An excellent post Featured last week written by Leanne Smith reminded me of the following post I originally published on ActiveRain July 30, 2016. It might seem contrary to what Leanne said but it's actually just another way of looking at the same subject. I thought it was worth dusting off and bringing out of the archives. Enjoy!
Remember that old adage:
"No-one cares how much you know until they know how much you care"?
WRONG!
In real estate, prospects just don't care how much you say you care. You can tell them how much you care until you are blue in the face. All you will get is a blue face. Take out a full-page ad in the paper and see how far that gets you.
But, if you show them how much you know, they can't ignore you. When they get serious about buying or selling, they WILL come to you for more information and advice.
When I was an active agent, I wrote blogs constantly, telling people everything about the local real estate market. I achieved the top 7 spots on page one of Google for my keywords... Wenatchee real estate. At the time, I was just a small independent, outranking all of the big franchises in town.
Did that get people calling me? YES! 75% of my new business came from my blog. And, I never once told them how much I care about them or ask them to do business with me. All I did was show them how much I know.
Once we started doing business together, my knowledge base became even more valuable. My usual M.O. was to find out what they were looking for, then I would show them a few houses. During each showing, I would get their feedback on each one... the good and the bad. I listened. From what I heard, I could hone in on what they were actually looking for.
I didn't waste a lot of time showing dozens of houses because I already knew what they wanted. And, I knew the inventory! I mean I really knew the inventory!
Let me tell you a story:
Many moons ago, I had a woman from Ontario, Canada relocate to Wenatchee. She told me she was warning me upfront that she made her last agent show her 60 homes. I warned her right back that I would NOT show her 60 homes.
I assured her we would find the perfect home long before that ever happened.
We did look at a few homes, and I got a crystal clear picture of what she wanted. Every few days she would call me and say she wanted to look at such and such a home (that she'd driven by or whatever). I told her I could certainly arrange a showing, but that was not what they were looking for because of__________________ (fill in the blank).
I was inevitably right.
One day I called her and said I found the perfect home. When I told her where it was, she said: "No, I don't want to live in that neighborhood". Which, by the way, was a very nice neighborhood. Anyway, I told her "I know, but just to clear my conscience, would you please come look with me?". Her husband was out of town on business, but she agreed to go look. Oh My Gosh... she couldn't even wait for her husband to get home the next day to make an offer. We made an offer subject to his approval.... which was just a formality.
Knowing your inventory is one of the key ingredients in your overall success. Knowing the inventory is so valuable in working with buyers and sellers. Frankly, I didn't even need to do a CMA to give a price opinion. I just instinctively knew. I did, of course, do the CMA because the potential sellers wanted "proof" of my opinion but that was o.k. My point is, your ability to serve your clients skyrockets when you are knowledgeable about every aspect of your business.
And, equally important, your self confidence skyrockets too!
"But, Carol, my blog doesn't rank high enough for people to find me on the internet," you say.
It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how you get the info out there, just get it out there. It can be through regular mailings, or personal networking or whatever. There are lots of ways. Just be THE source of information, and you'll blow people away in every conversation.
Last February I wrote a post titled: The ONE thing To Know As a Real Estate Agent. In that post, the importance of being THE trusted source for valuable information was emphasized. I encourage you to read that one also.
So my new adage, applied to real estate is:
"They won't care how much you care
until they know how much you know."
-Carol Williams
Don't misunderstand, though. Clients DO want to know that you truly care about them. First, they need to know that you are a trusted source of the information they need and the competence to carry through. Your local market knowledge will bring you new prospects that it is up to you to turn into clients with caring service. Your caring, knowledgeable, service provides you with the opportunity to develop a lifelong relationship that turns into repeat business and referrals over the coming years.
* * * * *
Please keep in mind that I am no longer licensed and cannot be your real estate advocate. However, if you are looking to buy or sell a Wenatchee area home or investment property and don't know who to call, let me know. I can make some recommendations of highly qualified agents for you to interview and hire based on your specific needs. I get no financial compensation for these recommendations. I just want you to have a great buying or selling experience.
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