What it takes to be a Successful Real Estate Agent – Part 1: Communication

Are you wondering what it takes to be a successful agent? Our 3-part series outlines what skills you will need to have success in the industry. Real estate is a profession where people with no prior industry experience and a wide range of different personality types and backgrounds have found success. What do they all have in common? They have mastered similar skills that give them an advantage to stay ahead of their industry peers.

In Part 1 of our blog series, we discuss how great customer service skills will help you succeed faster than your industry peers. What makes great customer service? We outline the 3 top customer service traits a real estate agent needs to have.

1. Clear communication

Communication comes in all forms when working as a real estate agent, from the external branding and promotions, first email, text message or letter, all the way through to post sale communication. It is essential to be able to communicate by listening actively and speaking as confidently and clearly as to not confuse any parties during the transaction and make the experience as smooth as possible for your clients.

It’s important to try and get to know your client/customer to sense their level of property experience, so you can communicate on their knowledge level. Some clients may be developers or ‘flippers’ who know a lot about the industry and don’t want as much information versus a first-time home buyer or seller who needs to be guided through the whole process.

So how much is too much communication? A good tip: if you are unsure, simply ask your clients/customers how they’d like to keep in contact with you and be clear on the next steps and frequency you will contact them.

2. Empathy & honesty

Moving house in any regard can be an emotional time, for both buyer and seller, so having empathy and honesty towards your clients/customers can ensure they feel safe and secure, knowing they can trust you to help them as you show that you understand how important this transaction is and empathise with them.

Sellers can often be emotionally attached to their home and can take non-positive feedback about their property personally. They may also feel the value of their home is a lot higher than the market is prepared to pay. Similarly purchases can also become emotional when it comes to purchasing a property – after all this will probably be the most expensive purchase in their life.

By showing empathy, honesty and transparency you will be on your way to building long term, trusting business relationships.

3. Efficiency & responsiveness

It’s vital as a real estate agent that you respond to clients, customers and prospects in an efficient and timely manner. When there is fierce competition in the industry, a slow response time can ultimately lose you business. Timely communication can also avoid frustration with your clients or customers by providing information before they can draw their own negative conclusions and as such, dissatisfaction in the situation and yourself.

In today’s day and age, everything is expected instantly. Having the ability to answer emails, reply to messages and return calls promptly can set you apart from the competition. Keeping in mind that your replies should be informative and replying for the sake of replying “quickly” isn’t the main point here, valuable responses matter.

Just remember, you’ll most likely be looking after one of the largest assets people will ever own. Knowing how to service a client promptly, professionally, honestly and patiently will go a long way. When customer service is executed well in real estate, this builds a superior level of client satisfaction, thereby creating loyal customers which should ultimately generate word of mouth marketing through referrals – which will help you build a passionate and reputable brand. Once you learn that real estate is a “people” business, you will understand that consistently developing your customer service skills is one of the most important things you can do to succeed.

In Part 2, we discuss the importance of being organised as an agent and provide tips on how successful agents ensure they are on top of their tasks and workflow every day.

Think real estate could be your next career choice? Let Validum help you on your journey to real estate success, with user friendly real estate courses and personalised customer service. Experience the Validum difference today and call us on (07) 3193 5270 or visit www.validum.edu.au.