I read a featured blog the other day written by an agent who was regretting not insisting on a buyer agency agreement and was subsequently ditched by the buyers she was working with. She was disappointed, and in her blog, reconfirmed her commitment to always get that agreement in place before investing much time in a new buyer client.
Fair enough. I disagree with the agent's conclusion that the solution to being ditched by a buyer is a written contract, but that's okay. To each his own.
But one of the many comments on the blog caught my eye. It was something about how now that we're in a new decade; it's a perfect time to set new priorities. In this case, the commenter meant that he or she intended to be even more committed to getting those agreements signed before working "for free."
Again, fair enough.
But it occurs to me (yep, here comes a soapbox) that it would do us and our industry far more good if we set our priorities a little higher. If we set them based on what the customer wants and needs, rather than on what we want and need. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about looking out for #1, but when you put your customers first, my experience has been that Your Favorite Real Estate Agent benefits right alongside!
So... how about instead of making it a higher priority to be more diligent about contractually obligating your buyers to you... you commit to making yourself indispensable to your buyers so that no contract is necessary?
How about instead of making it a higher priority to more efficiently beat the streets looking for more and more and more and more listings... you commit to figuring out how to sell the listings you already have?
If we shift our industry's priorities away from the face in the mirror and focus them on the consumer we're licensed, hired and well-paid to serve, I promise you we'll all benefit. Our buyers will buy and our listings will sell, so we'll attend more closings and see more repeats & referrals.
It really might be that simple!
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You are absolutely correct. Also, perhaps committing to knowing the market, knowing comparable properties, market trends and sales.
Oooh, Leolinda - that's a good one! "How about instead of memorizing yet another script to demonstrate your mastery of the market, you actually MASTER your market so you can speak intelligently about it, script-free?"
My broker and I have disagreed on this before. However, I have now come to the same conclusion as you have. It's not the contract, its the service and the expertise that will keep them happy. (However, I do like to have the contract signed for a complete file.) It just doesn't have to be the first thing out of the briefcase before we have established some rapport, and I know they want to work with me, as well as if I want to work with them. Nice post!
Hi Jennifer and welcome to Pensacola Beach. I don't generally work with buyers but am fortunate enough to have and know some great ones. It has always been my experience that buyer will leave at a moments notice regardless of how well they are taken care of.
A buyer walks into an Open House or Builders model and wala new agent, a buyer sees a sign and calls the agent and the agent says "would you like to see it NOW" WALA new agent.
Don't get me wrong, as I believe in the best possible service but with sellers I mean they stick to you because of one thing CONTRACT or if the didn't get a phone call returned within minutes, they would ditch you to. IMHO.
BTW I have read two of your books and they were great. I wish I could be more in tune with my SOI.
I could see how having a BBA on my file today would have made a difference in a good size transaction in my books. I never really employ this, never felt like I needed to but for this specific case, it would have made a difference because this buyer is not "teachable". But then again, that's okay. God already replaced him for me. Sent me a bigger transaction size client anyways.
Personally, for me, having the confidence to talk about exclusive representation is key to my process of becoming an awesome agent. In the past, I ddin't know what I was going to use as value to my clients.
Hi Jennifer, liars lie, that's just the way it is. I personally do not ask for a BBA, some of our agents do. Typically when I meet clients face to face they will give me a clue to their loyalty or not. Some of us just refuse to listen, I think that is the key....
F&J - I don't expect loyalty from anyone off the bat. And I do find that the more suspicious someone seems in the beginning, the more "loyal" they will be later on after you've proven yourself to them. I don't think I've ever been "lied to" by a buyer in almost 15 years - don't THEY have better things to do than to lie to a real estate agent?
Loreena - I've never been comfortable discussing buyer agency and never felt the need. I can't think of one situation where it would have protected me. In every case a buyer "ditched" me, he or she had a perfectly good reason to and I'd have never enforced an agreement if I'd had one.
Charles - Thanks for the welcome! Can't wait for it to warm up a bit! But again, I've never been ditched by a buyer where a contract would have made a difference. The reasons they went elsewhere were perfectly reasonable, even if that reason was there was a breakdown in rapport between us.
