The difference between ok and excellent.

There is nothing wrong with an OK massage until you’ve experienced an excellent one.

An OK steak? Next to a perfectly cooked Kobe A5 Wagyu Tomahawk prime cut, OK will seem like overcooked liver.  

OK works until you know what excellent looks, tastes, or feels like. And then OK no longer cuts it. 

When the real estate market is busy, people accept buying OK houses and working with OK REALTORS® because they don’t have much choice. Excellent properties and great agents are in short supply. The best REALTORS® are focused on listings and handing buyer clients off to their team. Waiting for an excellent property will likely mean prices rise faster than you can save, potentially pricing people out of the market.

But in a more balanced market, people have more choices.  

A friend of mine, Sally, in Ontario, recently bought a home and shared her experience with me during the process. The first agent she found was OK. He was friendly, set her up on an MLS search, and referred her to a mortgage broker. She was actively watching the market and talking to a few friends and family members about her potential purchase. One of those friends suggested a REALTOR® that they thought was excellent. She asked me if it was OK for her to reach out to another agent, and since there was no contract and there had not been a formal intake session, I suggested it wouldn’t hurt to have a conversation with the referred REALTOR®.    

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.”

– Will Durant

The referred REALTOR® treated her totally differently. She spent over an hour on the phone and really got to know and understand Sally’s needs and concerns. She talked about the challenges of buying in this market, creative ways of financing, and a strategy for getting a suitable property. She took her time to address all of Sally’s questions and to really help Sally feel comfortable. 

Sally left that phone call feeling that she would be professionally represented and protected.    

Sally decided to work with the second REALTOR® that was referred to her and had a great experience. She has now been confident in referring that agent to other people. 

The point of the story is that many agents don’t know what being excellent means; they are OK. They are nice and caring REALTORS® who know a little bit about the market and how to complete the paperwork. But you can’t read the label from inside the bottle, and when people have a choice, they’ll pick excellent over OK every time.   

Your best strategy to thrive in this market and move forward as competition increases with more REALTORS® and more technology is to be excellent at what you do, and that means stepping outside the bottle so you can see the label.