Recently, I was hosting a few folks at my house for Sunday dinner. I do that a lot to connect with my community and loved ones when life seems to get very busy. On this particular day of joyful gluttony, a good friend of ours brought his two sons. We sat outside on the porch, the sun was kind, but the boys were bored.

Noticing they were getting anxious for something interesting, their dad offered the oldest son “extra allowance this week if you cut the grass.” Now, before you go calling the child labor board, it was a small patch of grass and it was a non-electric push mower.

We watched as the sweet 7-year-old stood behind the machine and swiftly cut the grass. It took about 5 minutes. At the end, he immediately went to his father for payment, who handed him two single bills. The seven-year-old scoffed at the gesture.

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“Ummm … you’re 7 years old kid. Two dollars is enough.”

“Dad, why are you stiffing me?”

At first, I laughed because I just heard a seven-year-old talk like a member of the gang in Donnie Brasco. But then I realized, this wee dude was upset!

From here was a full on meltdown from my friend’s newest disgruntled employee. After a colorful exchange his son said, “You can keep your money,” and walked away into the house.

As I watched this escalation from poor communication, it got me thinking about how important it is to set an expectation when you’re working with clients.

To relate this to our business, my advice to you is to lay the groundwork early on in tough conversations or situations during the transaction. If you are meeting a new buyer, it’s important to mine what they expect from you, but ALSO to communicate what you expect from them as clients.

During my intake meeting, I discuss everything from no tours until there is a pre-approval to what IS and is not appropriate to ask for regarding repairs. I talk about the purpose of home inspection. That way when we get into a house that the buyers like, they already know that crack in the grout is going to be a cost for THEM, not the seller and needs to be considered before they offer if it’s a big deal to them.

So often, a meltdown in negotiations occurs because of false expectations or misunderstandings about what the other party should be responsible for.

The same is true for sellers. When the paperwork is signed, there is an overview of the process. Possible outcomes are discussed ahead of time so that the seller doesn’t kill the deal over a $500 repair out of a perception of “principle” and emotion.  

Exercise:

1. Take a moment to consider what happens at the BEGINNING of your relationship with a new client.

2. Is there a place in your system that you think you should clearly articulate the expectations from both sides?

3. Does this require any additional pages to your buyer or seller leave-behind packets or a change in your scripting during that meeting?

4. If so, complete these tasks by the end of the week and have it ready for your open house this weekend.

Whether you’re 7 years-old or 35, two single bills from dad when you were expecting $20 is an insult. Unfortunately, the wee one learnt a hard lesson that day about negotiating your price up front before you do the work, but that’s a blog for another day.

Have you been in a situation where you needed to set expectations? I’d love to know what you learnt and how you changed. Leave me a comment below!

Until then, chin up, keep your feet moving … and burn the white flag.

sz

Copyright 2019 - Shelley Zavitz Realty