Don’t You Dare Settle for Fine!

Everything we do in our businesses should be excellent. My very favorite quote from the TV series Ted Lasso is, “Don’t you dare settle for fine.” Delivered by the man of very few words himself, Roy Kent, as he was talking to Rebecca about her date.

And we settle for fine every single day because we aren’t paying attention.

Imagine waking up every morning and thinking, well this is going to be a just fine day. What about excellent? Exhilarating? Exciting? What if you woke up and said, “I am going to be AMAZING today?” What would that change for you?

Before we walk down the road of toxic positivity, let’s look at things a little differently.

When I decided to change my world with the simple quote, “It’s not about me,” things began to rapidly morph into a new world of kindness and a lot of surprises.

“It’s not about me” sometimes translates into making our businesses excel in customer service. Adopting a mindset about thinking outside yourself creates all kinds of new connections. The aftermath of the NAR lawsuit has created a whole new world for agents. An already overpopulated agent-ridden industry has created its own partial downfall by poor customer service and plain old greed. So how did this come about?

People expected a level of protection and service from their agents and found high commissions and no return or, maybe, it was fine. Not excellent, not anything to write home about, but the deal closed and the clients had heartburn.

Some agencies even supported agents taking on more listings than they could handle. The real estate world became obsessed with productivity. Dials became conversions, appointments became listings, and then the consumer became a number. Too much work, and the quality went down exponentially.

People didn’t get what they paid for, and if, like me, you eat at a restaurant, get a basic burger and subpar service at a premium, you might walk out saying, “Well, it’s fine.” Not great, but I’m not hungry anymore. Agents got homes sold. You got the basic burger with subpar service, but the deal got done. The agent got paid. On to the next thing.

So what is the answer here? Customer service businesses excel when the client walks away feeling like that burger they had was AMAZING and the service was AMAZING and the bill, well worth it. The real estate industry is suffering from subpar service and a high bill. That’s my entire take on the entire situation.

Your enthusiasm that you emit when you get out of bed translates into everything you do and it begins there. This then continues on to your business.

How to Get the Mindset Right

Start by making it not about you. Start with listening and leaning in. Understand your client and the problem they need to solve before you start talking about how great you are.

If you begin with your plan first, there is no collaboration. There is no synergy.
If you begin with their plan first, you learn how you can help. Then you work together towards a solution. And synergy is created — and you form a partnership.

This is the beginning of creating excellent customer service. And this is where our journey begins.