What can an FBI Profiler Teach You About Real Estate?
While Tim & I were in France we had a lot of time to relax and do NOTHING at all. This wasn't a glamorous sight-seeing trip, it was Thanksgiving with the side of the family that just happens to live very far away!
Anyway, just like everyone's Thanksgiving there's a certain point where the TV gets turned on, only there nothing's in English! So Tim's Mom had the DVD's of the CBS show "Criminal Minds" about a team of FBI agents that help catch criminals by profiling them. I had never watched the show and got kind of caught up in it. Not because of the gruesome crimes, but rather by the methodology by which they figured out who the bad guy was. (by the way, of the ones I watched, THREE were set in Florida! What are they trying to say?)
Most "crime" shows look at the evidence, the "surface" stuff, but this show they get into the MIND of the criminal. As an example, in one scene the killer had gotten into the house through the back window. One of the FBI agents actually crawled in the window and based on how he had to maneuver he deducted that the killer was small framed and athletic. Everyone else just said "he got in through the window."
How is this like the real estate business? When a client says "I want a 3 bedroom with a payment under $900" do you take that "surface" information and try to base your entire case on it? Or do you dig deeper to find out WHY those things are important? Maybe a 2 bedroom with a den would also work if it was in a neighborhood that they REALLY liked... or maybe their budget could go up to $950 if they found a home closer to work so their commuting and gas costs were reduced...
For you to do the best job for your clients, sometimes you need to dig a little deeper to find out the REAL Why for their situation. You need to walk a mile in their shoes and learn what REALLY motivates them. Once you know this and work with them, you truly will have a client for life that refers their friends to you.
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