Oh yeah? Says who?
I see more posts than I can count making this statement (or something close to it) and the subsequent "atta boys" that follow in the comment thread make for a very well-attended pep rally.
(If you're one of the cheerleaders, you may want to quit reading now.)
I think it's time to stop waving the "I'm A Professional" flag in the face of every single potential client we meet. Furthermore, I think it's insulting to presume that our time is so much more valuable than theirs.
A few months ago I sent an email out to some of the people in my SOI asking them what they thought were the qualities that make a real estate agent a GREAT real estate agent.
The number one answer? TIME.
That tells me that they already value our time. Not only do they value it, they'd really like to share some of it, and they would like us to value their time as highly as we value our own. They want time to understand what's going on throughout a transaction, time to investigate their options, time to ask questions, time to talk about their needs, time to make a decision. Isn't it our job, as professionals, to share our expertise, experience, opinions and TIME with them?
Handing a first-time (or first-time-in-a-long-time) buyer a checklist of things they must do before you will spend any of your extremely valuable time with them isn't being professional. It's being dismissive.
Insisting that your time is too valuable to waste answering a few questions from someone who is not very familiar with the ins and outs of a real estate transaction isn't being professional. It's acting superior.
Assuming that because a buyer has not yet obtained a pre-approval from a lender, they are not a serious buyer isn't being professional. It's being shortsighted.
Sending clients away because they balk at jumping through all your pre-determined hoops isn't being professional. It's being inflexible.
If you are so busy that you truly don't have time to spend with another potential client, tell them so and refer them to another agent who can spare the time. That's being professional, because...
If you're too busy to give your extremely valuable time to a client, then you are of little value to them.
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