37signals, a great and inspirational company. In a recent post they pointed out the different levels of Aspiration, this got me thinking, where am I in those levels with my Real Estate career?
This came about because recently I lost some business to a new agent (one that has been in the business less than 2 years) and I took it more personal than I usually do. I struggled more with what I did or said than I did with what the client was thinking.
Okay, so back to the Levels of Aspiration. I would like to say that I’m at the Moving the Industry Forward level, but in reality I’m in the Well Engineered level and working toward the Beautiful level. I’ve completed best practices and I’ve got a great record of performance, now I’m working on improving the clients experience, looking for ways to make it better for them as we progress through the process.
Then a another post caught my attention, this one from a local Photographer, Melissa Jill, whose work I’ve admired for a couple of years. I’ve watched her grow her business and brand with admiration. She tackles the tough topic of discounts. She does a great job of explaining that she doesn’t offer discounts for a couple of good reasons, namely that she isn’t desperate for work, her service is worth it and those that want a discount won’t value her service, and it devalues her service.
Melissa’s post hit home because one of the reasons I “lost” the business was because the other guy offered a discount. My policy on discounting my service has been tied to the list price of the home (in line with market will be easier and will require fewer funds to market), the marketing plan (the more I have to do to sell the home, the more funds I need to spend to do it), relationship with client (those that I do a lot more business with and know their workings tend to get discounts because I know what to expect from them).
I’m not desperate for work, I’ve exceed the national average for transactions and I don’t have to beg to get the business. I also don’t want to discount my service and short change the client by not providing them (or you) of everything that I can offer to help you be successful. And I don’t want to be known as a discount agent (most of which have left the business). I’m here to help you to achieve your dreams and that requires a professional, not a discount.
