It’s no secret that real estate sales is about relationships. If you’re able to make a prospect feel comfortable and valued, it’s more likely that they’ll trust you with one of the biggest purchases of their lives.
Top producing real estate agents build rapport with prospects and clients, and continue building relationships over time. When you form a solid relationship with a client, repeat and referral business is sure to follow!
Strive to build authentic relationships with your contacts to remain memorable, and for a more rewarding work experience. Here are my favorite tips on how to make your real estate clients and prospects feel valued.
Take notes.
When you’re chatting with a prospect or customer, don’t hesitate to make notes on your conversation. Showing that you’re interested enough to jot down your conversation reassures your prospect that you’re truly interested in what they have to say.
Use the person’s name—cautiously.
If you’ve read How To Win Friends and Influence People, you know the value of using someone’s name to make them feel important. It is a good move to use a person’s name in conversation to show that you know who they are. But use it carefully so that your contact doesn’t feel patronized. In the right context, using a person’s name can add a very nice note.
Practice being a good listener.
When you’re the expert in a situation, it can be tempting to start sharing your knowledge right off the bat. Try to pace yourself and really listen to what your client or prospect has to say. Ask open ended questions, encourage them to elaborate, and paraphrase what they’ve said when they finished. Feeling heard is important when it comes to building trust in a relationship, and your contact will appreciate your listening.
Offer sincere compliments.
Who doesn’t love to receive a compliment? It’s one of the most obvious ways to connect with someone, but also one of the most effective. People crave authentic appreciation, so feel free to acknowledge positive things you notice about your clients and prospects. Maybe they’ve done an especially nice job with a kitchen reno, landscaping job, or perhaps you’ve noticed they’re well read on a subject. Compliment them! Try to remain sincere. Forced flattery can rub people the wrong way.
Use mirroring.
Another classic strategy for building rapport is to pay attention to the body language of the person you’re speaking to, and mirroring it back to them. Keep your mirroring efforts subtle, but try to match the posture, gestures, tone and volume of the person you’re interacting with. As they grow more comfortable, their posture may relax, and yours can too. It’s a good way to communicate that you’re on the same page, and put the other person at ease.
Recall past conversations.
Have you ever run into an old acquaintance and been pleasantly surprised when they remembered something specific about you? Maybe they asked about a vacation you took, or how your daughter is enjoying college. Recalling details from past conversations is a powerful way to make someone feel important, interesting, and memorable. As an Agent, you learn a lot of details about your client’s lives. When you follow up with them, remember to ask thoughtful questions to let them know that you paid attention and remember them clearly.
Stay in touch.
Even strong friendships fade when they aren’t tended to on a regular basis. Once you’ve built rapport with your prospects and clients, don’t lose momentum! Stay in touch with regular email communication, birthday greetings and congratulations on the move-in anniversary. You’ll remain top of mind with your contacts and they’ll appreciate being remembered.
Need some help?
Now that you have some tips for how to build rapport with your real estate clients and prospects, take action and start forming strong relationships! IXACT Contact real estate CRM can help you stay better organized in your relationships, reminding you automatically when keep in touch calls are due so that no client falls through the cracks. You can add notes to your contact profiles with the details you learn about your clients and prospects. Refer back on those notes so you can recall past conversations when you chat with that contact next. You’ll even receive birthday and home anniversary reminders to let you know when it’s time to reach out and wish someone well on their special days.
Start your 5 week free trial of IXACT Contact and start building better relationships with your real estate clients and prospects!