A different approach to things
Most well known businesses
have a special difference to them. Either they offer a product or service
that other people don't or they do so in a quite different way. They
stand out fom the crowd because they, as it were, operate outside the
norm.
It's a principle that accounts for numerous retailing success stories.
It explains the appeal that Walmart has for shoppers. It lies behind
the attraction of the Big Box stores. It reflects the belief that everyone
loves a bargain.
And Ed Mirvish realized it half a lifetime ago.
But as his flamboyant
career demonstrated, the real key was Honest Ed's recognition that
all he had to do was find a need and fill it.
Discounting was part of it, of course, but there was also the fun element.
You not only saved money when you went to his store, you also had a good
time while you were at it.
Moreover, while smiling at the amusing slogans hanging on all the walls, you
could check the collection of photos around the store and understand that
Ed would eventually get into the Theatre business -- because in that direction
lay another unsatisfied demand he could meet.
And, well outside the retail sector, the World Wide Web also gives clear
proof of what you can expect if you find a need and fill it.
The astronomical growth of Microsoft and Google has made multi-millionaires
of people who first offered what no one else made available (or perhaps thought
-- or were capable -- of doing). And there's little doubt that more
of the same will follow. There's a hunger for new applications and
ideas that shows no sign of let up. As one example, there's a fortune
waiting for anyone who can think of how to eliminate spam and viruses altogether.
It's a need waiting for someone to fill it.
But does this have anything
to do with real estate or, more particularly, in relation to my involvement
in it?
Well, let me explain ....
Doing what no
one else is doing
As I think you know, I struck out on my own as an Exclusive Buyer
Broker two and a half years ago (which, I also think you know, means that I
gave up the idea of listing in favour of working solely for buyers).
There were several reasons for this decision, but one of them certainly was
my sense that a need existed -- and one that no one in my particular neck
of the woods appeared to be filling.
I was right!
By now I'm greatly encouraged by the number of people who contact me and
welcome the thought that my approach to the market -- and serving their
needs as opposed to anyone else's -- is quite different
from what they've experienced in the past. In fact, I've also had people
tell me that it goes beyond the service they've previously received from
agents who've had them sign a Buyer Agency Agreement but didn't live up to
expectations.
But is this an excuse to pat myself on the back?
No indeed!
Rather, it has led me to realize what's involved when you do find
a need and fill it
Not the least, it seems to me, is a willingness to discard the rules and ideas
that everyone else considers sacred.
Again, allow me to explain ....
Listing to live
People in the real estate industry are told that the rule is "List to Live."
That's where the money lies. That's what you have to do if you want
to earn a living. That's what you'll hear from the day you get your
licence (indeed, even before it), and you'll be reminded of it
at every sales meeting. Just concentrate on finding people who want
to sell their homes and you'll be a Top Producer.
As an extension of this rule, it becomes a listing agent's primary responsibility
to get the place sold for the most money, in the shortest time, and with
the least possible inconvenience. The ads say it. The company
and individual agent websites harp on it. And every listing presentation
makes a point of mentioning it.
Nor is there anything wrong -- or certainly illegal -- about all this. It's
simply in accordance with the Law of Agency: that an agent's client
is owed a Duty of Care.
Ironically, too, it follows the idea of filling a need: to
get a home sold with the minimum of disruption to a seller's life and
peace of mind.
It doesn't matter if you don't sell the homes personally. In fact,
it doesn't matter if you never sell a home at all. There are dozens/hundreds/thousands
of agents out there who can take care of this part of the business -- and
you'll earn a listing commision every time they do so. And in any case, if
you can spare the time for it, you can respond to some of the enquiries that
come in on your listings and make a few selling commissions along the way
yourself.
Selling to survive
There is, of course, an alternative: "Selling to Survive" -- because
buyers also have a need that, at the least, ought to have a chance of being
filled, which is why the concept of Buyer Agency emerged a few years ago.
Indeed, many agents find themselves preferring this aspect of the business,
just as I did in the dozen or so years I worked alongside topnotch listing
agents. Interestingly enough, too, there's a growing tendency for top
listing people to create teams that include a buyer agent (and sometimes
more than one) to service the enquiries that come in on their listings.
With all due respect, though, a team's buyer agent will usually act as a
junior member of it. The overriding objective will be to increase the
odds of getting the team's listings sold. In other words, the focus
will still be on getting the most "money for the house" as many times as
possible, rather than a serious adoption of what I'm fond of calling the most
"house for the money" idea.
Moreover, the buyer agent will quite often be less experienced than the (listing)
team leader and therefore perhaps not as effective as he/she could or ought
to be.
In turn, the team concept kind of raises the Dual Agency question, although
if the rules of conduct and relationship with selling and buying clients
are properly laid down and observed, the "serving two masters" problem can
be nicely avoided.
Nevertheless, I can't help thinking that the listing idea is too ingrained
among all agents, whatever their preferred roles, for buyers to get the totally
impartial service they need -- and deserve.
In effect -- or so I'm willing to argue -- a buyer agent who fully understands
the difference has to "operate outside
the norm."
Doing what comes
unnaturally
It was
all this sort of thinking that, more than anything else, led me to embrace
the Exclusive Buyer Broker idea and to launch a one man enterprise in the
summer of 2002.
As I've implied, things have worked out well, too. Perhaps from the
beginning I was interested in identifying potential purchasers and wanting
to work with them, but the ongoing distractions of looking for and trying
to service sellers certainly got in my way. Now, however, I'm able
to spend as much time and to expend as much effort as it takes to help my
clients find the "one right thing."
Needless to say, I like to think that this can only be to their benefit.
But guess what?
I've also come to realize that I'm a beneficiary myself.
I've in fact found a need of my own and can enjoy every minute
of filling it.
Better yet, I've become conscious of following -- albeit
on a much, much more modest scale -- in Ed Mirvish's footsteps!
Life can be interesting, can't it?
Duncan Pollock, Real
Estate Broker,
427 Gate Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada L0S 1J0
Tel: 905-468-3154 Fax: 905-468-3812 Cellular: 905-704-9037
email: duncanpollock@sympatico.ca
Note: E-mail
addressed changed as above on Nov 3 2007
website:
http://www.duncanpollock.com