Mike Browning

Tag: Professional Standards

  • But What Are You Going To Do For An Encore?

    But What Are You Going To Do For An Encore?

    Recent success is just past success. Don’t rest on it.

    A lot of people in business and in life declare victory too soon.

    I saw a commercial recently where a guy was in a job interview. They told him they couldn’t hire him right now, but they’d keep him in mind for later.

    He walked out saying, “Keep me in mind,” and immediately went out to celebrate.

    I don’t even remember what the commercial was for — which probably tells you everything about how ineffective most advertising is these days.

    But the point stuck.

    People get a job, or a listing, or a small win, and they act like that’s the finish line. They relax. They stop pushing. They assume the rest will just work itself out. That momentum will carry them.

    In real estate, that shows up when an agent gets a listing, drops it into the MLS as a “list and hope,” and mentally checks the box. The celebration happens up front. Then it’s mostly waiting.

    That’s not how I look at it — and not how I try to operate.

    For me, victory isn’t getting the listing. Victory is when someone is so satisfied with how I handled their situation that they wouldn’t consider working with anyone else. They come back when they need help again. They tell people they know to call me.

    You don’t get there by stopping early.

    I don’t stop at the listing. I’ve built marketing tools and processes specifically to keep things moving. Pricing is handled aggressively and honestly, which sometimes means it takes time. But the work doesn’t stop just because the sign is up.

    We’ve all heard the saying that success is a journey, not a destination. I’m not big on clichés, but sometimes they’re true.

    The goal isn’t something you reach once and then relax. You keep pushing. That’s the mindset I try to bring to everything.

    It’s the only way to get anywhere worth going.

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  • It Works Both Ways

    It Works Both Ways

    Customers and clients have a say too.

    Yesterday I talked about the importance of avoiding problem customers:

    Life is too short to work with bad clients.

    But smart people know it works both ways. Good customers demand — and deserve — the best.

    If you’ve been reading here for a while, you know I refer often to personal and business development books. If you’ve paid attention, you’ve probably noticed they all focus on principles, not tactics.

    In other words, they aim to shape the kind of person you become. Someone people want to deal with for the long haul. Not someone relying on short-term tricks that may work once, but leave a bad taste.

    Think about buying a car.

    If you hesitate on the deal, the salesman often switches into closing mode. Suddenly the car’s “about to be sold.” Or the higher payment “pays for itself” in lower maintenance.

    It may get the sale. But it also makes you not want to come back.

    And the higher the level of the client, the worse those tactics work.

    A close that might move an average buyer just gets you laughed out of the room by sophisticated operators.

    Those clients know what they’re doing. Most of the time, better than you do. (And even if not, they think they know better.)

    If they seem unwilling to do something, there’s a reason — even if you don’t know what it is.

    Push them, and you won’t change their mind. You’ll just get crossed off their list.

    That’s not to say everyone needs to be handled the same way.

    If my client is someone who inherited a piece of land and doesn’t know much about it, as their broker I’m the expert. I don’t pressure them, but I might need to guide them a little more.

    But if I’m working with a publicly traded homebuilder or a regional developer who’s been through countless complex deals, I’m not the expert. I’m more like a vendor. My job is to make the process as smooth as possible — not to tell them how to run their business.

    It’s one thing to sell cars to the public. It’s another to sell trucks to a construction company.

    That buyer already knows exactly what they need.

    Most of my buyer clients are investors or developers. They know their business. They also know that finding the right deal can take time. I’ve often mentioned how slow that process can be on the front end.

    And just as often, during that slow part, the agent on the other side suggests I try to “apply a little pressure.” Or say something that’s not quite true to move things along.

    No thanks.

    Over time, I’ve realized there’s probably a reason I have the clients I do — and other agents have the ones they have.

    Good customers deserve good representation.

    That’s the standard I want to live up to.

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