Zebras, and Pigs, and Chickens, Oh My!

November 9, 2006 |

Jeff Brown wrote a post that I found most inspiring.  Jeff’s post is about commitment.  This is a word that seems to be sounding more and more foreign in American culture.  I agree with every word of his post, and wanted to add my own perspective.

One of the things that makes officiating basketball different from practicing real estate is the fact that, to use Jeff’s metaphor, I MUST be a “pig.”  After the ball is tossed and the clock is started, there is no turning back.  The three officials on the floor must be totally committed to the game at hand until that game is finished.  It doesn’t matter if the game is an exciting back and forth barn-burner, or a 40-point blowout; the officials are committed to the game until it ends.  They can’t just say, “eh, this game just isn’t working for us,” and walk off the floor.  In the same respect, the participants in the game are committed as well.
The same level of commitment is not mandatory in the practice of real estate.  There is a saying in the business that, “buyers are liars.”  This saying has all sorts of applications, one of which is the fact that some people just aren’t committed to their agent, no matter how committed that agent is to them.  I can speak from personal experience as far as that is concerned.  That is one reason why admire Jeff’s commitment, as real estate investors can be notoriously non-committal when it comes to working with an agent.

I understand that there is a chance that no matter how committed I might be to helping my clients and prospective clients achieve their stated goals, they can contact the next agent and work with them just as easily, buyer’s agreement or not.  I would like to believe that my level of commitment is always going to be reciprocated, but I know that isn’t always true.  In the end, that’s okay, c’est la vie.  Some people are chickens, and some are pigs.  I would prefer to work exclusively with pigs, but sometimes it oinks once or twice, then lays an egg.

I am a Zebra.  You can accuse a Zebra of a lot of things, but lack of commitment isn’t one of them.

[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, zebra, officiating, basketball, commitment, representation [/tags]

Posted by Daniel | Filed Under Fun Stuff, Industry Issues, Officiating 

Comments

2 Responses to “Zebras, and Pigs, and Chickens, Oh My!”

  1. Jeff Brown on November 9th, 2006 7:29 am

    Dang it Daniel, I had this very post sitting in my ‘draft’ file awaiting my editor! It even mentioned you. I think you hit it out of the park…I mean you were Shaq in the paint!

    Great minds think alike. In any event, I just published my version of your post which scooped BawldGuy big time. :-)

    [Reply]

  2. How ACC Football Can Improve Real Estate | The Real Estate Zebra on November 13th, 2006 8:45 pm

    [...] This goes back to being a pig (or a Zebra). Total commitment is what is required to do the job properly. On the field, Safrit and Coman are studying players during pregame warm-ups. Coman makes a note of all the left-footed kickers and passers, information he will later pass on to Cherry so the referee will know where to position himself in the offensive backfield. On this night, both teams have left-footed punters. Safrit makes a note of players who have their knees exposed and warn them to lower their pants before the game.At the same time, Ryan, who is in charge of television timeouts, meets with a producer from ABC. And Samples gets with the chain gang and double checks the length of the chains while making sure everyone in the crew understands each of his signals. [...]

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