When I started, my personality led me to want to show people every house to make sure my clients were making the right decision. I was annoyed when I heard agents say, “I’m only showing my clients 10 homes. If they don’t buy, I’m firing them.”
I was aghast at that concept. That wasn’t the service-minded view I took. But I see now where I was wrong in the scenario.
While I think some of those agents were being impatient and only about making money, I now see that some of those agents were doing something that helped them figure out if the client was serious.
I have changed my belief on showing homes. I now see it that you need to understand your client at a high level. Many agents, including myself, will often just take people and go. Ask a few questions, think you know how many square feet, how many bedrooms and that’s about enough.
Here’s how I see it now. Think, “what do I need to know so I can find exactly three homes to show my client that I know should fit them?” Now I tell clients, “I going to ask you all of these questions so I don’t have to confuse you with too many homes.”
What’s funny is I had an epiphany many years into my career that I did this exact same thing within my first six months of real estate. But I didn’t see the power in it, I just saw it as a temporary solution.
I had a client who lived across the country and wanted a condo in downtown Portland. I knew it wasn’t feasible to bring the client here to look at the condos at will. So I had to ask a lot of questions and get a complete understanding of what the client needed. I found three condos and knew which one was best.
The client bought that condo. Sadly, I didn’t keep that mindset going. I fell back to my personality and treating people how I thought I need to be treated. I thought I needed all of the data.
I unfortunately wasted a lot of my time and a lot of my client’s time. Work hard in the beginning to be truly service-minded toward your clients.
