Will YOU Cut Your Commission?

July 9, 2018

POWERFACT: There will always, always be someone who will ask you to lower you commission. How you respond is up to YOU.

Here’s the thing… I look at lowering your commission as an integrity issue. We covered this a while back, but I wanted to reiterate because it has been popping up a LOT lately.

In this video, I share two different dialogues for managing this conversation. One shorter, one a little more “robust” as they say.

It creates a little shoe on the other foot, what would you do Mr. Hunna Hunna kind of situation.

The bottom line is goes back to the age-old line — you get what you pay for. Are there agents willing to do it for less? YES. But what are they taking away from to do that? Are they taking away from THEIR family? In which case, you have to wonder how diligent they’ll be at minding the seller’s money? Are they pulling away from marketing? In which case you have to wonder if maybe they SHOULD charge less if they are not a full-service real estate professional.

When you are providing valuable services and resources, you earn what you earn. If you’re doing your job to the best of your ability – it’s reasonable and good to ask for a full commission.

If I were standing in your shoes, I’d listen to this video a few times and really get a handle on the words. Practice them until they come out naturally for you.

Commission Dialogue: “Mr. and Mrs. Hunna Hunna… Let me share this with you — If a company is making widgets, for a profit, and they decide they want to cut the cost of the widget, then that money has to come from somewhere. It’s either A) have to cut back on the cost of making the widget (close factories, lay off people, use lesser quality materials), or B) they lower their profit margin.

In real estate, it’s the same thing. To produce the result of getting your home sold – here’s what my company has discovered: That it costs XX dollars to market a home in our area and get it sold. Keep in mind, I still need to make a profit, because that is what I use to take care of my family. Now, if an agent is willing to cut their commission, just to get your listing, that money is coming from one of two places. A) the overhead to produce the results (public open houses, advertising, marketing materials, signage, etc. It won’t sound like they are cutting it, but maybe they advertise less or host less open houses. Or B) they will pay the same money to market but they will take it out of their profit. Now the profit for an agent is the money they use to pay their bills, feed their family, send their kids to school — can you see that? My concern here Mr. and Mrs. Hunna Hunna, is — if an agent is quick to take money away from their family off the table just to get your listing — how quickly will they be willing to give up your money just to put a quick deal together? Can you see why that’s a problem? So no, I can’t reduce my commission because my integrity to be my word and do my job is more important to me than one commission.”

Sometimes having pieces in your listing kit that address this issue before it even comes up is smart. We have a piece in your Listing Appointment tab that is called 184 Things REALTORS do to Earn Their Commission. Download it today and start using it.

A lot of folks have the mentality that “it doesn’t hurt to ask” — and they’re right. It is their prerogative to ask, it’s also yours to kindly, professionally, and with integrity — share why you won’t be cutting your commission.

If you’re not CURRENTLY a Power Agent, now’s the time to try us for free for the next 30 days. You’ll have all the tools, training, and coaching you need to handle objections and list like a pro. Your free trial gives you total access to every tool we have including letters, dialogues, training tips, webinars on demand, eBooks, and marketing tools.

Now is NOT the time to reinvent the wheel. It’s the time to get laser-focused so that in 90 days, you’re in the position to handle whatever the market throws your way.

Ready? Set? Go!