The fee we had to give back (and what it taught me)

HERE’S THE THING

Last week we had a file that started as a B deal. Then the clients sold their home for more than expected, and suddenly the file moved to the A side. Great news for them.

The purchase closed. The lawyer sent us our broker fee.

Wait a minute.

We don't charge broker fees on A deals.

So now there's money sitting with the lawyer that shouldn't be there, and the clients are days away from closing on their sale. This needed to be fixed fast.

Here's what happened next: I called our brokerage's compliance and payroll team. They jumped on it. The fee got sent back to the lawyer, and because of bridge financing (thank god for bridge financing), the money made it back into the clients' hands before their sale closed the following week.

Crisis averted. But here's the real lesson:

I didn't make this mistake. But it was still my job to fix it.

That's the gig. When you're the broker, when you're the business owner, when you're the one your clients trust, you don't get to say "not my problem." You find the solution. You make the calls. You get it done.

And you know what made this fixable? Relationships.

I've always made a point to be kind to the people behind the scenes. Compliance. Payroll. Admins. The people who don't get the spotlight but keep everything running. When I needed them to move fast on a Friday afternoon, they did. Because we'd built that trust over time.

The takeaway: Be kind to everyone. Not because you might need something from them someday, but because it's the right way to do business. The fact that it also saves your butt in a pinch? That's just a bonus.

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FRESH FROM THE PODCAST

My daughters have been practicing jiu-jitsu for years. I dabbled. But lately, I've committed, and it's teaching me more about business than I expected.

In this episode, I break down five lessons from the mat that apply directly to your mortgage business: why leverage beats strength, how to adapt under pressure, why failing is part of learning, the importance of position before submission (yes, this applies to sales), and why discipline and consistency win every time.

The bottom line? Both jiu-jitsu and the mortgage business reward patience, resilience, and strategy. If you can stay calm under pressure, learn from your failures, and apply leverage wisely, you're going to be unstoppable in both.

Listen here: Ep. 17: What Jiu-Jitsu is Teaching Me About Business

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BORROWED WISDOM

"If you don't have enough sleep, taking 20mg of creatine in the morning can help your brain operate like you did."

— Dr. Stacy Sims on The Mel Robbins Podcast

For those of us running on caffeine and chaos, this one's worth a listen: Check out the episode here

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THE LAUGH TAX

If you've ever tried to explain to friends why you "can't just take Tuesday off," this one's for you.

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ONE MORE THING

When I quit my role as COO of BRX Scott encouraged me to do some coaching again (like I used to before taking on that role), I have created a couple coaching courses to share all the things I have learned along the way in this business in a couple of nice & neat packages for other agents.

You can see a webinar about what I will be training on here and the registration link is here.

Until next time,

Denise

P.S. Know someone who'd get value from No Fluff Friday? Forward this their way. The more the merrier.