What does your client really want?
The sales trainer Zig Ziglar says there are five reasons people do not buy: No need, no money, no desire, no trust, and no hurry. Some of these factors are things that an agent can influence directly, and some are not.
Desire and trust can be created and earned by real estate agents. Agents can foster a sense of urgency, though often market conditions will take care of that for them. Desire is created by showing clients properties that match their needs. However, agents cannot create the need to buy or sell a home, nor can they give clients money they don’t have.
The agent’s first challenge, then, is to assess the need and build trust.
According to Patrick Ryan of Related Realty, the first step is to ask a client if they are working with another agent. It seems deceptively simple, but is not a step that agents can afford to skip.
“Then I give them the information they want before asking how I can help them,” Ryan says. “I answer the questions they have (or will have) first, rather than trying to figure out how to win the deal. It’s important to build a relationship and be genuine.”
Kristi Fiorito, a sales agent with D.R. Horton, agrees that the first impression is key. “When I first meet a client I greet them with a warm smile and start a casual conversation,” Fiorito says. “I want them to know right away that I’m genuine, and it’s a non-threatening environment.”
Even if the client is a referral or a repeat client, agents cannot assume they can skip these first crucial steps. Regardless of where their business came from, “You need to sit down with your clients and listen to their needs,” Ryan says.
To build up trust, the time-honored tactic of offering before asking works well for Fiorito. “I also offer a little information before asking them for information,” she says. “If clients do not open up about what they want and need, then you may never even get to the sale.”
Every interaction with a new client should show them why the agent deserves their trust, and prove that agent’s market expertise.
Fiorito adds that it can be difficult — if not impossible — to ascertain a client’s urgency level simply by observing his or her personality and overt actions. No matter how experienced an agent is or how good they are at reading people, clients always have the capacity to surprise.
“Some of my seemingly less-interested clients ended up buying right away,” she says.
One way to engage a distant or hard-to-read client is by asking the right questions. Asking them to describe aspects of their current situation – framing it as an open-ended question – allows them to tell their story. It can add context to the basic information Fiorito recommends asking for: what their current home is like, when they need to move, and what budget they are comfortable with.
Know the Market
Learning a client’s needs can be accomplished in an afternoon. Learning the intricacies of the residential real estate industry, and the trends that shape both national and local markets, is a much longer process.
“Staying on top of the market is crucial to one’s success in real estate,” Fiorito says. “Our customers do not know our business — but they do rely on us to know it.”
Christina McNamee, a broker with @properties, says that one of the most effective ways to keep up with market knowledge is to immerse oneself in the industry every day, working with clients and showing and listing properties. “In addition, I find it valuable to talk to other top-producing agents to find out what they are experiencing, and see if ‘it’s just me’ or if there is a new trend emerging.”