It’s no secret that many real estate agents struggle with figuring out how to bring more value to a client.
For example, take an inexperienced agent who is going on their first few listing appointments. They’ve likely been taught to deliver a listing presentation and handle objections with memorized responses, and at the end, insist on a full commission fee for their efforts. But behind their forced enthusiasm at the kitchen table, their insides are screaming with imposter syndrome.
Or, you’re a buyer agent and you’ve spent several weekends showing a family properties across town. They’re friendly and excited about purchasing their first home, and you’re pumped about potentially closing a deal. You’re already planning your next trip to Bali with this commission. Suddenly, they ghost you, and you don’t know why.
Lets first address the painfully obvious truths:
- Attack Of The Clones: Just like in the Star Wars movie, buyers and sellers see real estate agents as nothing more than duplicates of one another, performing the same tasks. Nothing special, totally dispensable, easily replaced.
- Unremarkable Value: The core value real estate agents offer includes market knowledge, negotiation skills, and transaction facilitation. These are viewed as standard, not exceptional.
- Differentiation Challenge: Agents struggle to differentiate their services in a meaningful way that resonates with clients. Like a carton of milk in the supermarket fridge, the labels all say the same thing.
Now that we understand what makes us all appear the same, we can then work on how to rethink the value a real estate agent can offer, and how to go beyond the conventional services.
Get WAY better at what you do
Beyond driving your clients around town, opening doors, and fawning over coffered ceilings on showings, your contribution to a client’s working relationship with you should involve a significant combination of insight, market knowledge, and experience.
After all, real estate is not a simple event by any means. There are many processes that must come together, under strict deadlines, and in an environment rife with potential problems. It’s not like buying a couch.
So in order to provide more value to your client, you have to get ridiculously good at your craft. This means you must spend more time learning and absorbing the most relevant information a client will require to make better informed decisions, and fine-tuning processes that bring efficiency and prevent errors.
This includes:
- keeping up to date on local inventory of properties in the area you practice
- knowing important metrics likes days on market, sell to list ratios, average sale prices, and absorption rates
- understanding market factors like government policies, interest rates, upcoming changes to legislation
- practicing and mastering the art of negotiation because this is where stories about you become legends
- getting proficient at conflict resolution and problem solving
- staying calm, positive, and energized throughout the day (this is probably the hardest thing to do consistently)
This means that a portion of your working day must be dedicated to deliberate, planned self improvement. Think of it like practicing when it’s not game time. The time you dedicate here will catapult you ahead of most agents in your office.
The main prize is the client, not the transaction
In other words, when you focus on serving the client, you will subsequently serve the deal. But this isn’t always true when you do it in reverse order.
So what do clients really want from their real estate agent beyond the expected duties? They want trust, competency, understanding, and personal connection.
Remind yourself that:
- buying or selling a home is an intensive and consuming process
- buyers have to re-arrange their time after work and on weekends to see properties and that means putting their daily routines on hold
- the same goes for sellers who list their properties and always have to be trigger-ready to vacate for showings – this is very disruptive and stressful
- arranging financing isn’t a pleasant process because it means people have to come to terms with their current finances, collect the documents they need to provide to a lender, and spend time shopping around for rates
- dealing with offers is scary and often leaves clients feeling powerless to the process and the agents who are negotiating in the background
- agents often come across as smooth talkers, often pressuring clients to take the deal because they see fat commissions
Taking the time to understand how your clients feel allows you to understand their decision making process and conveys that you are in the trenches with them.
Taking the time to understand what your clients need allows you to understand the specific problem they require you to solve.
Solving their problem means a successful transaction where everyone is pleased.
Build yourself a team of professionals you can count on to make you look good
Aside from what you directly do for your clients, it’s important to assemble a network of service providers who will take part in a real estate transaction and handle your clients with the same level of care as you.
Here are some specific things you can work on building:
- growing your realtor network for times when you’re cooperating with another agent on a deal, or looking for a referral partner to serve your client
- knowing great lawyers that specialize in fields such as pre-construction closings, estate sales and foreclosures, family law, and litigation
- assembling a contact book full of general home inspectors, mold specialists, septic tank inspectors, contractors, basement specialists, roofers, plumbers, and electricians
- having reliable movers, home stagers, photographers, garbage disposal services, cleaners, and landscapers
- growing a network of lenders (both A & B), credit repair companies, and equity lending partners for home renovations and purchase deposits
Being able to have an entire team of reliable and experienced professionals behind you conveys that you are experienced and prepared, and have a solution to every problem that arises.
Jump on opportunities to save the day
When the unexpected happens, these are golden opportunities for you to step in and exceed expectations. Depending on how much commission you earn per deal, spending a little to solve problems goes a long way towards building client loyalty and being that agent that cares about the person and not the transaction. For example:
- the buyer moves in on closing day and it looks like the seller has left a bunch of furniture and trash on the property – instead of taking it back to the lawyers for a few hundred dollars, you can just hire a cleanup company to come and take all the trash away on the same day
- the buyer moves in on closing day and the washing machine doesn’t work as expected – again, you could go back to the lawyers or you could spend a few hundred dollars for a brand new washing machine and be a hero
- the seller has to spend a couple days in a hotel because the closing dates don’t match between the sale of their home and the purchase of their new home – you could cover their storage fees or hotel fees for those few days and make life a little less stressful for them
You’ve probably noticed that the costs I’m talking about are minimal, and in reality expenses that your clients can afford. But the gesture of taking care of a problem promptly is what they will remember. Plus, you can speak to your accountant about writing off these expenses for your business.
Building value is about paying attention to details, doing things beyond your duties, and most of all, caring about your clients like they are actually important to you.