The commission squeeze is causing the industry to place a lot of blame on competitors that advertise discounts, when it was the traditionals themselves that began the discounting practice long ago with affinity partners like Costco and USAA. Agents were empowered by agent-centric companies like RE/MAX International to negotiate their own commissions.

Today, the fallout is obvious -- agents working for traditional firms that pay 50-50 splits are finding they can't hold their brokers' line without more support.

A bull housing market with quick sales and escalating home prices has caused sellers to wonder why they should pay high commissions. When listing agents go on listing appointments, one of the first questions they are asked is, "What do you charge and can I get a discount?"

Many brokers tell their agents to quip, "If I cave in on my commission to you, how can you trust that I can negotiate on your behalf with a buyer?"

That smug response is supposed to end the discussion. It doesn't.

"I am a new agent in L.A. and am coming across the same thing," says a Realtor who wishes to remain anonymous, "only the company I work for is new in my area and their ideas are old school- we can't negotiate, but I am- because I have to. Let me tell you, within one week of being willing to negotiate, I have a listing appointment today and may come into another one very soon. I want to be a listing agent, but the only way to deal is by discounting- because you can argue and persuade all you want the bottom line is the big brokers at Coldwell Banker and Prudential are discounting, too. They just have more listings, so it doesn't hurt so bad."

"If you want to be in the game you have to play the game," she reasons, "so how do you think these old school brokers who have been in the business for 30 years work? Their routine doesn't. We advertise weekly, but it's a new world, and most buyers are not looking in the paper. The listings my office gets are so crummy they're not worth open-house sitting. I am even sitting an open house this weekend for another broker. Talk about being creative! He has a listing at a beautiful home and I need the leads.

"I resent these companies that think they have so much to offer, when in reality they offer nothing," she scolds. "Their marketing is old and not even well done. Frankly, they take advantage of agents- which is why new agents are out of the business in a minute. My advice -- go find a mom and pop boutique where you learn to make your own deals -- and you get a better split so you can afford to discount. The worst thing you can do is to price a listing higher. If a listing is on the market for more than a month in L.A., it's already been on the market too long. It tells everybody it's too high and something's wrong, so don't overprice a listing!"

The new agent says she has learned some lessons about pricing the hard way.

"My first listing appointment was in Hollywood Hills, so I knew right off the bat the guy was asking too much, however when I got there he wanted even more than that -- a ridiculous amount $1.7 million for an average nothing-special home that needs updating everywhere. One thing the house had going for it was views, so I sat there and played dumb. 'Oh, sure we can get you $1.7, I said, knowing that $1.1 was pushing the envelope, so I lied and went along with it. Well, guess what? I lost the listing to a 25-year veteran who priced it still too high, but $300,000 less than the seller wanted."

So what can be done?

Nobody knows better than today's brokers that they have done much to make themselves less relevant to the transaction, so many are trying to turn the clock back in a good way.

When you are interviewing with brokers, ask specifics about training. What tools does the broker provide besides reputation, brand, and service that can help you compete with discounters and other agents over commissions?

The answer should not be, "You have to believe in yourself, provide the ultimate in service, blah, blah, blah." You need something you can immediately hand over to the seller that's concrete that he or she can understand.

Where the discount brokers have the traditional brokers against the wall is showmanship. They know that the demonstration of a simple discount savings is stronger than all the smug, nebulous defenses of "service" in the world.

Look for a broker who will provide you black and white market sheets that say 'this house listed for this much and we got that much in so many days.' The listing price to sales price should be extremely low, less than 97 or 98 percent to be truly effective. The broker should have comparables of other brokers' listings and what they listed and sold for, and should have an analysis of which brokers get the best list-to-sales ratio. Those are the ones who are worth full commissions, you can argue to a seller.

It's all about the math. A seller can understand something as simple as a one percent reduction in commission. Getting them to understand a higher net gain takes a little showmanship.

If your broker isn't up to that, you're interviewing at the wrong brokerage.