Agents who discount their fees believe they must do so to win the business, but is this true?

Others reducing their fee is not a legitimate reason to discount your fee. This thinking indicates that your business is being driven by your competitors' actions and not by yours. It's a defeatist attitude.

You can get full fee, but you may need to change your thinking and modify your listing presentation.

Firstly, look at the ethics of discounting your fee.

Salespeople who charge full fee to the nice person who doesn't question the fee, and then discount the fee to somebody who pushes for a discount, aren’t ethical. To charge different rates for the same service is not ethical. I hope you agree.

The key way to stop yourself from discounting is to take fee off the table. If discounting your fee isn't an option, you must improve your presentation and Value Chain to prove to clients that you are worth the fee you charge.

The Value Chain you present to clients is linked to the fee you achieve. If you look the same as your competitors, recommend similar sales methods, and market the same way as your competitors (like premium advertising), you have nothing to justify a higher fee.

What do you do better than your competitors? How will it benefit sellers? Can you prove it?

If you are seen as the more attractive option to sellers, they will pay you more. A step closer to full fees is proving your worth, proving your Value Chain.

Here's a fun fact: Agents with the highest skill get the highest fees.

You can be one of them. Take fee off the table. Then study Sales. Study real estate. Get better and you'll get better fees. If discounting isn't an option, you will present more effectively, more passionately, and you will receive your full fee.

One more point to consider is credibility. When you discount your fee, you can lose the respect of the very clients you are trying to list. How are you going to get the best price for them when you can't get the best fee for yourself? They might not say it, but they're often thinking it. You lose more than money when you discount!

Take fee off the table and you will get higher fees. Improve your skill and you will not lose as many listings as you think.

Gary Pittard