Clients First: The Two Word Miracle

Emotional Overflow

We were ambitious and had each other, which in residential resale is a huge advantage, because the emotional toll is heavy. In most businesses, the focus is on the numbers. But when you are selling homes, it is all about emotion. It doesn’t matter whether people are buying a home or selling a home (and they are sometimes doing both at the same time), it is usually the biggest financial transaction of their life; they don’t do it every day, and their home is an intensely personal possession. Folks get angry; they cry; they experience everything from fear to elation; and through it all, they rely greatly on their real estate agent, who may or may not be up to the task. This was where JoAnn and I did well. We quickly became each other’s rock. Whatever the client’s emotional overflow, we were able to accept it and keep each other sane.

Where we were was Scottsdale, Arizona. What we were doing was selling real estate. How we were doing it was with a lot of drive and ambition, shored up by our ability to lean on each other. But when JoAnn said all that mattered was keeping the client, we had to change something. We had to set aside our personal situation and forget about the money. We had to tell the Browns and the Smiths what we really thought. We had to think about what was best for them.