Rick Hughes
After 33 years in this business, I still don?t know how to go on vacation. During a recent trip to the U.P. (that?s the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for us Texans), I worked entirely too much, while not planning to work at all. I left on my voicemail the required ?I am away and unavailable to return your call? message, and the automated ?I am out of the office!? email response. Still, my cell phone rang off the hook. (And yes, I peeked at my email constantly ? those darn iPhones are hard to ignore!)
Do clients really understand the concept of vacation? I was surprised at the reaction. A few, when they found out I was on vacation, immediately got off the phone and said, ?Have a great time, we can pick this up when you are back.? However most, pushed on.
Part of my problem is that, as of late, I don?t have back-up partners. That said, in the past, I really didn?t rely on them anyway. I am one of those people who like to ?do it my way,? and haven?t really trusted others taking over in my absence, regardless of how experienced and capable they are. I guess that is a bit of the control freak in me.
But I think the real problem is that I think I am most important to any of the deals I am working on.
Wow, that sounds like a huge ego coming out; the truth of the matter is, that?s probably is a large part of it. But a really good real estate broker should be most important to the deal. They are the nexus of all that is happening. Long gone is the approach of ?Captain Tenant, meet Captain Landlord. When the bell rings, begin to spar. And when the fight is over, send me a commission!? I am sure there are still brokers who do that, but that?s not me or the professional folks I call my peers.
I believe a good broker is like a fishing guide. First, you have all of the tools and gear. (In real estate, that would be the resources of your company.) When it comes to begin the fishing portion, you know where the best fishing spots are. That is what I take pride in; the ability to learn who my clients are and what they need. In that manner, we help shape the types of properties that would fit them, adding professional perspective to aid them in making the best choices. Or, in the fishing vernacular, we know where the ?honey hole? would be for them and help them realize it.
If you fish like me, you are constantly breaking a line, causing a backlash, hooking the partner in your boat as you cast. So the fishing guide is always ?fix?n something.? In our business, we are always ?fix?n something, too!
But once the fish is on the line, it is the experience and expertise that allows the fisherman to land the big one. The guide helps you in this fashion. That is the part that is hard to give up on vacation. Fish don?t stay on the hook long. Fishermen have a short attention span and want the fish in the boat as soon as it is on the line. Let?s land this fish now, Mr. Fishing Guide!
So there I am with a large fish on a line and stuck in the middle of glorious Mackinac Island. It is at a point in the transaction that it is time to get out the net and land the fish. So when the CEO calls my cell phone, I answer, much to the severe displeasure of my vacation partner?my wife. And, of course, every call requires a response, and every response requires time back on the computer at the Iroquois Inn. I ended up spending several hours a day working.
Now that I have been back for a few weeks, the fish is still on the line, and I still have the net in my hand. So, did I really need to answer all those calls? Probably not. But after 30-plus years in the business, I have yet to learn to turn the darn phone off.
Remember, I am most important to the deal. Well maybe not so much, as it turns out!
Okay, honey, I promise that I will leave the phone off on the next vacation! ? Really, I promise this time! ? I mean it!
Rick Hughes is an executive director within Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc.?s brokerage services group. Contact him at rick.hughes@cushwake.com
Source: http://realpoints.dmagazine.com/2011/10/rick-hughes-real-estate-brokers-and-fishing-guides/
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