Exactly, How Transparent Are You?

As a commercial real estate broker, you probably consider yourself to be professional, fair, open, and honest.  Are you also transparent? Completely?  Follow these questions and comments and decide for yourself just how transparent you are and whether your clients view you the same way.

• Can you describe the basic principles behind Sarbanes-Oxley?

• Do you tell clients and prospects that you will be transparent in your dealings with them and on their behalf?

• Are you really transparent in your dealings, or is that just marketing hype?

• Do you keep your tenants and buyers informed about your dealings on their behalf and about the compensation to which you may be entitled when they complete their transaction?  

• Do you only mention compensation to your tenant clients when a landlord offers you a discount, an unacceptable rate, or payment schedule that takes too long or puts you at risk?

• Do you also inform your clients when landlords offer you compensation bonuses or incentives?

• Do you disclose relationships to your clients that THEY may see as being in conflict with your ability to properly serve their interests, even if you don’t see the same conflicts?

• Are you really completely transparent?

• Are your company’s relationships so vast and geographically dispersed that it is often difficult to understand the many possible conflicts-of-interest that may exist, let alone identify and report them to your clients?
• Are you transparent with your transactional opponents and competitors?  Should you be?

Being transparent is not a buzz word, it’s an absolute, a must in business. You cannot be transparent on some issues, and not on others, and then claim to be transparent.  That’s being partially transparent, which means you’re not really transparent.  Either you’re transparent or you’re not!

Being transparent in your dealings is not that tough.  What are you afraid of?  Do you think your clients will figure out that maybe you’re not as good as you said you were?  Are you afraid that if you are transparent about your compensation that your clients may want some of it?  If you are truly concerned about this, then perhaps you should ask yourself if you really are worth what you expect to receive in compensation…if you deliver sufficient value to your clients, so that they will recognize your worth and entitlement to fair compensation.