Chris Drayer of RealSatisfied says:

"Always ask for a testimonial, because you never know who will give you one."

Perhaps you've heard this line of thinking before. It's motivational, something you'd hear from a stage somewhere. It's designed to get you beyond the fear of asking for a testimonial. But it's has a critical flaw.

Beneath the strategy of how to ask lies a much deeper root issue. And it's exposed by the word, "always." Do you really want to ask for a testimonial from someone who is lukewarm about your service? How about someone who is even less than lukewarm?

Here's what I have gathered from observation. Most of the real estate agents I have met have never, ever had an upset real estate buyer or seller because of something they did. They are the best of the best and they will send you all of their testimonials to prove it. The other agents in their transactions, however, that's a different story. "They" are the ones that cause all of the problems.

So, lets talk about the "other" agent. Whenever you get together for a cocktail or a fund raiser for RPAC, or a YPN meeting - the other agent, we'll call her Annie Agent, decides to tell you a 15-minute horror story. I won't retell the story, you know it all too well. So, here's the take away from that story:

"I have the client from Hell." – Annie Agent