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Gain Respect in Real Estate

by Chicago Agent

BY BRIAN HILLIARD


In a market as tough as this, Realtors often want to know what they can do to meet more prospects and get more business. And while that’s certainly a good question, I’d submit that an even better one exists when it comes to growing your business. Instead of, “What can I do to meet more prospects?” how about, “What can I do to earn the respect of the prospects I meet so they actually want to do business with me?”

You see, as agents we can’t control many things when it comes to having a person buy or sell a home with us. We can’t control their job situation, their credit rating or even the timing of their desire to move. But what we can do is significantly impact their desire to want to work with us when it comes to facilitating the buying or selling of their largest personal asset. And if you’re able to do that on a consistent basis with a majority of the prospects you meet, then you’ll have a much better chance of getting more business, simply because it’s a byproduct of their desire to want to work with you.

So with that said, how can you increase your credibility – in their eyes – so that more prospects make you their Realtor of choice? Here are a couple of my favorites.

Ask the right questions. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people mess this up. Asking the right questions is less about your desire to want to close a deal and more about developing an understanding of your prospect’s situation.

Some examples include:
• Why are you thinking about making a move?
• What do you want to see in your ideal neighborhood?
• Name a feature in your old house that you want to see in your new home.
• What kind of commute do you have now and what’s your tolerance going forward?

Those are all good questions because they focus on your prospects and their situation. From there, you’ll want to provide some ideas and options of different neighborhoods that fit their criteria.

Obviously, you’ll want to do a more comprehensive search on MLS to make sure you’re getting everything that’s out there, but say something like this: “OK, so you don’t want more than a 30-minute commute from downtown and you’re looking for a quiet neighborhood where you can raise a family, right? Have you taken a look at the XYZ subdivision lately? I was showing that to a client the other day, and it really looks like they’ve got some good deals on some nice homes. It’s located about 20 minutes from downtown, and from what I’ve seen, it looks like a really nice neighborhood to raise a family.”

You see how that automatically increases your credibility in the mind of that other person? You gave them information that they probably didn’t know, and you related it to their specific situation. 

If you do that enough times, you see how it’s almost impossible for this prospect to not at least consider working with you? Take my word for it: If you want to get more business in today’s tough market, asking the right questions (and providing insightful points) is always a great start.


Become a problem solver. A lot of times you’ll run into situations where a person wants to buy or sell a home, but there are some roadblocks standing in the way. I’m talking about things like credit rating, curb appeal or anything else that impacts your ability to facilitate their purchase but falls outside of the traditional Realtor role.

If you want prospects to really want to work with you, then becoming a problem solver to handle those situations is the way to go. Instead of just saying, “Well it looks like you’ll need some help on getting your credit back into shape,” how about actually having a person handy – one that you already know – who helps people in these situations?

Instead of saying, “Boy, you really want to consider some landscaping work on the yard before we can even think about selling this house for top dollar,” how about having the name of a handyman or landscaper whose work you’ve personally seen, who can help out with some loose ends around the house.

See how you identified the problem and provided an option for solving it? Any Realtor can say, “Do this and do that,” but you’re now coming with options and solutions, which is exactly what you want to do when it comes to earning their respect. 


The Bottom Line
Buying or selling a house can be a stressful time for even the calmest of people. So when challenges start piling up (as they always do), you want to be the person who can ask the right questions and provide some answers and options for moving things forward.

Brian Hilliard is a popular speaker and author of the resource “How to Get More Business in Today’s Tough Market.” Hilliard specializes in helping busy agents get more leads and close more deals. For a free report on “2 Easy Ways to Get More Business in Today’s Tough Market,” e-mail Hilliard at info@agitoconsulting.com with the subject “More Business in Today’s Tough Market.” 

COPYRIGHT 2009 AGENT PUBLISHING

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