When it comes to serving your real estate clients with excellence, you can’t underestimate the importance of good, consistent communication practices. Whether your clients are selling a home, buying a home, or both, staying in contact with them throughout the transaction process is essential. In addition to keeping your clients informed, communicating lets them know that they are priorities to you and that you are working hard to help them achieve their goals.
When clients feel that you’ve communicated frequently and effectively with them, they are more likely to be satisfied with your service and with their transaction. They will also be more eager to refer you and to use your services again for their future real estate needs. Conversely, if clients feel that you haven’t kept up communication with them, they may not feel as favorably about your service, your professionalism or their transaction.
Here are five key things you can do to enhance client communication:
1. Ask your clients for their preferred method of communication.When you first meet with clients, find out what avenue works best for them. Would they rather be contacted by text, email, phone call or in person? Is there a certain time of day when they can be reached more easily? If you are dealing with a couple, will one person be the primary contact, or do they both want to be included in messages and conversations? If your company uses an automated appointment system for showings, explain how it works and ask if they would like to use it. Finding out your clients’ communication preferences at the beginning of your relationship will help set you up for communication success.
2. Set expectations on the front end, then follow through. After you’ve established how your clients like to communicate, let them know what to expect from you. Tell them how often they will likely hear from you, and under what circumstances. For example, if you have clients who are selling a home, let them know how soon you will be in contact after showings with feedback. Or, if you have clients who are looking for a house, let them know how often they can expect to receive listing notices from you. It’s also important to give your clients an idea of how quickly you return your own text, voicemail and email messages. If it’s your practice to turn off your devices when you’re with clients, be sure to tell them this so they won’t wonder why you aren’t answering your phone sometimes.
3. Set alarms on your phone to remind you to touch base with clients. It’s easy to get busy and let communication slide, especially if you don’t have any new information to share. Setting a reminder to contact each client on a regular basis will help you remember to check in. And, even if there’s nothing new to report, you can recap what you are doing behind the scenes on their behalf. For example, if there haven’t been any showings that week, you can tell sellers how you are advertising their listing and what plans you have to generate some interest. If you have buyers but there haven’t been any fresh listings to show them, you can remind them that you are continuing to search for their dream home and will let them know right away if something interesting pops up on the market.
4. Designate a certain time (or times) each day for client communication. Be proactive with your communication by planning ahead and having a period of time each day that is dedicated to staying in touch with your clients. Ideally, it should be a time of day when you usually aren’t distracted with other phone calls, meetings or family obligations. In addition to helping to remind you to stay in touch with your clients, having a designated communication time can also help you work more efficiently by returning calls and messages all at once, instead of being interrupted continually.
5. Listen to your clients. A critical communication skill, listening to your clients is key. If clients say things to you like “We haven’t heard from you in a while” or “I was just wondering what was happening with our listing/home search,” those are clues that they’d like to hear from you more often.
Discussing the advantages of HSASMÂ Home Warranty coverage provides a great communication opportunity. By explaining how home warranty coverage can provide valuable budget protection by helping to safeguard homeowners from many of the expenses of unexpected breakdowns on covered home systems and appliances, you’re providing useful information and demonstrating to clients that you care about them now and after the transaction closes.
For more information about HSA Home Warranty, please visit onlinehsa.com.
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