Working with Buyers

So much emphasis is placed on learning to be a great listing agent and we often fail to realize how critically important it is that we know how to effectively and efficiently work with buyers! I get it!! We all know that the "top agents are listing agents" and that they have "buyer's agents" to do their dirty work, grinding through the mud, shuttling people around and sometimes (and sometimes often) having said buyers buy homes with someone else, doing it all for nothing. 

BUT HERE'S WHERE WE MISS THE BOAT....Not only are buyers an integral part of our real estate world, they also become sellers, give us reasons to talk to homeowners and help us win more listings. Not to mention that learning to work with buyers helps us understand the buyer mindset, aiding us in our listing career. The other thing is that we shouldn't be working with people who aren't as committed to us as we are to them and if we were doing things right, we wouldn't be "grinding" through ANYTHING. Buyers are our bread and butter, especially as new agents and yes, even in a seller's market. As experienced agents (if you don't have a buyer's agent), they are just as important to you as your sellers and if you DO have a buyer's agent, teaching them to work with buyers means more money in your pocket and more success and longevity with your team.

One of the BIGGEST CHALLENGES that I see in working with buyers is that agents aren't qualifying or counseling them like they are (or at least should be) with their sellers. When I'm coaching and someone says they're working with X buyer(s), the first thing I ask is "Why are they moving?" Often, the answer isn't the true "why". "They don't want to rent anymore", as an example, isn't an answer. Motivation MUST be feeling based. It MUST be an emotional trigger. It's pain or it's pleasure or it's a mixture of both but IF IT ISN'T AN EMOTION, IT ISN'T A MOTIVATION.

Here's the process of working FOR a buyer (what most agents do)...

1.  Generate a buyer lead 
2.  Get SUPER excited and immediately stop prospecting
3.  Send them properties
4.  Show houses anytime the buyer wants to see them
5.  Get a pre-approval letter at some point, typically when the buyer lets them know they have one
6.  Write offers
7.  Lose deals
8.  Have frustrated clients
9.  Possibly get something to stick but likely end up turning a very small number of leads into closed deals

Sound familiar? ;)

So let's look at the process of working WITH a buyer (what agents should be doing)...

1.  Generate a buyer lead
2.  Find their motivation
3.  Determine the level of urgency
4.  Confirm the timeline
5.  Connect them with your lender partner(s)
6.  File their pre-approval letter (this can fluctuate slightly around your presentation but MUST happen before you run a property search)
7.  Complete your Buyer's Presentation
8.  File your SIGNED Buyer's Agency Agreement
9.  Setup an automatic property search
10.  Teach your buyers how to look at each property 
11.  Show houses efficiently and effectively and without getting in your own way
12.  Write offers
13.  Win sales
14.  Close deals
15.  Have raving fans
16.  Get referrals!!

Sounds easy enough, right? THEN WHY AREN'T WE ALL DOING IT?!!!! Why do agents put buyers in their cars the moment they get a hint of interest?! Why do agents salivate at the chance to spend countless hours working for unqualified, unmotivated, sometimes unable buyers?! Why do agents jump the moment these unqualified, unmotivated, possibly unable buyers say so?! It is because it feels like we're doing something? Is it that we don't really want to know if they're unqualified, unmotivated or unable because it means we have one less "lead"? Is it fear of asking because it's "personal" or "pushy" in some way?

HERE'S THE REALITY CHECK....If someone isn't qualified, motivated and able to invest in a home/property/whatever, THEY ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO BE IN YOUR CAR and YOU ARE DOING THEM, YOURSELF AND ALL OF YOUR OTHER AND FUTURE CLIENTS A DISSERVICE by spending time working for them. And by the way, I have said "working FOR them" a number of times and that has been very intentional. If they aren't ready, willing and able buyers, you are working FOR them, not WITH them.

Be the professional they deserve and let's go with WITH some buyers!!!

DISCLAIMER: This does NOT mean that we don't work with people unless they are ready to buy at this exact moment in time. Building relationships it KEY to our success in real estate, just as it is in life. We are here to help, support, consult and encourage our clients as HUMANS, not as dollar signs. Long term client support systems are a discussion for another day.