In Service

What does it mean to be in a service business? It doesn’t mean that you are a servant, although in the early 1980s I did make enough beds, wash enough dishes, and remove enough tattered curtains to feel like one of the footmen at Downton Abby.  Like a doctor or an attorney, an agent receive intensely personal information, both personal and financial, which they must use to present the client to best advantage while still maintaining critical aspects of confidentiality. Real estate agents serve as fiduciaries, the highest standard of responsibility and trust. It thus requires an interesting combination of humility and confidence to successfully manage client relationships. Here are a few of the things I have learned over the past 35 years about the brokerage business:

• The customer isn’t always right. While any service provider profession requires courtesy and acknowledgement of the primary importance of the client’s needs and wants, real estate agents are not order takers or mouthpieces. The service we provide is that of trusted advisor. And an advisor needs to understand the market and actually advise about it, even when the client might not agree or be thrilled to hear the advice. Brokers sometimes fear speaking the truth to their clients; often the only way we can do our job properly is to push back. I dislike the phrase (used a lot in our business), ”Oh, he lost control of his client.” We don’t in fact control our clients. But we had better be giving them good, truthful advice – even when they maybe don’t want to hear it!
• Identification is not a representation strategy. Sometimes agents become so identified with their client’s needs that they become emotionally attached to them. This can lead to a loss of perspective on the agent’s part, leading to such retorts as, “That offer is insulting!” or, “She could never get into this building.” The agent who makes such statements negates his or her own usefulness in the transaction. Our job is to bring a rational perspective to what is often an emotional process. The minute we become too emotionally involved, our utility diminishes; our clients and customers are perfectly capable of responding emotionally on their own. What they need from us is the opposite.
• We have a right to be treated with professional courtesy. I may have acted like a footman sometimes, but I definitely will not tolerate being spoken to like one. I treat my clients with respect and I expect that treatment to be reciprocated. Successful agents possess both breadth and depth in their skill sets, and we have the right to have those skills recognized even when we and our clients are not in agreement. At least once a year I respond to a buyer or seller who is demeaning one of our agents, most commonly with some variant on the “You only care about your commission” line. “There’s no indignity in caring about being paid,” I tend to respond, I expect you want to be paid for your work as well. But in fact our agents are high level professionals who care far more about the satisfaction of their clients than they do about getting paid on any particular deal.
• We always put our best foot forward. In a service business, we must bring our A game to every transaction. We have to do our research, we have to know our facts, we have to review all our materials. In representing a seller we need to gather the necessary information in advance of showing: exact maintenance, number of shares, building requirements, amenities, financing, flip tax. In representing a buyer we need to prequalify financially, determine financing needs and creditworthiness, and clarify any issues of representation.

I feel enormous pride in the service which Warburg agents provide. Our work makes the impossible possible for individuals and families across New York City. Brokerage, acting between principals to facilitate deals, is, I like to say, the second oldest profession. It’s a job the importance of which has been recognized for millennia. So our adherence to the highest standards of professional behavior elevates the industry to everyone’s benefit.