What would you do if a client of yours told you one day they found a place to live through another real estate agent, after you have spent countless hours trying to find the right fit for this client?

This happened to a good friend of mine who is a residential real estate agent in New York. When the client called with the news, she responded in a way most agents would have not. She congratulated the buyer, agreed the location was a good fit for him and his family, and offered her assistance if he should ever need it.

The client responded by saying "the contract is not yet signed and if you have anything you believe I should see to please call". She did call with four other suggestions. He wanted to look at two of them and one of those is the house he actually bought.

So let's go back to the original question. If you were selling to this man and he told you he found a place through another agent, how would you have responded? Most agents would have been ticked off at losing the deal and would have made the buyer feel bad.

My friend did the opposite. She knows the value of a lifetime relationship. If she let the emotion of losing the deal get in the way, the buyer would never refer her to anyone in the future and would, himself, never contact her again for a potential future deal.

Getting upset at clients when they let us down does nothing for our long-term success. It does solve our immediate emotional need to get back at someone and vent our feelings. But all that does is shut down the long-term prospects of the relationship.

So when you lose a deal, don't let the initial emotional let down get in the way of you building a brand and business for the long term.

To learn more on how to build brand and a business for the long term, read the CEO bestselling book Lead, Sell or Get Out of the Way.