Are You Listening?

Listening.... It is truly what sets a good agent apart from a mediocre real estate agent.  Many people claim to be good listeners, but really they love to listen to themselves talk out loud about themselves.  Just recently, I had a buyer that had quit using a real estate agent because all they could do was talk about themselves rather than listen to what it was they were wanting to buy.  What does listening involve?  Listening for many realtors includes picking up on the small things that are said.  Many times buyers themselves don't really know how to express what they are trying to describe.  If you aren't listening to every word, picking up on clues that they give you, clarifying and re-clarifying their definition of ambiguous words like small, big, good, etc., you may miss out on what your client is really trying to tell you.  Listening involves watching expressions, asking questions, watching body language.  In way you have to be a Sherlock Holmes many times to "get it."  When you "get it", you will have one happy client who will give you many referrals.  Listening.....it's a good thing!