~ Listen to Me! ~
"If only I could get my customer to listen to me..."
The complaint is common with new agents. Fresh from Real Estate School, and with the Examination under their belt and the framed license on the wall, they venture out into the world of commission-only sales.
(Oh, I know you're not a salesperson. You partner. You "come alongside to create a win-win." You're a consultant. Whatever...)
The Problem
The problem with anything that's a new skill is that we desperately want to prove our mastery of the subject, and the only way (it seems) to do that is to tell people. But people just don't want to listen!
The Reality
Actually, they really are not interested in you, or in what you know. They're interested in what YOU can do for THEM! Parents of teenagers have learned this lesson. It's why the comic strip ZITS is so popular. Jeremy, the 15 year old, has a much different outlook of problem solving than does his 43 year old mother Connie. (But I digress...)
Your customer is not interested in what you know. He (or she) is interested in how you can help solve a problem that they have. They want to talk, and they want you to listen. And therein lies the solution.
The Solution
The best Real Estate Agents, the most successful agents, have learned to LISTEN to the client from the very outset of the relationship. They do that to learn just exactly what problem is driving the client's search for another home.
The Take-away
Learn to listen. Suppress that urge to shut them up so you can talk some more. This strategy works in every relationship in life. I'm not an agent; I'm a lender, and I find that the more I listen, the more money I make.
This will work for you. It might even work for that sparrow up there in the photo. (That photo is not mine, by the way. My brother emailed it to me with a short message: "for your blog.")
_____________________
I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender.
NMLS #223495
SUNSTREET MORTGAGE llc ~ Correspondent Mortgage Bank
Offices (AZ) Mesa, Tucson, Sierra Vista, and Nogales.
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