Rick, thank you for speaking our language from the very beginning and for educating and guiding me (miamism) before we even started working together! While I don’t think we’ll be moving again anytime in the near future , when/if we do, my wife and I have found partners in both of you that will sustain and be lifelong relationships. In a business where referral is king, you both will get all the praise you deserve from us. You really have made an amazing, seemingly impossible to realize, dream come true for us. Thank you so so much.

If you read the Wiki thing for “Shut Up” it might as well be STFU. I saw/read the post differently. I spoke my mind, and now I’m done.

This listening thing is huge. I have no doubt that my lapse in listening skills has cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars (figure $20K X 30 years minimum) over the course of my career.

This post reminds me, again, listen more than I talk…which is so HARD.

Thanks for sharing.

PS. I don’t mind being told to “Shut-UP”. In fact, you could have said “STFU” and I would be cool with that too.

Cheers.

Insulting? No. Although I can see where you see it as insulting based on what your parents told you about “shut up” and dogs.

What I read was a reminder to agents to stop and listen closely. A way to make our industry better. Sometimes we’re so wrapped up in the million ways we think we’re improving our client’s experience that we miss some of the basics. Sometimes we get so excited about our latest tech tool that we forget to communicate with our clients on a personal level. Sometimes we’re just tired and not doing our jobs to the best of our ability. Whatever it is, there are times when a reminder of the simple things in life need to be reinforced – even if you practice them everyday.

Ines’ ideas are common place in agent training classes – it’s not as if she jumped out of bed and said “I’m going to tell all agents to shut up.” I’ve heard the same theories many times before and sometimes the message has been harsh, sometimes it’s been given softly. The delivery caught the attention, but the message remains the same.

Posts like this don’t help the industry they only further negative stereotypes.

I’m on the other side of the fence on this one. Let’s bring the garbage to the surface and expose it for what it is. Let’s be open about the mistakes our industry has made and some continue to make. I’m not a fan of the “let’s keep it in the closet” and deal with it amongst ourselves set. I am all for an industry that stops the attitude of sweeping things under the rug in order to make sure we all look squeaky clean. It hasn’t worked. The consumer is a lot brighter than that and this attitude of hiding our flaws from the consumers only makes them more suspicious (they can see right through most of the gloss that we paint over everything).

Ines’ topic doesn’t quite fall into what I’m talking about here in my opinion, but because of the comment, I decided to expand it a little deeper.

I didn’t understand your comment until I read your profile. You train agents.

Stereotypical? I sell multi million dollar properties. If I need to scrub the floor, I have no problem doing that.

There’s nothing stereotypical about me.

The last chastising I rec’d was yesterday from a “coach” who “used to be” an agent.

HMMM.

#wink