Poor Communication Gets Real Estate Agents Fired, Great Communication Will Get You Avalanches of Referrals

The following is adapted from The Ultimate Real Estate Machine. 

One of the biggest complaints that consumers have about real estate agents is their lack of communication. A client has questions about how long an inspection will take and you are nowhere to be found. Or they are starting to doubt their choice to sell their house and rather than listening to their concerns to address them, you start selling them on the sale. 

Clients want to feel heard and understood. They want to know that they can trust you with the biggest investment they will make in their life. They want to know that you care about their wellbeing. So, as the agent, you must decide to become a successful communicator. 

This may be difficult for some, but once you can show your clients that you are interested, you understand, and that you care, they will be thrilled with you and want nothing more than to refer everyone they can to you. Let’s dig a little deeper into what this looks like. 

#1: Show Interest 

This first step is pretty simple: be interested in your clients. They’re human beings, after all, and human beings are fascinating! Not only that, we all love when people show an interest in us and what we’re interested in—so take the initiative with new clients. Ask them questions, not just about what they want to buy or sell, but about their lives. Be mindful of important days coming up for them. Try to find a common hobby or interest you can speak to them about. 

Showing interest in your clients will build a level of trust between you two that is priceless. Not only have you then put yourself as a trusted advisor in their mind, but you have shown them that they can trust their friends and family with you too, in the form of referrals. 

Part of showing interest in someone is developing an understanding of how they think. We all think and process life differently. Some people are visual, while others are kinesthetic or auditory. What they tell you will offer clues into how their mind processes information: 

• “I don’t see the potential” (visual) 
• “I don’t know, something doesn’t feel right” (kinesthetic) 
• “If I’m hearing you correctly” (auditory) 

Unless you understand, appreciate, and empathize with the different ways people process the world around them, it will be difficult to build a bridge of trust with them or offer counsel.

#2: Show Value and Understanding 

Interest leads to understanding. Clients must be able to see life the way you see life, and that requires you to first see life the way they see it. So, commit to examine, understand, empathize, respect, appreciate, and evaluate how your clients see life. You don’t have to agree with their perspective, but unless you understand it, you can’t serve them at the highest possible level. 

Interest and understanding are the baseline. What comes next is key to your success in real estate: offering value that clients appreciate and desire. Many agents make the terrible mistake of going right for the bottom line, which immediately decreases their value from the customers’ perspective and shows a lack of understanding. Don’t be that agent. 

Instead, focus on value creation. One big way we added value to our company was by creating a ten-step sales system for the listing-side and buyer-side presentations. No one on our team had ever seen these techniques, much less utilized them in real estate. This system came from the time-share and remodeling industries and was repurposed for real estate. 

Now, our competitors attempt to steal the way we do things and we’ve seen over $1 billion in sales. Our clients clearly recognize this added value by doing business with us. 

#3: Show You Care 

Who are you communicating with? What problems and opportunities are you going to help them deal with? What are they trying to get closer to, and what are they trying to get away from? What is haunting them? You must get to know what your client’s apprehensions are and care about them. Caring is the first step to helping your client achieve their better future state—that happy place on the other side of whatever problem you’re helping them solve. 

Every time you interact with somebody, in any form—written, text, email, phone, voice mail—you should demonstrate your concern for them. Keep advancing and enhancing the bond of the relationship, because you are not just playing a game to get to the short-term end. Constantly ask yourself, “How can I have an immediate positive impact today?” 

Fulfilling conversations and a demonstrated care for the client’s wellbeing will earn their ongoing business and referrals. You’ll own that relationship and all that flows from it for life. 

Ecstatic Clients Send Referrals En Masse 

For referrals to convert to sales, your existing clients must know how to talk about you and your value. They must understand and appreciate your messaging. If they cannot, the referrals they provide will not align with your goals or the value you can provide for people. 

Prospects must recognize that they can trust you. They must know that you will understand them and put them above your bottom line. They must feel and believe that you’re on their side as their trusted advocate. Make that decision easier by providing exceptional communication every time—they will thank you by referring you to everyone they know.

For more advice on communicating effectively with your clients, you can find The Ultimate Real Estate Machine on Amazon. 

Jason Williford is a serial entrepreneur, author, speaker, inventor, and consultant for high-producing real estate agents. He is a master in business strategy, strategic marketing, innovation, differentiation, agent production, selling systems, and referral generating systems, as well as training, recruiting, and mentoring real estate agents and inside sales agents. After years in the trenches of real estate, he set himself and his team apart with strategies and techniques that were learned in other industries and applied to real estate. His unique talents and knowledge fill industry voids for high-performing real estate agents and team leaders.