I went to see my hairstylist in Midtown Sacramento yesterday for color and a trim. As she ran her fingers through my hair, we talked about my decision made during our last session to grow out my hair. I've tried wearing it short, and in layers, but I really prefer one length -- no fuss, no muss. This stylist is really great with color. She has a knack for it and years of experience. I've always been very happy with my color.
But the haircut is equally important. It took her more than 2 hours to color my hair this time. I'm not certain if that's because she double booked me or because she went to the movies.
"Just a trim," I reminded her as she picked her scissors. Snip, snip, snip. Thin a little here. Oh, thin a little there. By the time she was finished, I had three-inch pieces sticking straight up in the air. "You won't let me put product in it," she cried.
Then she went out to describe how my hair would behave so much better if I would let her straighten it. Not with the harsh chemicals that stripped out all of my color and couldn't be fixed for a week like the first time. Not with a Brazilian Blowout, which to this day my stylist is not convinced contains formaldehyde, even though the state of California is suing Brazilian Blowout for non-disclosure.
Nope, she is taking a class with the stylist across the aisle to find out about a new product. She'll try it on her stylist and another customer before she will recommend it to me.
It's like a light bulb went off. What am I doing in this salon? I'm spending way more time than it necessary to get my hair done because of time management issues or some other problem with this stylist. She cut off all my hair even though she knew moments before that we discussed letting it grow out. She has a short attention span and / or doesn't listen to her customer. And she wants to experiment on me with a new hair straightening product and a new technique.
This is like a seller who wants to do a short sale plucking a real estate agent who's been through a certification class. It's not exactly a recipe for success. If you want to hire a Sacramento short sale agent, you choose the agent who has successfully closed enough short sales to accurately pinpoint potential problems for you and head them off at the pass. Not some agent who took a 3-hour class.
Criminy, now I have to find a new hair stylist in Midtown Sacramento or Land Park. Any suggestions?
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Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
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The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
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It would be a good idea to ask someone with a hair style you like for a referral to a new hair stylist on Midtown Sacramento or Land Park. Finding a short sale specialist may be slightly harder. :)
This is a great analogy when it comes to real estate. It is better to pay a professional to get the job done right the first time.
I'm amazed at the number of folks who list their homes with the short sale specialists juggling 100 listings on a percentage game. They can say they've closed x number but how many fell through the cracks beause they weren't paying attention?
You have a valid point on a certain level. But, we have to remember we all started out as just having that 3 hour class.
What a great analogy. I'm not sure why anyone would look at the initials of a certification class and think, "This agent must know what they are going." Experience is the best teacher. And someone with a track record of success is WAY more important than those initials.
The one word that comes to mind is EXPERIENCE.
We can take hundreds of classes, and not be able to pull it all together. My biggest grip in dealing with the experts.
Great analogy!
Elizabeth - A class does not make you an expert--that takes education, experience, a little trial and error, and a long string of successes. Every agent does not need to be a short sale expert--that is why we have the referral system in real estate.
Hi Elizabeth, I hate it when the hair dresser doesn't listen or is too busy, or in too much of a hurry to do a good job! Works the same with all professions. The 3 hour class doesn't provide years of experience, it would be best to intern for a short time or have a good support system in place. Good luck on finding a new hairdresser!
Hi Elizabeth. I hte trying to fine a new hairdresser, but I like Mary's ideal for agent to intern after the 3 hours class for a few short sale transactions.
While everyone has to have their first experience at something, I totally agree with you here. Agents who are new to short sales should find an experienced short sale agent to mentor them. We are talking about serious consequences for the seller if the agent blows is.
Great points, Elizabeth! Perhaps the potential client should not be looking for certifications as much as asking the question, "How many transactions like mine have you actually done?"
I was thinking about letting my hair go a bit longer too. I got it cut last week and well it's all gone again. Later I realized we (my hairdresser and I) never even discussed my haircut. I sat down she went to work, I was in and out in 10 minutes with my same style. Guess I need to be vocal if I want a change. LOL
And I admit I'm still near the bottom of the learning curve on Short Sales, but I'm way ahead of other local Brokers. :)
Elizabeth, nothing like having an expert vs. a rookie working on a certain area of your life. I like how your light bulb went off there. An Ah Hah moment for sure.
No one was born experienced in anything. Not even breathing. And the fact that we aren't experienced shouldn't stop us from entring new fields. I ventire everywhere. But first I take an in depth course (not 3 hours) and then I get a mentor. S/he does one and I follow. Then I do one and s/he supervises. Then my mentor is there to consult. There is a financial arrangement in this of course..The old medical school philisophy of learning.
Many Real Estate Agents obtain designations to put on their business cards.
This is commendable, and a productive use of one's time. But to hold yourself out as an "Expert" or "Specialist" based only upon a short course (whether a few hours or even one week), may be false and misleading advertising, or misrepresentation.
As Cynthia suggested in #14, work with a Mentor, or otherwise get some EXPERIENCE, and after several transactions, then promote yourself as the Experienced Specialist or Expert.
I hope your hair turned out all right Elizabeth. No one deserves a bad hair cut! I hate when they don't listen to you or do what THEY want to do.
Elizabeth,
Your hair is cute as ever in your profile pix! Yes, experience is the number 1 teacher, but education is also very important and I think getting designations through way of taking extra classes and earning designations is important as well.
Nice metaphor! Short sales are tough and you are right you need to be doing them all the time to get them done right.
Elizabeth- since we've moved a lot, as have my stylists, I'm always having to break in someone new... the first thing I tell them is that I'm a very forgiving and patient person except when it comes to my hair.(JK) I'm with you about going to someone who's done it... not someone who took a class on how to do it. We all have to start somewhere but with something as important as purchasing or selling a house (or our hair!), then you want someone who knows the ropes. Good thing is... hair grows.
