Seems like the host was in the process of considering liquidating some highly luxurious and exclusive ocean front property with the thought of trading up his personal housing"about a 7-10+ million dollar price tag for some lucky local real estate agent."?

He had one of the properties listed with a "friend" in the business and was getting no communication and no results."? As a matter of fact, he was about to interview a couple of agents who served this small, but exclusive area the next day and asked if I would accompany him to his interviews.

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He had planned on meeting with two of the top agents in the area, and I was delighted to do so."? As a trainer/writer, I thought it would be a great way to be "on the other side of the table" for a change and see what a big deal agent in a highly desirable area would say or do to get this guy's business."? In addition, my friend writes million dollar TRAINING for sales people, which gave me insight as to what he would expect from the meeting.

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So we enter this nicely appointed office and the agent introduces himself. We sit at this new addition in his office where he proceeds to tell us all about HIM and his business for the bulk of the meeting. "?He shared how he's getting 15-17 MILLION DOLLAR listings nearby and has access to show them with a company seaplane". BLAH BLAH BLAH AND MORE BLAH.

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I sat quietly for the first half hour and looked at my friend across the table. I thought it might be helpful if I asked a few questions about how this agent and his company might market the 2 properties my friend was looking to sell and the one he would buy as a result of the sales. The area is quite small and the housing very comparable in this island paradise, so I knew that pulling the market analysis would be a simple function of a computer generated overview. 'I noted that the agent had no paperwork, no reports, and no comparative information visible.

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With that I asked in a friendly way".

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"Do you have any reports on what has sold in the area recently?

"Can you tell us how many properties are currently on the market that would be competition for my friend's property'

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"In your experience, what have been the year end reports on the appreciation levels in the area?

"What type of market are have you experienced in the last few months?

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The agent "danced" with generalities about the slower market, the vague competition for "off island new construction" but showed NOTHING in the way of reports, statistics, etc."?

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In other words ' HE DID NO PREPARATION OF ANY KIND FOR THE MEETING WHICH WAS AT HIS OWN OFFICE.

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There were no opening ceremonies.

No fanfare

No preparation

Just a casual let's talk about how well he was doing and his new cool big time listings

He never asked a question about my friends concerns, plans, disappointment with the previous agent's marketing, what he was looking for in the next housing".NOTHING..NADDA"ZIP

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The only paperwork on the table was a slick packet of information about their big time national company."?I noticed that the form letter in the packet from him (as the owner) was not even SIGNED. When I asked about international investors, he was able to comment that the national company was currently building an area of their website, but his office had no specialization or marketing in that area.

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I sat there stunned... that at the prospect of getting my friends business, this REALTOR was completely AGENT and COMPANY centric, not the least bit customer focused."? He was BLOWING it big time for what could be a nice commission, not to mention a connection with a highly visible celebrity status resident who would be capable of giving him limitless outstanding referrals."?

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The agent did have time to throw in his"?commission requirements, but never took the opportunity to build any VALUE for the charge.

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I might make mention that this area of the country is HIGHLY desirable, very exclusive and many would like to live there if only something would "open up""'

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Here's the bottom line:

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This is scenario unfortunately is not new."? The consumer is looking for accountable VALUE for our services."? My friend is more than happy to pay a full commission but wanted to get some level of service for the costs."? He has had non-existent communication or evidence of marketing from his present real estate agent and wasn't getting too excited about this new interview's lack of interest or enthusiasm to sell his properties and help him buy another.

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The agent NEVER offered any innovations on their marketing."? Yes, the brochures were lovely, but they only offered the same traditional marketing as any other company."? There was no mention of how to tap new prospects, farm local trade ups, e-market, etc. or how they would disseminate information about my friend's property 24/7 so as not to miss any prospect at any time, regardless of "normal" business hours".

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There was:

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• No "?mention of how they could offer personalization options for any niche marketing for exclusive ocean front property inside and outside the local area
• No unique selling proposition for the restrictions of for sale signs
• No discussion of the innovations in marketing this company/agent would offer, like web marketing, special electronic marketing, community blog for the local area, etc.
• No communication plan tailored to how my friend would like to be communicated with
• No mention on any type of direct mail, e-marketing, etc.
• No mention of the use of a 24/7 call capture system to ensure each prospect could get the information that they wanted when they wanted it
• Nothing that made my friend say "WOW""'I want to work with this agent because they made me feel important, special, that they were interested in my selling my multiple properties, finding me another on the island, etc.

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I personally was amazed at how pathetically the listing presentation was conducted."? As a matter of fact, I'm wondering if due to the robust market of the past several years, that maybe this agent doesn't even understand that we are a SERVICE business.

Maybe he's just doesn't get it"

Bet he might if and when his market changes, or when he is blindsided by a company that comes in and really offers even a standard level of service that he might not even be in competition for listings and buyers.

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Then what?

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As my friend and I walked out of his offices, he said: "He never told me anything except to keep my price low", and never asked me a question about my properties, like improvements I had made, or what would be important to me in my new property. I had to tell him I wanted less stairs, etc. ' I'm not interested in working with him"

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So in a 45 minute meeting, this agent let a sizeable commission walk out the door and made a negative impression that would cost him a lucrative client for life.

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How's your service being evaluated?"? Might be time to spruce up the program!

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"?For more information about training, speaking, consulting or coaching, email:Terri@TerriMurphy.com

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