Greed...When Enough is NOT Enough

Some can call it greed. You can give and give and give and there are those who will still take more. You have to know when and how to be in control. In other words how to put a lid on it.

You know I love my mini aviary and the colorful birds it attracts. But we have other visitors that just won't give up. They have managed to get into the bird feeders in spite of the "guaranteed" guards that are supposed to protect against the furry playful rodents. In addition to the plastic shield, which they were able to navigate, Vaseline on the long "S" hangers and "squirrel proof" bird feeders, the cute but pesky critters could always figure out a way to get to the seeds.

So then I thought, let's try two feeders with the same food, thinking one for the furry and one for the feathered. That meant purchasing more sunflower seeds which I placed in the brown container on my porch. That seemed to work - the pretty finches and other colorful birds were back. What a delight!

And then....

I bought a larger bag of sunflower seeds to supply both of those large feeders. And wouldn't you know it, the bag was too much for the can. I closed the paper/mesh bag and covered it with plastic and then put the can lid on top. There, that should do it.

A few hours later, I heard some noise out front. The lid was on the ground, the seeds were all over the stone porch, and the furry critters were inside the bag and chewing through the bag and the plastic. Why you greedy creatures! Remember, they already had their own feeder at this time, but that was not enough. No, they emptied the squirrel feeder and started on the bird feeder. Time to refill so there is enough for everybody. Then I repaired the damage and put the lid on TIGHT.

How does this relate to real estate? With some clients, enough is not enough. Not enough advertising, not enough contact, not enough showings, not enough offers, not enough attention. You name it, enough is not enough.

How do you decide when to put the lid on?

I love working with my sellers, the ones that are referred, the ones that appreciate what I do, the ones who are pleased with my efforts, my phone calls, my emails, my texts, my ads, my blogs, my google juice, my Realtor.com, my updates, my negotiating skills...etc.

And then there are those few clients who I choose not to work with from the beginning, because enough will never be enough.

That's an important thing to learn – saying "No" to working with people who will never be satisfied no matter what we do.