Can you really trust the people who are working for you?

That question came up recently when a very old friend of mine tried to sell a property in a touristy area about two and a half to three hours south of Sydney. Beautiful spot. Great weather most of the year. Especially in summer.

Yet after six weeks on the market there was barely any interest.

Not even a nibble.

Well, technically there was one nibble. The real estate agent told my friend something along the lines of: “We’ve got someone really interested. They’ve had their finance rejected a few times, but we’re pretty sure they’ll get it sorted.”

And that was it.

No other buyers. No urgency. No activity.

Now, that’s a little strange for a property in a desirable area.

Naturally my friend started to get suspicious.

So she did something very simple.

She got another friend of ours to call the agent.

No fancy systems. No complicated process. Just a simple phone call.

And what happened next was interesting.

The friend called the real estate agent pretending to be a potential buyer. The agent confirmed the property was for sale and gave a bit of information about it. But then came the key line.

“We’ve got someone really, really interested. Looks like they’re going to buy it. Call us back in two weeks.”

Now think about that for a second.

No real estate agent working in the best interest of their client should ever say that to a new potential buyer. Their job is to create competition. More buyers means a better outcome for the seller.

Instead, this agent effectively turned away interest.

Which raises a question.

Why?

One possible explanation is that the property has been put “on ice” so a particular buyer can secure it at a lower price. In some cases that buyer might even be someone connected to the agent.

Now I’m not saying that’s definitely what’s happening here.

But it’s exactly the type of situation that makes you realise something important.

You don’t always know what’s happening behind the scenes.

And sometimes the only way to find out is to experience your own business the same way a customer would.

That’s essentially what a mystery shop is.

You step into the shoes of the customer and see what actually happens.

Not what you’re told happens.

What really happens.

Below is the video where I talk through this situation in more detail and why it matters.

The interesting thing is that this didn’t require a professional mystery shopping company. My friend simply asked someone else to make a call.

One simple check.

One small test.

And suddenly you get a very different perspective.

Whether you’re selling property, running a restaurant, or managing a service business, the lesson is the same.

Don’t assume everything is being handled properly just because someone says it is.

Sometimes the only way to know the truth is to test it yourself.

You might be surprised by what you discover.