“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
One of the most important factors in being a successful realtor agent is your ability to relate to people. The customer buys you first and then buys what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it. One of the best ways to show them you care is to humanize yourself and your business.
Before a listing presentation, you already do exhaustive research on the property. You pull information on comparable listings, research the neighborhood, tax records, etc. But what if you did your homework on the homeowners too? What if you knew that their child had just graduated from high school, that they are expecting a new addition to their family or that they had recently lost a loved one? This information is just as useful as any you could know about the property itself and helps you build those personal connections that power relationships.
Building a personal connection with your client helps when it is time to have those hard discussions or when you’re in a tough negotiation. It’s also your best opportunity for repeat and referral business.
Here are some things you should know about your clients:
- What is their financial situation, qualifications and needs.
- How they want to be communicated with. Text? Phone? How often? Detail or big picture?
- Milestones: Anniversary’s, Birthdays, etc.
- What’s their present or future lifestyle goals: Are they a homebody or love to travel? Do they have pets? Who lives with them or visits frequently?
- Hobbies and interests: Do they need storage for sporting equipment, an area for woodworking or a craft room?
- Their past real estate experiences: Did something happen to make them cautious of the buying or selling process?
- What’s their real estate goals: Do they want to downsize? Do they want to retire by the lake? Move in to our out of the city?
When building a relationship with someone, remember to be both sincere and curious. These phrases can help draw them out:
- If you could wave a magic wand, describe your perfect world.
- Paint the picture for me.
- Tell me more about that.
- What would you like to see happen?
And then be quiet and listen. The more you allow them to talk, the closer your relationship will develop and the better you will be able to serve them.
Don’t forget that you are dealing with real people with real wants and needs. People move because of their circumstances; upsizing or downsizing, getting married or divorced, having children. You, as their trusted real estate advisor, need to know, understand and empathize with those circumstances.