Clients rely on "professional advice"? What does it mean to them?

Why won't clients take the professional's advice.

My experience has shown that many clients feel they have difficulty getting "the right" information and advice to make informed choices in all aspects of their real estate transactions. I am addressing residential and new income property clients, my field of focus. Clients choose to use the services of agents, inspectors, loan officers, notaries, et al who present a daunting volume of knowledge clients don't/won't/cannot/should not engage themselves to learn.

They rely on us to provide the "best" advice. And, as they have difficulty expressing what they want, we can often miss meeting expectations. We all know what can happen then.

So how can I / we help clients meet their own expectations and those they place on us?

We cannot tell clients what to think. There are too many "professionals" out there doing that already and each tells a different story according to clients. How are they to believe anyone if they are being told the "right advice" is to turn left by one pro and then to turn right by another?

My approach is not to tell clients what to think; instead, I encourage them to get a second/third opinion and to come back to me to discuss it before they make their decision. I do not try to convince them or sell them and instead provide perspective and guidance. In this way, the benefits are that I keep in touch with what information is being presented in the marketplace and I have the opportunity to correct clients if they have been given information that might lead them astray or misinform them. And, I have the opportunity to make mistakes and correct them.

What is our role as a professional? 

Clients expose/present different tidbits of information to different people for many reasons. They cannot be expected to provide everything they are thinking in every conversation. They do not know clearly what trade-offs and compromises they are willing to live with from one point in time to the next. The reason for these "gaps" when buying and selling properties is that this is a "decision process" that grows with time and changes as a client's information base grows.

Our job, as professionals, should be to take on the role of teacher and coach rather then the too often, simply titled, "salesperson" role to the client. Yes, we want to "close" the deal with the client. And yes, we have to ABC at every opportunity. However, ask yourself about your last purchases and think about who the best salesperson was and why?

The question professionals should ask themselves when deciding what next to say to a client is simple: "Who makes the buying decision, the salesperson or the client?" It is the client who has to willingly take the money out of their pocket and willingly give it to you. 

Keeping this in mind, is the client more likely to do that if they feel you have pushed them to believe you over someone else OR if they believe you have looked out for them and were interested that they be best informed to make their own decision?

What should I / we remember? 

Yes, we are absolutely in business to sell a product / service. The clients know this and there is no reason to shy away from our purpose or to try to hide this fact. We then have the choice to sell by pushing our product / service forcefully and blindly or we can use our knowledge and skill to "teach" the client how to make an informed choice and present the benefits of ours over theirs, all the while "coaching" the client on how to make the best decision to satisfy their wants and needs.

Professional advice should be just that, "advice".