In relationship-based businesses like real estate, dealing with difficult colleagues can put a wrench in the entire transaction. Before you storm away from the negotiating table, consider this advice and come out a winner.

Video Transcription

We’ve all been in that situation where a problem arises with a colleague, vendor, business partner, or someone else who you need to work. In fact, I was talking to an agent not too long ago who had a situation pop up they were on vacation and one of their clients wanted to see a property. So they called the listing agent of that property and asked if they would show the property.

Well, the buyer ended up loving it and making an offer. The listing agent then said to the buyer’s agent, “I would like to get some of the buyer’s commission because I showed the buyer around.” As you can imagine, this caused a dispute. The buyer’s agent didn’t feel like a commission split was deserved; they thought the listing agent was simply doing them a favor.

Building business relationships

When these types of situations arise in your business, focus on preserving the relationship. Sure, you could fight the battle when something isn’t going your way, but you could very well end up losing the war. In a relationship-based business like real estate, you need to play the long-term game. The cost of keeping a few extra hundred or thousand dollars isn’t worth the impact of a hostile or tense relationship when you know you’re going to have to deal with the same person again. Most likely, they’ll denigrate you and your brand, and the long-term impact of that can be disasterous.

The takeaway

I do want to offer one caveat here; I’m not talking about your morals and your ethics. Those are personal to you. What I’m saying is to focus on the relationship. Play the long-term game, play the patience game, play the tape out, and watch your business win in the long term.

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