“Charm school for real estate brokers,” the New York Times calls it.
“For many years, the field of real estate didn’t change much,” Laura Scott, a business development coach, told the NYT, “and the broker was mostly an order-taker. But now, thanks to the Internet, everyone has his or her mousetrap, and so brokers have to be much more skilled, much smarter. They need to be better at building relationships, at getting out of their skin and putting themselves in their clients’ shoes, better at asking the right questions and not driving deals down people’s throats. That’s what we try to teach people to do.”
Ask yourself:
- When with a client, do you spend 80% of the time talking?
- When confronted by a perceived threat, do you tend to fight?
- How upset do you get when deals go south?
- How do you manage expectations when buyers are frustrated and disappointed?
Coaching Tips:
- Ask open ended questions, not yes-or-no questions.
- Stay off your cellphone when with a client.
- Work well with other agents. Don’t be a pain in the neck.
Photo credit: Flickr / US Army
