It is not easy to turn a client away these days, but you can save your sanity and your bottom line by doing so in certain circumstances. Real Estate agents do not rank high in the consumer’s mind in terms of trust and honesty. Many consumers come into the process with an attitude that their agent at some point or another will scam them. Armed with little more than hearsay and anecdotal information overheard at social gatherings the consumer feels justified in lying to you first. They will withhold important information, they will work with more than one agent at a time, and they won’t give you a way to be in touch with them. These are the kind of clients you should run from. Now. Put your sneakers on and see if you can put a mile between you and this client right away. Let them go to the discount agent, the one who works for a company that touts that they give back their commissions. These people deserve each other. Photo: ERMD_©@mandyyporto_flickr
“Know it all’s” are another group to run from. They come armed with a little bit of information taken from a couple of hours on the web and feel as though the are certified professionals who have completed hundreds of hours of course work. Run from these people too, no matter what you tell them, they will know more and not listen. Again, these people are better suited working with one of those discount agencies. The ones where an agent sits at a computer and does nothing but what they client tells them to do. They are really not even worth the 1% commission, but the know it all is thrilled because, well, they know it all. Photo: ERMD_©E.L.A_flickr
Another client to run from is the person who just wants to take up your time looking for a weekend but will actually close with their friend who is too busy with their other clients to do any of this work with their friend, but has them locked into an agreement. As an agent you need to ask some of these questions before you rev up your Beemer and polish your shoes. Clients who chew up your time and are not committed to finding and securing a home in a timely fashion are not clients you can build your career with. Homes are bought and sold every day in almost every community in our nation. As an agent you need to be protecting yourself from the people who think they need to be devious and deceitful first, so that you don’t take advantage of them. Great relationships are never built on mutual distrust. Each and every person has a little “uh-oh” voice in the head, as an agent, pay attention to this when meeting and prospecting for new clients. A resounding “No” is the best answer to give one of these people when they ask if you will just help them without they sharing honest information in a forthright way. Oh, and if you are one of the agents giving us a bad reputation, why not consider another profession.
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