If you are an agent who serves as a contact point between buyers and sellers, you’ll undoubtedly hear from customers on a daily basis. While much of what you hear may be positive, there is also bound to be some dissatisfaction. After all, it’s not everyday that someone wants to buy or sell a home.
If you’re not the most efficient person in the world, dealing with customer complaints can be incredibly frustrating. You may even end up bad-mouthing your clients for no reason. Having fewer complaints is always a good thing and much more profitable in the long run.
Make Sure Your Clients Are Happy
One of the biggest complaints most people have about real estate agents is that they don’t seem to care about the clients enough. After all, the more business you have, the more money you make. Therefore, it stands to reason that if your clients are dissatisfied, you’re not going to make much money from them. Which is why it’s important to ensure that your clients are, in fact, satisfied with the service they receive.
If you feel like you’re struggling to maintain a good relationship with your clients, here are a few ways to remedy the situation.
1. Treat Them Fairly
Since you’re in direct contact with your clients, it’s important that you not only provide them with quality service but also ensure that they’re treated fairly. The first step towards this is by obtaining their contact information so that you can follow up with them as needed. Just like customers come back for more, existing customers are often the most valuable group of people you can get. Ensure that you follow up with them even when there’s nothing new to report. Respond to their emails and calls promptly and politely. Additionally, you can request a refund if they aren’t satisfied with the service they receive. However, never, ever, ever, threaten to report them to the Better Business Bureau. That’ll destroy any type of relationship you have with them. It’s also important that you treat new customers the same way you treat existing ones. Only then will they feel like they can trust you.
2. Be Genuine
Another major problem area for real estate agents is pretending to be someone they’re not. As a result of this, many agents end up offending clients without even knowing it. To avoid this, never pretend to be someone you’re not. If someone calls and you don’t know who they are, it is entirely acceptable to ask for more details. Or, if you’re unsure of their identity, you can ask for their permission to offer them some assistance.
If you’re answering phones for a living, you’ll undoubtedly get calls from clients seeking information or who want to set up an appointment. You can politely say no to these calls unless the caller has previously established some kind of relationship with you. In this situation, you can either ask if they’ve tried elsewhere or give them your contact information. However, if they haven’t previously contacted you about a real estate purchase or sale, you can decline to help them out. Doing anything else could potentially damage your relationship with them. Therefore, the answer is always no unless they’ve asked you specifically to help them out.
3. Be On Time
One of the most essential (albeit, not always the most obvious) elements of business is being on time. If you’re consistently late to work, your clients will have no qualms about not being able to count on you. Even if you’re slightly late, it will make a client feel as though they’re not important to you. They will assume that you don’t care about them and that you’re not committed to providing them with good service.
To avoid this problem, set a specific time aside each day to work. If you’re running behind, you should try to work as quickly as possible to make up for lost time. But, even if you do catch up, ensure that the quality of your work does not suffer. Clients will notice a huge difference in the timeliness of your work and may even comment on it. The less complaints you have, the more efficient you can be and the less likely you will be to be late for work. Additionally, be sure to block out time in your day to follow up with clients who have contacted you by phone or email. Doing this frequently ensures that you’re not going to be missed.
4. Be Creative
Being creative is essential in any field, but it can be especially important in real estate. After all, not everyone is blessed with extraordinary skill in this area. Using your creativity, you can find unique ways to engage with your clients. For example, if you’re selling a home that has a spectacular view, you might consider using that as a selling point. Or, if you’re trying to sell a home in a desirable neighborhood, you might consider hanging a sign in the front window that simply says “For sale by owner, don’t be fooled!”
In these instances, being creative can help you come up with unique and creative ways to get the word out about your property. And, if nothing else seems to be working, you can always resort to advertising on social media. You can use platforms like Facebook and Twitter to post about your property. Additionally, you might consider setting up a virtual reality tour through a service like VR World. This could be a fantastic way to showcase a home without actually having to be there in person. Clients can look around the house and see everything exactly as it is. From the outside looking in, it would seem as though you are providing them with a live tour. Being able to manipulate things like the lighting and temperature can also enhance this effect. And, since these services are usually fairly inexpensive, it’s certainly not a bad idea to try them out.
5. Be Ready
Being ready is another important element of being a business professional. If you aren’t ready to provide quality service, you are wasting your time and the customer’s as well. To this end, make sure that you are prepared for each and every engagement with a potential or existing client. Even if you’re not sure what the client wants or needs, make sure you’ve prepared for the opportunity to help them out. If you’ve had dealings with them before, you know what kind of person they are and how to approach them. Being prepared will also help you look like a pro even when you are acting on behalf of a client. They’re going to be impressed by how quickly you were able to get everything done.
When you’re writing clients for real estate agents, make sure that you keep all paperwork organized. Even if you’re working with a team, make sure that everyone is on the same page. This will help ensure that your clients have all the necessary information they need and that their experience is as straightforward as possible. Additionally, ensure that all communication with the client is via email. This is especially important if you’re working with a team because, as I mentioned above, everything needs to be kept track of. A few email threads may become cluttered, but you can always search through them later if you need to follow up on something. Clients aren’t the only one who will benefit from constant communication either. You can set up automated alerts for yourself so that you’re always notified when a new email comes in. This will help ensure that you don’t accidentally overlook important information.
As a result of all this, your clients are more likely to be satisfied with your service. Hopefully, this post gave you some ideas on how to write clients for real estate agents. While the general rule in any field is to write people expecting to be paid, make sure you don’t expect to be paid too much. Just because you’re an agent doesn’t mean you can overcharge your clients. Some agents, in fact, don’t even make enough to cover their overhead. So, ensure that your expenses are covered and that you are making a decent living. The more you make, the more you can afford to sleep soundly at night.