Suzanne - I never used BBA's much, but I don't have a problem with the concept, per se. I just don't think it's the right tool to ensure loyalty, and I know you agree!
Hi, Jennifer. One of the things I learned in 2009 and have carried into 2010...speaking of priorities...is not to accept the monkey on your back that is not YOUR monkey! Sound familiar? That was some good advice and it really works.
Funny, Leslie - I just re-read thru that series this morning!!! Glad it was helpful to you!
Well Jennifer I guess we're all in agreement that you can't take prisoners! I agree with Loreena, what are you going to do if you have the BA agreement and still take to the hills? I can't see where suing a runaway buyer would help your business. In the end we only keep the buyers who want to be kept.
Jennifer, I have never been a big fan of BBA"s though I can see their value. WHen I use them, it's never the first thing I present to my buyer. It's presented to them only after I know that our repor is such that they're going to use me and I've become synonomous to them with home buying.
Jennifer, I have never been a big fan of BBA"s though I can see their value. WHen I use them, it's never the first thing I present to my buyer. It's presented to them only after I know that our repor is such that they're going to use me and I've become synonomous to them with home buying.
JA - Great message ! Instead of looking externally (which is the norm) I think if not only agents (but everybody) looked internally, the world would be a better place. And there would be a lot more successful folks out there as well ! This message I think is one of those secrets of success. Thank you !
Jennifer,
Philosophically, I think much of your "rant" is great. I also think there is more to the story.
Enough more, I reblogged.
Good post!
Jennifer,
I go back and forth on BBA...I really enjoy your perspective and that is where I tend to lean. I had a client that I just sold a house that was really kind of uncommitted to working with one agent....like to go to opens and use the listing agent's time (I know...I know)...but when it came time they called me and became very devoted clients...
Jennifer,
I can only wonder what would happen if you wanted to buy a car, and the salesmen made you sign that you would only deal with them...not that I would ever compare some agents to car salesmen. There are however many, many good car salesmen...and somehow they keep business through...hmmm...honesty and customer care??? Naaah...it will never catch on.
I am working a contract this week because another agent 1)was too pushy, and 2) delivered less than customercentric service. Rock on, Jennifer!
Hi Jennifer- You are right. When something does not go the way I intended instead of pointing fingers I try to look and see how I could have created a different outcome. I have our agents use BBAs but I seldom had a buyer who was not loyal to me when I did work for buyers and that was because of How To Win Friends and Influence People. Thank you Dale Carnegie for teaching me what I know about making that connection with another human being. Katerina
A worthy rant Jennifer. We do have to earn business and build relationships in our biz. It hurts when we lose and do all the work to put a deal together all for naught. But it is part of the game.
Rather than addressing the possibility of buyer disloyalty by asking them to sign a BBA, I prefer to focus on the buyer and what their motivations and intentions are. That's my number one priority, and it serves me OK. I'm uncomfortable making the transaction and process "all about me", and prefer to make it "all about them".
Gotta love our business model of working for Free. Great service is certainly a mandate to any business that wants to stay in business. We are in a people business and should pack up our bags and go work for a non-service business if we don't care enough or don't intend on providing great service. On the other hand why should we have a commitment to our prospect buyers without them providing us with some kind of loyalty. It's not always that you didn't provide great service to a prospect buyer that you lose them. Sometimes and it's happened to me that there is a relative or friend thats waiting in the wings who is a real estate agent. However, they don't want to bother them by dragging them out on evenings and weekends narrowing down their choices, but as soon as they narrow it down it's off to the buddy to write the offer. Now, where I am we no longer have threshold rights , it's he who writes the offer wins, not he who showed it to the prospect first.
So in summation, without a buyers brokerage agreement we can work all the Free hours we like with no guarantee that our great service will reward us with a paycheck. BTW , I don't use a buyers brokerage contract here, as potential buyers would just use the Agent next door that doesn't use them since they are not mandated in Canada.
Bill
As usual Jennifer hits the nail on the head and in doing so, I never need to use the agency contract to "lock them in".
Bob - Good for you! It's just NOT what the contract is for!
