Don’t Sell Houses, Build Relationships

WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?

We all have emotions, feelings, fears and insecurities, but (and it’s a big but), your clients don’t care.  They don’t care if you have a mortgage payment due; they don’t care if your board fees are due, your car payment is coming up or your E&O insurance payment is due. The only thing clients care about is themselves and their problem. Until you view every interaction with a prospect or client through this lens, you will continue to wonder why they don’t commit to working with you or listening to your advice.

Think of it this way. It is not about you; it is all about them. You have been granted an opportunity to help someone solve a problem, and for that help they pay you a fee. If, and only if, the prospect believes you are the right person to solve their problem, will they hire you. You are only there by invitation. Once you are at the table, it is critical that you focus 100% of your attention on them. Don’t talk about you. They don’t care about your problems. They care about theirs.

DON’T SOCIALIZE, SELL

Your appointments should feel social, but remember, you are here to help them sell or buy a house. Pros know the difference between socializing and selling. There are agents who have the gift of the gab, but they never close, so they never get the signature. The better you are at being a salesperson, the more comfortable the conversation feels to the prospect, but make no mistake, those conversations aren’t idle chit chat, they always have an underlying intent. The only way to capitalize on an opportunity is to build rapport first.

This is where questions become so important. HOW you ask the question, as well as the TYPE of questions you ask are very important. When you ask questions, your tone and facial expressions matter. Be interested, but not interrogational. Ask PRE-PLANNED questions and listen carefully to their answers to uncover their problems. Pros are good listeners, not big talkers. When people tell you what is important to them, CLARIFY their concerns (what I hear you saying is…) so they know you understand them. Take notes. It demonstrates what they are telling you is important.

To recap, every conversation must have intent. We don’t socialize, we sell (elegantly). To do that we must uncover their problem and they must feel confident we have their solution. Keep the focus on them, ask a lot of questions, be sincerely interested in their answers, take copious notes to add to their file, and summarize what is important to them so they truly feel you get them. Now that is how a true pro builds rapport.

DON’T JUDGE

Who are we to judge how others live? Who are we to think we know what is best for our clients? I can’t tell you the number of clients I got because other agents wouldn’t listen to them. I would take those prospects and turn them into loyal clients because I listened and I didn’t judge. At the end of the day, what the client wants is what the client wants. It is your job to get it for them as quickly as possible (and for their benefit, not yours).

WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER

Pros say WE, they don’t say you or I. From the moment you start conversation with anyone, you are building a relationship. People don’t care what you know until they know that you care. Words matter. Don’t separate yourself from the client, use words like “we” so they know you have their back.

EXPERIENCE DOESN’T TRUMP PREPARATION

The buyer and seller appointment is for all the marbles. Because of this, your appointment must be carefully planned. 90% of all opportunities are won or lost before you even meet with the client, yet so few agents properly prepare for their appointments. EXPERIENCE is no substitute for PREPARATION. Do you know the neighborhood, the walkability factor, schools, amenities, local attractions? Some agents mentally prepare on their way to meet the buyer or seller. Some don’t prepare at all.

If you are showing houses to a buyer, you should have thoroughly researched the houses and the neighborhood before heading out. You should spend as much time preparing to show the houses as you do actually showing them. Pros do their homework. They make the client feel at ease because they have all the answers. Ultimately, this allows them to show less houses and close sooner. Knowledge is power and it allows you to influence clients through your confidence of delivery.

SHOWMANSHIP BUILDS CONFIDENCE

Pros prepare for their appointments. They use a digital listing presentation to showcase all of their great strategies to attract buyers; they do great evaluations, so sellers feel comfortable choosing the right price; they have intimate local knowledge, and the list goes on and on.

The pro wins the opportunity because the sellers trust them. How do you earn that trust? By demonstrating some showmanship. Simply put, they must like you and believe you can deliver the results they want. A great digital presentation wows them and gives them the confidence that you are a true professional.

When the pro gets the job done and sells the house, they understand the value of the client goes beyond the commission. They know that the entire experience must be a good one, from start to finish, and if executed correctly, it will lead to more listings in the neighborhood and more referrals from the client. Pros know there is always another sale if you handle the transaction exceptionally well.