I’m not Donald Trump… and you probably aren’t either, but you might share something in common.
Back way before I started in real estate I was in the commercial photography business. I was a photographer as well as a professional photo assistant. I loved the work. I had a pretty good client base for the assistant business, and was reasonably busy. I also learned a LOT of things.
One of the things I learned that carried me well through that business, as well as during my time with Wolf Camera (I went from clerk to store manager to big mall store manager in about three years). The little tidbit I learned was this:
I didn’t have to be fired. They could just not call me back in.
I was a contractor. I wasn’t an employee as a photographer or assistant. To get rid of me, there were no forms that needed to be filled out. There were no burdens of proof. I didn’t need three warnings. All my clients had to do was not hire me to work the next day. They didn’t even need a reason. At the end of the day, or the end of the shoot… I was not working for them any more, so they could just not hire me for the next job.
I would love to say that I always got the call back… but I didn’t. Sometimes I was glad… But, I did have some great people that I worked with, and they called me back time after time. I added value to their business, and represented them well.
So, what does this have to do with the here and now?
It isn’t quite as easy as it was… but if you hire me to represent you in either the sale or purchase of a house, you can fire me. I am confident in my abilities, and I don’t have a problem having an “out” in the contract that lets you fire me if I am not doing the job to your satisfaction. Many agents believe that a six month listing contract or a six month buyer’s agency agreement means that they own the client for that time period. While I don’t think any go into the deal thinking that they will just blow off their client later, it happens.
It won’t happen with me. Or, you can fire me.
I don’t think you will…
(Just a note. This was to be published on 2/11/08, but didn’t post. I had to repost it and change the date. Sorry for any confusiuon)