I had an interesting conversation yesterday about greed and the business of commissioned service providers, such as real estate agents.

Before I launch, let me share some of my background. I’m the daughter of a Baptist minister and I was fortunate to be raised in a loving, but strict, Christian home. We commonly had discussions about the rights and wrongs in our society with daily warnings of how we should act. I’ll say this helped shape me, but it did not mold me. Life has taken care of the lessons that have caused me to either embrace or change my opinion about how my parents wanted me to  think.

Now back to Greed. As you know, greed is one of the seven deadly sins. Calm yourself, I’m stepping down from the pulpit now.

If you’re like me and you grew up believing greed is bad, how do you wrap your head around charging what you’re worth? After all, you could provide the service for free. You’ve studied, you’ve prepared, you’ve gained experience…you have knowledge that leads people to seek you out and ask for your help. This knowledge has not come to you for free or by osmosis, so why would you give it away for free? It is not greedy to charge for services rendered. It’s also not greedy to up your fee as your knowledge and experiences grow.

If you set your own price, here’s a few things to consider to help get past the greed issue and turn it into confidence in your value.

• Are you providing a higher or lower level of service than others?
• Are there fees you incur before you get paid?
• What is the level of risk of not getting paid at all?
• What extra classes have you taken that make your value higher?

Once you’ve considered these and your other questions, make notes as to why you’ve set your price at a certain level. Keep these notes and refer back to them at times when the greed thoughts creep in and to constantly remind yourself you are worth what you charge. 

Have Confidence in your Value. I promise, it’s okay.

In my position, it’s a common occurrence to guide an agent through working a transaction with a difficult agent, client or lender. Many times, the difficulties occur because someone wants to work in what we like to call ‘the gray area’ and our agents refuse to go there because of their reputation and ethics. But, when faced with a win or lose scenario for your client, do you stick to your morals it give in to that gray area?

Of course, only the agents and brokers involved can answer this, but here’s a few tips I regularly dispense.

Why did you choose this company? You are here because of our professional reputation in the industry. If you give in to being unprofessional for the sake of money, will our reputation hold strong? Will this still be the type of company with which YOU would associate?

Talk with whoever you need to. .. try and find a solution that doesn’t visit the gray area. If it’s your client, talk to them about your reputation and legal concerns. Chances are, they are acting on emotion and haven’t thought of long term effects. They chose to work with you because of your reputation—does it make sense to destroy it for one client? I promise you, it will be more work, but it will be worth it.

Another option to consider is simply removing yourself from the transaction. Trust me, there’s a lot of power in speaking with the parties involved and letting them know your discomfort with the situation. Many times, when they see you’re ready to remove yourself they begin to understand the full gravity of the situation.

And always, always, bring in your broker or trusted adviser.

Agents are the sum of their transactions. Real estate is a very small world and your reputation with other agents, and within the industry, is just as important as your reputation with clients. It can affect your sales numbers just the same.

In the words of  Gina Piper, from the Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate conference this year, “Be Legendary In Your Work”.

Today I challenge you to think outside the gray area and protect your reputation, as well as your company’s.

It Matters.