Bill- thanks for your thoughts! I must disagree that we "work for free" and you may have inspired a follow-up to this blog.
Sharon - Here's the thing - by making it "all about them" you DO make it all about you - in that - you've just done everything you could do to ensure a happy client who leads you to a closing (or two or three!)
Robert - Yes! And you know what... if you keep losing "the game" - that is - if you keep losing clients over and over... maybe your gameplan needs some tweaking!
Katerina - That attitude ("how could I have done better?") is sorely missing in our industry. So many people just want to point fingers and call other people names.
Bill - You GO!
Lori - Y'know, when people want to use that approach, you aren't going to talk them out of it, you'll just chase them away. Which guarantees that you'll never see a closing with them!
Mike- Thanks for the re-blog. I appreciate your comments. And I'm not philosophically opposed to buyer agency - except when it's used to tie down consumers who don't want to be tied down quite yet!
Thanks for the thoughts, I have been back and forth a lot on this lately, researching how then thinking about why, if i do a great job then there should not be a problem. I am doing a buyers seminar on Thursday this week not many signed up but for those that are there I was thinking of talking about it but have now decided that the buyers really want to know more about the process of buying not how a realtor wants to tie them up.
Clark - Frankly, if I were going to do a buyer's seminar, I might be tempted to lead with "I don't require buyer agency!" So many buyers have been turned off by our focus on tying them down... it might be a much better loyalty-building strategy to do the opposite!
Chris & Stephanie - Very well said!!!
Leah - Now, that's the appropriate time!
Sally - Can't imagine going after someone who "abandons" me. Obviously they had a reason to do so and maybe I'd rather NOT know what it was! My feelings are easily hurt...
<<How about instead of making it a higher priority to more efficiently beat the streets looking for more and more and more and more listings... you commit to figuring out how to sell the listings you already have?>>
OUCH!
Jennifer, The focus should be on the buyer's needs and informing them as to the market and rules and ...
Hi Jennifer. Way to go.
Never used a buyer's agency agreement. Never plan to.
Thanks for writing,
Ken
Oh now that monkey comment from Leslie (#8) is very interesting...and it may have to be this week's mantra! Thanks for stirring the pot again, Jennifer : ) -- Tanya in Montreal
Jennifer, My opinion is that the agents that are good at getting a BBA signed are the ones that need them the least. That's because you have to be able to build trust in order to get the darn thing signed to begin with. So......maybe agents just need to work on building trust. Then of course they need to be trustworthy. Which means being able to perform. But what the heck do I know.
AMEN! I so agree with you. When I was with a team, we had a few buyers leave us, but now that I'm on my own, I can see why. The other team member was thinking more about himself and the quick sale than he was the buyer. Loyalty has to be earned, not signed for!
If agents paid more attention to the needs and wants of their clients perhaps they would be more highly regarded than used car salesmen!! And, the buyer's agency agreement wouldn't be such a big deal.
If agents paid more attention to the needs and wants of their clients perhaps they would be more highly regarded than used car salesmen!! And, the buyer's agency agreement wouldn't be such a big deal.
Begining this year, my company is requiring a BAA for each buyer client! Apparently IL requires it.
I guess I need to make that decision with each client some I might require a written agreement and others just a hand shake will do .
Because I'm old school I haven't had much faith in buyer's agreements. What good is a buyer's agreement when they hate dealing with me. I make my mind up quickly if I was to invest my time with someone and if there are someone that will respond to my support.
From the desk of David Dee,
Jennifer, I think having the BBA signed may be a good thing in some instances. You just never know when they go bunny hopping to the yard down yonder.
The BBA is in my file only because my company requires it. I usually have the buyer sign it after their offer is accepted. My clients work with me by choice--mutual trust is needed. If they are not happy, I'm not happy and it's time to part--no contract needed.
Great rant but the problem we have here are the buyers are so not very obligated and we have had some that treat us as just people "who show" and are already bound to another lazy agent who won't show (they just tell them how to work the "system.") I live in a pretty cut throat town ;)
I so agree with you Jennifer, whatever we set our eye on is as high as we will arrive. That is where we are going!