Listening well is perhaps the most important skill an agent can have. The real estate industry is built on relationships and sales are at its heart. So, it's critical to be able to make clients feel heard and understood through every step of the process you're guiding them through. Buyers and sellers alike need to know their agent can meet their needs and listening well is the first step.
Why Listening is Important to Your Business
Clients want to feel that their real estate agent is taking their situation seriously. Sellers want to know that the person they're hiring knows the market, is confident in their marketing abilities, and understands the value of their property. Buyers want to know that their agent is efficient, is looking outside of the box to find the perfect fit, and understands what the buyers want in a home.
Selling a home can be an emotional business and many sellers get cold feet. This is magnified if clients aren't able to have open dialogue with their agents. Ensuring that your clients feel understood and like you are really hearing them can help mitigate future problems down the line.
Buyers have a lot of wants, typically. They have non-negotiables and wishlists for their potential purchase. During previews and showings, if a client feels like their agent isn't showing them homes they like then they might assume their agent isn't actively listening to them. This can cause clients to look elsewhere for real estate agent services. Losing business because of a lack of listening is a quick way to lose business entirely. Word of mouth is everything in this industry and so listening to buyers is key.
How to Listen Well
We know that listening is important and directly impacts our business. So, how do we listen well?
For starters:
- minimize distractions
- maintain eye contact
- take notes when applicable
- ask follow-up questions
Minimizing distractions is the number one way to make someone feel heard. Unless you're actively discussing something on a phone or a computer, then put them down when listening to someone. In this day and age, it's rare to have conversations where cellphones aren't included. Clients will pick up on your focus when your attention is solely on them.
Maintaining eye contact is another way to make sure that someone feels heard and like what they are saying is being absorbed. Another way is taking notes - this is especially important when buyers are talking about their likes and dislikes.
Follow-up questions are clarifying questions that show whomever is listening is actively thinking about the conversation they are in. As an agent, keep asking questions and specifying so that you know exactly what your clients goals are. Then, do your job and meet their goals and watch your business soar.
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