As much as we might want to be perfect, it's a hard image to live up to. It makes me think about the fable of the perfect carriage. It was so perfect that when something broke, everything broke at the same time, and the carriage crumbled to the ground. I don't wanna be that perfect. I'd rather be alive.
But I do try to strive for excellence in communication. It's better, I believe, to over communicate than to under communicate. Yet, how do we know if our communication makes sense to people? We can't crawl inside their heads. We can only watch what they say and do and try to figure out what they want.
People make mistakes all the time. Take the Sacramento Bee, for example. A few weeks back it ran its annual Sacramento Master's Club special section. This is one of those things for which real estate agents pay to have their photos and bio featured. If you don't pay, your face doesn't go in the paper. It doesn't mean you didn't earn Master's Club status that year from the Sacramento Board of REALTORS®. It just means you didn't pay.
Which is kind of a racket when you think about it. I get hit up with invoices from the Sacramento Business Journal -- which laid off my husband 3 years ago so they don't get a dime from me -- and Sacramento Magazine, Valley Newspapers, you name it. See, if an agent refuses to pay for inclusion, it's like saying the agent didn't earn Master's Club. So you sorta have to pay even though you don't want to.
The Sacramento Bee usually messes up my Master's Club ad. It either runs the wrong photo -- like one from several years ago when my hair was long and dark and today it's short, lighter, with a purple streak -- or it leaves out part of my message, or, as in this last case, published my office number instead of my cell phone.
Last weekend it ran a correction with about a dozen agent photos. It still put me in the wrong section as I'm no longer a Continuing Member of the Sacramento Master's Club because I have moved up the ranks to Life Member. But the funny part was the caption. I'm wondering how many people noticed it. The headlines above the Outstanding Life Members and Life Members called us LIVE members. Well, it's better than being perfect, I guess.
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Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.
Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.
The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
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