While some feel the journey in becoming a certified agent might be the toughest, the bitter truth is that obtaining the licence was the easiest. The challenges come seeping in slowly when your career begins as an agent.
This is because the real estate is a people business and being able to communicate effectively and possessing people skills is a very fundamental part of your career.
As a professional agent, dealing with clients will eventually become a daily affair. Hence, you will come across the variety of characters and behaviours–some delightful while some spiteful.
When days are bad and faced with a client from hell, the first rule of the thumb would be not to allow a client’s bad behaviour bring out the worst in you.
There will be an unavoidable circumstance at some point, therefore keep in mind these tips to manage and handle the transaction like a professional that you are.
Listen
Most often, problematic clients have unreasonable desires while some don’t know what they want or how to articulate it.
Therefore, when dealing with difficult and demanding clients, it is important to remain calm, cool and collected during this stressful time.
The simplest, powerful and effective tool you should possess is the ability to listen because most often, words can mislead and cause unnecessary conflicts.
By practising this from the beginning, listening carefully to the needs and wants can, in turn, nurture a healthier relationship and understanding between you and your client.
Always remember that buying or selling a house can be an emotional process, whether it’s due to financial struggles, relationship fall-outs or a death in the family.
Hence, lending an ear shows that their concerns and reservations are being well-thought-out.
Pre-filter
It is a norm to conduct pre-client interviews with potential sellers or buyers to ensure a smooth process on how to conduct your job effectively.
Aside from determining general chemistry, the pre-screening meeting will encapsulate your client’s behaviour traits.
Picking out small details such as if they are on time, presentable or being courteous are often great predictors of how a client will behave once you’re working together.
Also, it is important to recognise if their needs and wants are in line with yours, thus pre-screening will provide the opportunity to understand them better and identify alarming personality traits that could cause downsides along the way.
This is so that both parties go into the agreement without any misconceptions or misunderstandings, which can be avoidable from the very beginning.
Enlighten
There will be instances when dealing with clients who believe they are real estate experts or those who solely focus on making a profitable sale from their property.
This usually happens when clients demand too much because they do not understand the industry and its terminology.
As professional agents, you need to continuously keep abreast with industry updates and people skills to address concerns brought up by clients and inform them confidently. Having said that, it is important to be proactive rather than reactive.
When dealing with a difficult and stubborn client, don’t be defensive or patronising. Instead, maintain a friendly and direct manner.
Therefore, educate and keep clients informed with the depths of your knowledge and they will be more inclined to take your decision on board since that is the reason they hired you at first.
Find solutions
It is also in your profession to come up with creative solutions when dealing with challenging situations and clients.
There will come a time when clients demand precedes your expertise. This is when you should be able to show them your quick-thinking, problem-solving and versatility skills to ease their woes.
Store details and contacts of contractors and handyman and partake in all the hand-holding and attentive listening your client may require.
It is imperative to view matters from your client’s perspective and envision what measures you would take at any given point during the transaction process.
This could lead to finding the right solution tailored to your client’s needs, leaving them with no reason to proceed with their demands.
Stand your ground
Finally, when all efforts don’t seem to work well during the transaction, one last attempt would be to remind clients that you are the professional in the real estate industry.
Explain to them in a calm and collective manner, with a firm tone behind your methods, decisions and reasoning.
It is also crucial to mention that you have the skills and experience backed up by a track record of proven success, hence the reason they hired you in the first place.
Nevertheless, if there is no longer any respect and trust in this agent-client relationship, it would be wise to recommend such difficult clients to another agent.
To learn more on how to be a great property agent, go to The Real Rockstar.