I wrote over at Banks.com about a pickle of a situation in my real estate area.  To summarize, a broker has generated a report that shows production to date in one county, by agent.  The report is definitely skewed because it doesn’t reveal if an agent sold homes in another county, whether they’re in a contract now (as a lease purchase or a pending sale), their current listings, and other activity that’s traditional with real estate agents.  That and all the moral ethics issues aside, it begs the question How Do You Measure Success?

Realtors have often been compared to used car salesmen.  You know the stereotype … will do anything to sell a car.  In the popularity-ometer of respected professions, we’re right up there with dentists and politicians.  Why?  Because of the view that Realtors are in it to just make money.  The perception is that we don’t care about someone’s ability to buy a house … if we can help them find a way to buy, then we will find a way.  Some would compare Realtors and their desire to make money to what 18th century poet John Wolcot once said about fame,

When the rage for fame
Attends both great and small
Better be damned
Than not mentioned at all.

When the rage for money attends both great and small, better be damned and make as much as possible, perhaps?  Ironically, the vast majority of Realtors today - while we enjoy earning a living (who wouldn’t?) - take great pride in providing good customer service.  What did we do to help those first-time homebuyers?  Did we do everything in our power to get the house sold for the couple about to foreclose?  Did we tell our buyers that just because they’re “qualified” to buy a $200,000 house, that doesn’t mean they can afford it.

As a Realtor, I’ve convinced people to walk away from homes they are thinking about buying because of problems ranging from sewer issues to the fact that they really don’t want to give up their lake home to be closer to their adult children.  At great cost to myself and to my family, I might add.  As a Realtor, I’ve swept and vacuumed floors.  I’ve taken a beating on my commission because the family selling would lose everything if I didn’t.  I’ve shown compassion.  I’ve given my heart to my clients.

So do I measure success in black and white numbers that say my production this year is WAY down (like the economy) or WAY up (as in economies past)?  Do I measure success through the fact that I’ve made the top 10 list this month or this year?  While these are fun ‘atta boys, my success is measured when I sit at the closing table with a buyer who’s looked at 100 homes - a buyer whose lost three bids to buy because of multiple offer situations - and I hand her the keys to her new house.  I measure my success in the thanks I receive from people when they tell me everyone else has told them they won’t help because they only want to spend $70,000 on a house.  I measure my success in helping the Hurricane Katrina victim find a safe home after she and her son survived the horrors of that devastating storm.

I don’t measure it in how much money I’ve made or what my production has been this year.  I measure it in my noble deeds, my compassion for my clients, my ability to say yes, but to also say no when necessary.  How do you measure success?