Do you, as a real estate agent, think that buying a home or selling one is all about the facts and figures? Do you think that it is all about making the right decision? Well, think again! These processes are filled with emotions, and the sooner you realize that the better. The sooner you realize what major role emotions play in buying and selling a home, the faster and better you will be able to help your clients.
So, your job is not only to find that perfect home and persuade someone to buy it. Your job is to also to understand and emotionally support your real estate clients. You must know how to work with fear, anxiety, nervousness, pride, and also joy. If this is something you have to work on, you are in the right place. Here are some tips on how to use your emotional intelligence to navigate your clients’ home buying or selling experience and become a successful real estate agent.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T Every Client and Every Decision
Working with people is not easy. We are all different. What is good for you may be awful to somebody else and vice versa. This is the first thing you must realize when working as a real estate agent. The second thing is that whatever happens, you must be respectful – that is what clients respect the most in a real estate agent!
There will be clients who do not even know the basic terms of real estate and home buying/selling transactions and who are not familiar with real estate jargon at all. Understand them; this is all new to them. There will also be days when either you or your clients are in a bad mood. These things happen, we are all human. However, when they do happen, as previously said, you must be respectful. You cannot look down on anybody nor treat them contemptuously. Treat your real estate clients with the respect they deserve and you will be rewarded!
Be Empathic
As mentioned earlier, a real estate agent must be a professional. However, sometimes, even the best lose perspective with their clients. Do not get us wrong, we know how easy getting distracted is when coming across a good thing. You see a good deal and you desperately want your clients to see it too. You just want them to sign those papers, hire a moving agency that will make the process simple, and move in as soon as possible. But they do not see what you see because they are driven by their emotions.
When a thing like this happens, do not get frustrated by all means! Just take a step back. Remember why you are here – to help your clients, not to help yourself. It is their life and their home, not yours. The main way you can emotionally support your real estate clients is by being empathic. Think about how you would feel when having to make such a big step and make one of the biggest investments of your life. Then, treat your clients accordingly.
Always Offer Firm Advice
While trying to emotionally support your real estate clients, do not forget that you must also be assertive as well. After all, those clients came to you for a reason. If they knew how to buy or sell a certain property all by themselves, they wouldn’t hire you.
So, once you first meet your clients, make sure you listen to their needs and priorities. Also, try to read between the lines when necessary. If they are not sure about something, listen closely. You should offer them firm advice based on your real estate knowledge. Your advice and objectivity must guide your clients at all times.
Moreover, be ready to help them in other aspects of buying and selling a home. For example, you can inform them about the safety during relocation. Also, your moving-related advice doesn’t have to stop there. As this is something that surely awaits them both after buying and selling a home, share with them any tips you’ve picked up along the way. Any extra mile you go for them will be more than appreciated.
Check in Often
While house hunting or selling, make an effort to stay in touch with your clients. Check in with them as much as you can. Calling a client often via phone calls, Skype calls, email, text, etc. is not reserved for agents working with international clients only! Of course, do not be pushy nor nosy, and make sure you do not overwhelm them. Throughout the process they may start to feel disheartened. If you do not check in with them, you will not know about these new feelings. This is how you lose a client.
Thus, avoid losing a valuable client by asking a couple of questions every once in a while. If you, as mentioned above, notice that they may change their minds, offer them some advice and some options. Finally, tell them to call you when they are ready to move forward.
Help Your Clients Stay in Control
Last but certainly not the least, one thing you can do to emotionally support your clients throughout the entire home buying/selling process is to help them stay in control. Just imagine how you would feel if you were making one of the biggest steps of your life, but things start to spiral out of control. It would be so unsettling and nerve-racking!
To stop this from happening, try to communicate with your real estate clients as much as you can. Communicate everything there is to communicate. This may sound a bit much now, but to somebody buying or selling a home, every piece of information matters. If every step of the way is communicated between you and them, they will feel like they are in control and not like their world is falling apart.
