Whether you’re trying to maximize your productivity or your profits, how can you get more?
How can you raise demands on yourself or others without sparking resentment or burnout?
A crucial piece of advice I’ve given to my real estate clients offers a key principle to achieve this result in any realm.
The Real Estate Pricing Strategy That Always Delivers
Over the course of 16 years in business as a real estate agent and consultant, my sales price to listing price ratio is 100%.
This means that, on average, I have gotten my clients their full ask price. Not to brag (but I will), but this stat actually understates my success rate. In the years when I’ve been most active in my role as an agent, it’s not been uncommon for me to get my clients 10–15%, sometimes even 20%, above the listing price.
This has been true across all types of markets — including in the height of the great recession.
Home sellers often want to overreach with their pricing, especially in a strong market. It’s understandable: everyone wants to maximize their profit.
As an agent, I don’t control the listing price — the client has the final say. Those that heeded my advice saw results beyond their expectations.
The advice is simple and effective:
You’ll get more by asking less.
Here’s Why This Advice Works
Financial investment stems from emotional investment.
To generate emotional investment requires a visceral experience. A home is a place where someone is going to live. In the same way that you try on shoes or clothes before buying, a buyer must walk through the home.
When buyers perceive a listing price as being too high, they often won’t go to see the home. This is true even if they believe that everything is negotiable, or that the home is over-priced.
Even if they otherwise believe it’s perfect for them. Some buyers will go see it, but not make an offer. And if they do make an offer, they’ll often feel resentful — even if they get the home for less than the asking price.
There’s something about the high demand that infects the energy of the transaction from the start.
On the other hand, when the price is more in line with what potential buyers might consider fair, or at least a “good value,” they don’t delay in coming to see the home.
They make offers more quickly. And that momentum leads to a higher selling price.
Simply put:
High demands invite resistance and resentment from the start.
When the demand is more modest, we are more willing to take the first step. That first step starts to generate emotional investment. And emotional investment increases, we are willing to invest more resources.
Consider Investments Beyond Money
This strategy of asking less to receive more works for pricing any product or service.
But that’s only the start of it.
This principle has applications beyond pricing.
You can apply this principle to any type of behavior, from exercise to meditation, to clearing clutter, cooking, eating healthy, to requesting favors from a friend.
Consider the different “resources” you are asked to invest beyond money, such as attention, energy, time, focus.
How I Use This Principle in My Daily Life
In addition to using this principle to start on stalled projects, this principle is also one of the core strategies I’ve used to sustain my long-term daily practices.
This is how I’ve sustained over a decade of daily workouts and over 9 years of daily meditation. It’s how I’ve published a daily blog for over 6 years.
Whenever I feel myself resisting a workout or hesitating to sit down and write, I consider:
How can I scale it back? How can I demand less of myself?
It’s Counter-Intuitive, But It Works
In a culture that is constantly priming us to demand and expect more from ourselves and others, it can feel like we’re giving something up if we scale back our demands.
After all, achievement culture tells us to “raise the bar,” not lower it.
It may be counter-intuitive, but it works.
I’ve lost count of how many times “just move your body for 30 minutes” has turned into a monster workout, or “just 10 minutes” of writing has turned into a 2500 word essay — or longer.
My 2-minute meditations are rarely only 2 minutes long.
An Important Reminder
Here’s the important thing to know, however: even when I hold the line at the low demand, it’s still ok.
Most of the places where we apply this principle are not high stakes real estate transactions.
The stakes are lower, which means you don’t have to “trick” yourself into doing more. Some days, you can — in fact you should — do less.
You can’t go “heavy” every day. It’s simply not sustainable.
When it comes to daily actions, the consistency is what’s most important. A little bit each day is better than a lot on one day followed by months of nothing.
The TL;DR
Whether you’re trying to get more from others or from yourself, scale back your demands and expectations.
Generate emotional investment and let momentum drive the investment of other resources.
You’ll get more by asking less.
Share Your Challenges
Sometimes the idea of asking less or lowering the demands can trigger its own resistance.
For example, my real estate clients often fear that by asking less they will “leave money on the table.” It’s a common fear, but I’ve yet to work with a client who actually felt that way at the closing table.
The notion that you should consistently “raise the bar” and “demand more from yourself” is so deeply conditioned in our culture. As you try this out in different areas, you will likely encounter inner resistance or fears.
Take note of where you are reluctant to scale back your demands.
What challenges arise for you as you consider asking less from others or yourself?
Please share in the comments.
Know someone who needs to hear this advice? Share this post with them!
Love it? Hate it? What do you think? Don't hold back...