Serving or Selling? Not the normal topic you see in a Real Estate blog but one I have been pondering the last few weeks in regards to how I approach my business and my clients.  Am I serving their needs or am I selling how great I am? Am I serving their family and their goals by listening and caring or am I selling them a house?

I hate being "sold".  I have had the opportunity in recent weeks to attend some classes that are "sponsored" by people who, of course, want part of your time to sell you an item, product or service you can't live without.  Instead of listening to their pitch, I began noticing how they were trying to reel me in and made the switch from providing me useful information to "selling" their product.  I mentally had a conversation in my head that went "oh here it comes" "wait for it, wait for it" "and there it is - boom".  I hoped my eye-roll really was inward and not visible because that would have been downright rude. There were some that shared useful information and simply stated who they were and the what they represented - end of story.  I found that refreshing.

As I have pondered this, I hoped that none of my clients have ever felt this way.  While I will do what it takes to market and sell a home with good success, I do not want to ever treat people as less important than the transaction.  Real estate is a tricky business, yes you are buying and selling houses - but more importantly you are intrically involved in homes, families, lives, transitions, emotions, decisions that impact not just one person but an entire family.  It involves a physical product - a home - but it is an item that has a very personal meaning and emotion attached to it.  Such a responsibility cannot be taken lightly.

I have heard a quote from the Godfather that says "it's not personal, it's business".  I've come to realize my business is very personal - I don't think I'd want it any other way.