Coldwell Banker Has a National Sales Event By Taking Advantage of Home Sellers?

Okay, I know this will be snarky, but I can not help myself.

Coldwell Banker has announced they are having a National 10 Day Sales Event. I have been trying to formulate a post on it, but I think that listing the problems I have with this would be better.

• First, it degrades the agents. Every agent I know hates the perception they have as a profession. The best fight it every day. Yet running a promotion in this way makes me think of a car lot promotion. If you end up getting a buyer to contract, are you going to give him the bums rush to the finance managers office?
• Who is giving the discount? It is your clients. Essentially you have told them that the price they have listed the house is a good one to get the listing, now you are asking them to lower their price for your sales effort? Mrs. Smith, we are running a promotion. Please take a $40,000 price cut on your home to help us with our promotion.
• What does Coldwell Banker have in the fight? I would be much more impressed if they said we are having a sale on our listings and participating agents will cut our commissions in half for the duration. Or that whatever corporate fees that Coldwell charges their agents and brokers are rebated to the consumer? That would be showing they have a dog in the fight.
• And finally, it highlights one of the greatest weaknesses in the National Agency/Agent/Homeseller relationship. The National agency, in this case Coldwell Banker, does not care about the individual home seller. They are worried about the bottom line and are willing to put the agent’s relationship with the home seller in jeopardy to help their marketing.

If I was selling with a Coldwell agent and was approached with this promotion I would tell them to shove it where the proverbial sun will not shine, and then seriously wonder about the agents and agencies commitment to me and my needs.

“Despite the difficult headlines regarding our overall economy, the residential real estate market has been showing several positive signs over recent months that could be signaling a tipping point,” said Jim Gillespie, president and chief executive officer, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “Because of higher inventory, buyers have more homes to choose from and they can take advantage of near historically low interest rates and affordability levels that are the best they have been in years. The recent housing and economic recovery legislation also provides first-time homebuyers with the added incentive of a $7,500 tax credit.(1)
“Yet our research and discussions with our brokers and sales associates shows that in many markets sellers remain reluctant to list their homes at the proper prices necessary to attract buyers,” continued Gillespie. “It’s our hope that the Coldwell Banker 10-Day Sales Event will move buyers off the sidelines and into the market. We are embarking on this initiative — which has never been done before on a national basis — because we believe it is critical for Coldwell Banker, as an industry leader, to help serve the needs of those individuals listing homes with a Coldwell Banker broker and to help move the U.S. real estate market in the right direction