Great point Veronika. You don't end up doing hundreds of short sales by starting with number 50. You start at number 1 then 2 and so on. That numberical thingie is pretty rigid.
Everyone was new at one time or another.
Elizabeth,
If we don't listen to our clients, we'll soon be talking to ourselves.
Brian
Everyone has to have a beginning. You can't get experience if you haven't had the opportunity. Same as an employer saying to someone who is just entering the work force "We can't hire you because you have no experience ". Well how are you going to get the experience? As Real Estate Agents we get the opportunity to ask for help from a mentor. Explain your mentors track record. Even then we may get it wrong but we will have a better chance of success.
Like you said.....your hair dresser has a knack for it and years of experience. But yet she still did not listen to your wants and needs. At least she did ask the opinion of the stylist across the aisle. She could have just experimented on you. :)
There are times I am glad to be a man. Having to pee in the middle of the woods for instance.
And reading this post.
Elizabeth,
Phil (above) made me laugh so I lost my train of thought! Seriously, real experience beats classroom learning hands down.
Elizabeth, we all have to get experience from some where. Hopefully the inexperienced agent will work with a mentor to help them gain the experience they need to work on their own.
Ha! Thanks for the analogy and the laugh.
Everyone including us had their first client,first short sale, first commercial sale, ect. I'm am like you, let someone else be your first. The time thing is another issue and totally unacceptable.
I have to watch myself right after I have attended a class. The last time I tried to apply an ethics situation which was a good story for class, but not really, generally applicable in the real world. Almost got to be sticky.
Yes, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. :)
p.s. my sister just had a tooth pulled that had had an experimental treatment on it by a dentist who had just learned something new.
Sarah
Paying attention to details is key in any profession. Sometimes clearly speaking up, stops the scissors! The time thing would really bug me. Letting someone know that you do not wish to be her little guinea pig or trial run is key too.....but in real estate, the only way to get better is to get experience. Good or bad, it is a lesson on what to do the next time. That three hour class is where everyone gets their start. Pay attention and you pick things up along the way, don't pay attention and things slip through the cracks. I think that we give too much weight to the classes and the word specialist or expert is used too loosely in our business as it is in many others. Good luck in finding a new stylist.
Love the post Elizabeth and the analogy you've used.
Yes, when it comes to my hair I want someone I know and can trust, not to mention experienced....
Good qualities to look for in someone who is going to take you through the process. I don't want a beginner...
Patricia/Seacoast NH & ME
Well you see, that's what I get for having my nose buried in my BlackBerry and not watching the snipping going on. Phil, you crack me up!
Elizabeth, great point. Funny timing, as I just got a haircut. I finally got in to the "old-style" barber who can get my hair cut in 10 minutes (and does a good job). That's why I go to him. He's fast, knows what he's doing and doesn't waste my time.
He's usually so busy I can't get in. I went to a salon the month before and the lady took an hours to cut my hair. Like she wanted me to feel like I got my money's worth. I felt like I was going to die -- I got things to do! Hurry it up a bit.
The experienced professional made me feel like I got my money's worth in a fraction of the time. The same is true of a real estate professional.
Happy Sailing ... _/) Paul
Thank you thank you thank you....it is really frustrating dealing with newer agents trying to negotiate short sales...it's not helping matters...
Great post. The analogy was spot on. That being said, I have been committed to spotlighting both education and experience throughout my 18 years in this business. Three years ago, I saw the distressed property increase in our market here in Arizona, through both foreclosures and short sales and I was determined to seek out the best education and a fair amount of it to keep me on the "cutting edge" of my industry, increase my skill-sets so I could more expertly represent my clients needs. So, where my experience three years later is invaluable to my clients in short sales, my ongoing commitment to seek out more education makes certain that I am not operating on outdated information or perceptions. It is the combination of education and experience that really sets you apart from the rest, and keeps you from the complacency that you have learned all there is to learn.
Only one difference between the stylist and the short-sale agency pick .... you choose a stylist and they totally mess up your hair. That costs you a few months and around (guessing) $250 to fix it. (Cost of 1st stylist + cost of 2nd stylist to fix). You make the wrong choice of a short-sale agent and the cost is far greater and you suffer far longer. Yet I think most search longer and harder for their stylist. The priorities need to be turned around ...
Gene
Hey Elizabeth - Have you heard of the chemicals they use in the Brazilian Blowout process? I think there may be concerns about Formaldehyde. Some in the beauty industry deny it. I like your analogy to the "short-sale" process though.
I hope you are making it through this Friday easily enough, and have a restful weekend, and a beautiful future:-)
It really is hard switching to a new hairdresser, isn't it?
I think this is a great analog. But I think its more about a situation where both the technical training and the experience both go hand in hand. You have to start out somewhere right?
Also I like the idea of asking someone on the street that you like their style for a referral for a new hair stylist. It should not take that long for a color ever, unless of course you were getting multi-rainbow colored stripes. :)
Elizabeth, Taking a class would be a good start … as we all know there is far more to being a service professional than one class. Using customers/clients as a lab rat … not a great idea. I wish you all the best in your search of a new hair stylist.
Nice analogy ... it's like someone who took one class and thinks she knows better than you. Good luck finding a new salon.
A 3-hour or 2-day course does not make one an expert.
Experience and education go hand in hand. Both are important in this ever changing market.
A continuing education is extremely important. If you do take that 3 hour class, then be sure you have some other classes lined up to go along with it.