The power of setting expectations (05.26.26)

Today we talked about the power of setting expectations — and how clarity is one of the highest forms of leadership.

In real estate, so much stress, disappointment, and confusion comes from expectations that were never clearly communicated in the first place.

We discussed:• Why “clear is kind” in leadership and client relationships• How emotionally intelligent agents proactively communicate instead of assuming• Why educating clients about TODAY’S market matters more than ever• How a fast full-price offer can actually be a sign that everything worked• Why great marketing sometimes creates the right buyer immediately — without chaos or 15 offers

One of the biggest reminders from today:

 A smooth transaction is not proof that nothing happened behind the scenes.Often it’s proof that a LOT happened behind the scenes.

The best agents don’t just sell homes.They create clarity, confidence, and trust.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All right, good morning everyone. It's 6 o'clock in the a.m. And this is your six o'clock call. Um I hope everybody had a fun Memorial Day weekend and got to spend some time doing things that fed your soul, as well as some time spending reflecting on the sacrifice so many have made for our freedom. I know I had a fabulous weekend out in the garden, hands in the dirt, which is where my happy place is. And um I hope you guys got to do some fun stuff too. In fact, I hope some of you made it to the beach, although it rained the whole time. So not sure how much fun that would have been. But it's summer and we're on our way. Robin and I are always grateful that you're here with us, choosing to start your day intentionally. We really, really are. It is uh so meaningful to us that you support this call, and we really think it's a win-win because we think it's good for all of us to start our day with power and intention. So today I want to talk about something that can completely change your business, your leadership, and honestly your relationships too. And it's come up a lot lately because we're so busy and sometimes it gets skipped. And it's the power of setting expectations. Because one of the biggest causes of stress in real estate is not always the market. It's not rates, it's not inventory, it's not even clients themselves, it's unclear expectations. And the longer I coach agents, the more I realize that a huge percentage of client conflict, disappointment, and even burnout comes from expectations that were never clearly communicated in the first place. Daniel Goldman wrote a book called Emotional Intelligence, and it talks about relationship management as one of the highest forms of emotional intelligence. You've heard of intelligence quotient? Well, there's something called emotional quotient, and it's basically how you handle yourself emotionally. Higher levels of emotional EQ result in less freakout, stress, confusion, chaos. So great agents are not just salespeople, but they're emotional managers. They can they can regulate themselves well. We are constantly managing expectations, fears, uncertainty, communication, and emotions from our clients. And that's really what this business is. And one of the most emotionally intelligent things you can do as an agent is to create clarity early. Brene Brown says in the book Dare to Lead, if you haven't read it, I recommend it. Clear is kind, clarity is kind, and unclear is unkind. And that applies to real estate so much. I always like to say people pleasing is unkind. Saying what you think somebody wants to hear is unkind, but saying what they need to hear is kind. And that applies to real estate so much because clients are almost always creating stories in the absence of information. If you don't explain the market, they'll fill in the blanks and they'll decide what they think the market is. If you don't explain communication expectations, they'll think you disappeared or you should have communicated more or you should have communicated less. If you don't explain pricing strategy and what to expect, they think their home should have sold in three days. And one that I think agents really struggle with sometimes is setting expectations around marketing and how homes actually sell in the current market. It's important that we keep our thumb on the market so that we can explain it so that we can set expectations and how that works, especially in this market. For years, sellers got to got used to hearing stories about like 20 offers per listing, crazy bidding wars, waived contingencies, and homes flying off the market in one weekend. But markets shift. And sometimes now, if a home is priced correctly, marketed correctly, and positioned correctly, you may only get one strong offer and it could happen quickly, or it could take a few weeks. And ironically, sometimes the seller thinks, well, that seemed too easy, or maybe we priced it too low, or maybe more should have been done to attract more offers. And that's where expectation setting matters. Because part of our job is helping clients understand that the goal is not necessarily chaos and 14 offers. The goal is a successful sale. Sometimes great marketing creates the exact right buyer immediately. And sometimes the reason it feels smooth is because you actually did your job well with proper pricing, professional positioning, strong negotiation, pre-marketing, we know that's so important now. Database exposure, social media, agent outreach, staging, and preparation. A calm transaction is not proof that nothing happened behind the scenes. It's often proof that so much happened behind the scenes. And I think agents need to get more confident educating clients up front about that. Explaining to them that the market is different than it was even a week ago or two weeks ago. We may not see multiple offers. A fast, full price offer can actually be a fantastic outcome. The success is not always measured by the drama of multiple offers and a whole bunch of chaos. That clarity protects trust later because clients can only evaluate the process based on the expectations they had walking into it. And leadership inside a team works exactly the same way. A lot of team tension comes from unclear standards, unclear communication, unclear ownership, or people assuming that everybody sees things the same way. But healthy leadership says here's what success looks like on this team, here's what I need from you on a daily basis, here's what you can expect from me on a daily basis. That's emotional intelligence. Not avoiding hard conversations, not hoping people magically figure it out. And honestly, this matters personally too. Sometimes resentment is just unspoken expectations sitting silently in our heads. I love the um the line that expectations that haven't been communicated are unplanned resentments. I'm sorry, yeah, unplanned resentments, I think is how it goes. We want to support acknowledgement, consistency, communication, but we never clearly expected it, expressed it. And one thing I've learned is clear conversations may feel uncomfortable in the moment. And in fact, most of them do, which is why we don't do it. But unclear relationships become so painful over time. So maybe today's reminder is this clarity creates safety for clients, for teams, for families, for yourself. The strongest businesses and relationships are usually built on proactive communication, not emotional guesswork. So ask yourself today, where do I need to communicate more clearly instead of assuming people just know or hiding from the conversation because it's uncomfortable? That one question can elevate your leadership immediately and create trust and referrals quickly. Thank you guys for being here this morning. We appreciate you so much. Have an amazing day, and we'll see you tomorrow on the 6 a.m. call. Robin has the mic. We love you guys so much, and we appreciate you.