How to Choose a Cleveland Ohio Real Estate Agent.
I have had many a client tell me how dreadful the process was in choosing a Greater Cleveland Ohio real estate agent and how they had a hard time trying to separate fact from fiction, sniff out hype, spin and exaggerations, and the like.
I encourage prospective clients to speak with my past clients, both from 4-5 years ago, to clients who have just closed on a home the prior month. I encourage them to call 10, 20 even 30 of my references.
Why? My simple feeling is that there are strength in numbers. And I'm not talking about the bragging rights most real estate agents focus on: I'm #1 in City/County, I'm #1 in Homes Sold in Month/Year, etc. Consumers could care less about your chest-thumping awards. They simply want to know: WIIFM -- What's in it for me? (ie. them).
What better way for a client to get a sense of what they hope you will do for them than to speak with what you have actually done for some recent and not so recent past clients.
As a consumer, I love speaking with a reference about this person. I know that the provider is only going to put positive references on the list, after all, who is going to put a client who had nothing but bad things to say -- but hopefully, that concept doesn't exist or the negative aspects are minimal as no service provider is perfect.
I feel if a client can speak with clients going back 5-6 years and dozens of them, this must mean (from a logical viewpoint) that if this real estate agent has very happy and raving fans, year after year, transaction after transaction, and you can verify it via a live phone conversation, shouldn't that give a potential client some assurance on how they may expect to be serviced, treated, and partnered with?
The verifiable data, service offerings, etc., we put on our website so it's 100% transparent (Olsen Ziegler Realty Seller Service Offering), let alone the innovation we provide, but when it comes to the people part of this business, and it is a people business, we also direct them to our website where we have put the kudos from our past clients as well. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters to us at Olsen Ziegler Realty, is how we performed for each and every client, and we take great pride in how we benefit our clients, as real estate is truly about you, not us.
What say you...how do you try and give a potential client some verifiable assurance that they are the center of the real estate universe, and not your accolades?
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