As real estate agents, we usually refer to our clients as ‘clients’ in order to protect their identity. Frequently we may say ‘my buyers’ or ‘my sellers’ … again protecting their identity. Once they go into contract, we may personalize it somewhat and refer to them as ‘The Smith’s’ to the coop agent as we move through the transaction.
Recently I heard a member of a real estate team refer to their client as “that FILE” … as in, Susie is handling “that FILE” now. This team moves their “FILE” along like a conveyor belt in a factory assembly line depending on what stage of the transaction the FILE is in.
The more I thought about it, the more bothered I was. By calling their client a “FILE”, they had removed all humanness. How cold! Now, if the team member had said “Susie is handling that client’s FILE now”, that would be a more acceptable statement, but that’s not what was said. Using the term FILE, their mentality is that they are working with a ‘process’ not a person.
Do you think they care about the client’s emotions? or their anxieties? or their excitement of the new promotion? I’ll bet they’ve never given a hug in the FILE’s kitchen as the FILE packs up 30 years of memories after the death of a spouse. They probably haven’t consoled the FILE if they were having to move due to a divorce. They may not have celebrated with the FILE when able to move to a larger home due to a well-deserved promotion. In fact, it’s doubtful the team members have even been in the FILE’s home.
Real estate agents are self-employed businesses, free to set up our business as we please (as long as it meets our laws). Some choose to become the mega-agent who has FILES. Some choose to become the agent who gets hugs from past clients when shopping at Giant Eagle. Life is too short to be anything but in the latter group.
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