02 Aug COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS

I wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard someone say – “I love houses so I would love to sell real estate” and the other one that gets me every time is “You would be good at real estate – you have the gift of the gab”.

In both cases, nothing could be further from reality.

Loving houses and being able to talk A LOT will do nothing to make you successful as a real estate agent.

Why?

To be successful as a real estate agent you must first realise that it is a people business not a property business.  The houses stay the same.  It is the people who move into them and move out again who decide what to buy and the agent they will appoint.  It is about people.

That brings me to my second point – talking!  We were born with two eyes, two ears and only one mouth.  Great agents spend more time listening and watching than they do talking.

By asking a question, then waiting for the answer and really listening to what the person is saying, will help you build a relationship by understanding how you can help them achieve their goals.

You see building relationships with people is what successful real estate sales is all about.   People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

So to sum up……communication is the exchange of information between two or more people that creates an understanding of each person’s objective or desired outcome.

As an agent you need to understand that unless the person you are communicating with (a buyer or seller) is confident that you will be able to help them achieve their desired outcome, then you have no chance of achieving yours – a listing or a sale.

Put the other person first. That is an attitude you need to develop to become a skilful communicator.