You Know They Will Talk About You:
What Do You Want Them To Say?
The topic of real estate always seems to be a hot one, and people love talking about it – those buying it and those selling it. They’ll talk with family members, friends, neighbors, colleagues at work, and others in their network, or perhaps even people they meet casually at the doctor’s office, the grocery store or elsewhere. And some will be sharing their thoughts and feelings on social media for the whole world to see.
Chances are they will also be talking about us in that process. What do YOU want them to be saying?
We all want our clients’ experiences to be good ones, and to be a major part of making their transactions positive overall. And naturally we all would like referrals from our clients or to have them recommend us to people they know and like.
There are some sure-fire ways to have our current and past clients talking badly about us, and not recommending our services.
Immediate thoughts on the issues that will get tongues wagging include limited or no communication: bad advice that puts our clients at risk; poor attitude; not answering clients’ questions in a timely manner; being unresponsive or unavailable; not listening to their needs; and being more concerned about our
personal agendas than theirs.
Creating raving fans is likely to lead to future referrals, and repeat business, and there are some obvious ways we can do that:
Do your job and do it well! Sorta goes without saying and the way it ought to be, but sometimes isn’t
Educate your clients often from the start and throughout; be careful of spewing out jargon, and watch for the “deer in the headlights” look
Always answer their questions promptly; and if you don’t know, let them know that, find out, and get back to them right away. And answer questions they don’t ask, but should!
Show them that you care about them and what they are going through; remember, it’s all about them
Listen, listen, listen! It shows you care, and you’ll learn a lot. Sometimes buyers and sellers just need to talk about their feelings, their situation, and their frustrations
Anticipate their needs; that also shows you care and are concerned about them
Answer the dang phone (their name is in your phone contacts so you know it’s them, right?), text messages and emails promptly, or as soon as you can once you are free.
Make them feel like they are your only client whenever you can
Exceed expectations often; under promise and over deliver. And perhaps check on what they expect from time to time so you know – they just might expect something you cannot deliver
Keep them informed at all times, especially if things aren’t going as expected, if problems are brewing, when delays happen or might, and other bumps in the road
Be honest and truthful even when the message is tough; they may not like what you have to tell them, but tell them you must. Most will appreciate it
Set expectations so there are, hopefully, minimal surprises
The list of what you can do to create a really happy client is pretty extensive, and many things are opposite those negatives that get the clients talking about us in the wrong way. Interesting, isn’t it, that there are lots of ways to create a raving fan, but it can be pretty easy to start them talking about the bad job we are doing, or did.
Anything else you would add to the list?
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