Some of my best friends today I met as buyers when I was selling. Initially they were just regular people, buyers looking to make a purchase, nothing more. Some of them didn’t even buy a property from me, they purchased through a different agent, but because they now had a home that they would one day need to sell, I made it my goal to get to know them and become their friend.
Looking back, and knowing what I know now, that was quite unusual because most agents only focus on one of the two sides of this business. They are either great with sellers or great with buyers but few have the time and resources to service both.
There is no doubt it’s tough giving 100 per cent of your attention to both parties, therefore at some stage you should look at getting some support to allow you to do just that, but until then you should find a system that enables you to do both.
Buyers vs Sellers
Although you should service both, you cannot service them both the same way. Buyers and sellers are at very different phases of the real estate process, therefore they need to be handled accordingly.
Sellers are at the stage of selecting an agent to help them reach a financial goal. Although their mission is clear and they will want someone who they know, like and trust, they are also looking for someone who is decisive and can almost tell them what they need by displaying their value proposition. It’s a bold confident figure they are attracted to.
On the other hand, buyers are usually looking for something they have had a vision of, a dream, something they have been imagining for some time. This can be difficult to manage as sometimes it is hard to find that dream for the money that they have. You’ve heard the saying “champagne taste on a beer budget”. That very often applies to buyers.
So it takes time to orientate them and get them to realise what is available, and sometimes they need some educating as to what’s possible or not. This takes time and patience. The agent that can see their vision and help them realise their reality will win a customer for life. But, I’ll say it again, it does take time and you will have to work for it.
An easy way to compare the two is one wants the deal now and the service later, the other the service now and the deal later. Not many lead agents have the patience for the latter.
How to work with buyers:
Hello
It’s all in the first impression, a simple smile, making eye contact, or simply remembering and calling them by their name. However, whatever you do, you need to STOP and give them the time they deserve.
It’s a date
The next thing is to make an appointment. It doesn’t matter if it’s on the phone, via Zoom or in person. But you have to get their complete attention and give them your complete attention and the best way to do this, especially for an agent, is make an appointment. An appointment is a commitment. This also gives them the impression that you value them and care. Also, if you are able to, buy the coffee and try invoke the law of reciprocity, it works wonders.
Getting to know you
Next, it’s all about the discovery period. This is when you ask the buyers all the right questions while getting to know them, qualifying them and demonstrating to them that you are there to help, as well as figuring out what priority they are: hot, medium or cool. Not that that will make a huge difference, it just gives you the opportunity to prioritise. At Real Estate Brilliance we have created the perfect buyer questionnaires to help with this and make it easy for you.
Make the friendship last
By the end of this meeting you will be more educated about the needs, wants and motivation of your newfound friends and you can now start to service them and display your value to them in order to build TRUST. How do you do this? Well, you never let them go. You attach a system or trail to them that is a combination of sending free information, texts, phone calls, invitations, emails, direct mails and making sure you invite them to your social pages. After all you have just spent 30 or so minutes with them, I bet you haven’t done that with half your friends on Facebook.
Whether they buy from you or not, you never stop calling and loving them by giving, giving, giving and before you know it they will be customers for life.
If you want more information on working with buyers and sellers, register now for my upcoming FREE half-day Real Estate Brilliance webinar by clicking on the button below.
