With the combination of a digital and post-pandemic age, clients have abundant choices and resources to find the ideal home. With access to the internet and smartphones – buyers are a step closer to buying or selling a home with the press of an icon.
With so many devices, the opportunities for face-to-face encounters with their prospects will focus on impressing them to ensure a happy transaction, but hows do one do it?
Here are the top 8 things to ensure you have happy clients at the end of the day.
1. Have a chat and get to know them!
Before you ensure your customers are informed about the home buying process, you must take time to become properly acquainted with them. All real estate agents know that asking buyers questions is a significant part of determining what kind of home is right for them.
The better you get to know your customers, the more useful you can be in the home search phase of their experience. However, the importance of getting to know your buyers must go beyond identifying appropriate listings for them.
Show that you care about them beyond the transaction scope is crucial for making your customers feel special and comfortable in your care.
2. Understand their situation
Many customers out there think that real estate agents only care about the commission. Make sure that your customers know you care about them. The most effective way to ensure that you’re always acting in your customers’ best interest is to consider their perspectives whenever a decision needs to be made.
Remember, you’re the one who has the real estate experience, but your customers are the ones who have the most stake in the transaction – even when tough conversations need to be had, your buyers will appreciate how sensitive you are to their needs.
3. Educate your clients
Home buying can be a stressful experience, especially for first-time buyers. Take the edge off your clients’ fears from day one by telling them what to expect. Educate your buyers on their options and walk them through the entire home buying process, from searching for listings to closing on their new homes.
Explain the forms they’ll need to fill out and the contingencies they can potentially include in their contract. Ensure that they understand timing – how quickly they can lose out on homes and how long it can take to find the right one – and provide rough temporal estimates for each step that follows signing a contract.
When your customers are fully aware of the stages, procedures, timelines and paperwork, they’ll feel far more comfortable knowing they’re well taken care of.
4. Constantly check in with your clients
Even after you’ve educated your customers on what to expect from the home buying experience, they’ll still be anxious.
Making yourself available to your customers is crucial because they’ll have many questions. Buyers want agents who always respond promptly. But don’t wait for your customers to reach out to you. The happiest customers feel that their agents are always thinking about them.
These check-ins will communicate that you’re still working for them even when the home buying process seems to be at a standstill. It will reassure them that you’re on top of the situation and doing everything you can to move things forward.
5. Value their time spent with their real estate negotiator
Active listening is key to making customers feel heard, but being truly present goes beyond your listening skills. When you’re with your customers or speaking to them over the phone, make it appear that you have nowhere else to be, nothing else to attend to.
Even if you score the ideal home for your buyers, what they’ll remember is the way you treated them throughout the process. When you treat customers like one of many “appointments,” you indicate that you don’t care about them as people.
Regardless of how busy you are, try not to book appointments close together. Leave yourself extra time to spend with each customer, so they don’t feel rushed and feel comfortable opening up to you.
6. Try your best to make your client lives better
The stress of buying a home can be a lot to bear, along with everyday responsibilities. So, any time you can take something off your customers’ plate, you should go for it. Even when the task is not necessarily within your job description will improve your customers’ experience and leave them floored by your sensitivity and efforts.
If you listen to your customers’ needs, you’ll find all sorts of creative ways to lighten their load. And, they’ll appreciate you all the more for it. You’ll ensure that your customers want to work with you again and refer you to their friends by taking care of the small things.
7. Present your clients with housewarming gifts after closing the deal
Sure, everyone loves receiving gifts, but that’s not why you should give your customers housewarming presents. The reason is that it’s a personal gesture that implies you care more about your customers than you do the income they’ve provided you.
Buying a home is a big deal to your customers, so you should be sure to acknowledge and congratulate them for accomplishing this tremendous feat. But, the gift you choose to give should not be one-size-fits-all. The best gifts are personal ones that remind your customers how well you know them.
8. Ensure you are the person to go to after their deal is made
Just because the deal has closed doesn’t mean your buyers will cease to need your expertise. Effective real estate agents retain their customers even after they’ve received their commission checks by continuing to be a resource for every real estate need.
To simplify their lives, offer your customers referrals to local vendors throughout the home buying process. And, continue to make introductions to contractors, designers, plumbers, etc., after your work is technically done to keep the lines of communication open long after your customers have their new keys in hand.
The real estate business is a service industry. Thus, your buyers deserve the best customer service. So, incorporate these eight real estate tips into your daily practices to ensure you have happy buyers who are happy customers who are motivated to enlist your services in the future.
Are you also looking for ways to ensure a happy clientele? Join IQI and find out the best ways to continue doing that!
