About How I Work With My Clients
"There is no one giant step that does it. It's a lot of little steps." Peter A. Cohen
That quote just about sums up what I do and how I do it. In a world of atrophying customer service, providing service that lets people know they are a VIP (Very Important Person) is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity.
If I could tell you a little about the business of real estate and how it works, I think you'll get a better picture of how, exactly, my services are different from a vast majority of real estate agents.
A Transactional Mindset
Many real estate companies teach the basic "fundamentals" of "prospecting" for business. The 1960's brought about techniques to acquire business by way of 6 basic principles:
- Cold-Calling
- Door Knocking
- Advertising
- Direct Mail
- Open Houses
- Floor Time (duty time)
The internet has certainly added another "fundamental" to the business of prospecting in the real estate industry and now social networking and mobile technologies would fall under the umbrella of internet advertising/marketing.
Most companies and their agents live by these methods. The "big two" of the industry prospects are For Sale By Owners (FSBO's) and Expired Listings (homeowners that had their homes on the market and it didn't sell). The third would probably be simply prospective home buyers.
Think about this for a second, do you want your agent spending his time calling FSBO's or knocking on doors of your neighbors who expired off the market and then spending time doing CMA's (Comparative Market Analyses) on these homes...rather than devoting time, effort, and resources to the sale of your property?
Reread that question before moving on. It's very important.
Most (probably over 95%) of real estate agents and companies focus on meeting the transactional needs of their clients. They talk a big game about "service". But in an industry riddled with agents and companies that all boast the same thing and make the same points, where do you, the consumer, stand?
I understand that at the end of the day, a homeowner who's selling, just wants to get the home sold. And I understand conversely, a buyer wants to buy a home. But these are major decisions that take time and should take some in-depth personal inventory-taking before and during the process.
You see, real estate agents are "trained" with similiar "objection-handling" skills. They are trained to hear you say something and then they regurgitate what they've heard in their seminars or company trainings.
The point here is, when you hear the word "service" come out of the mouths of agents, think of the word "chicken" and that will probably be an accurate frame of mind of where you're at when you listen to three or four or even five agents talk about their "service".
Just visit a few websites and you'll see the same stuff on everyone's website: "Local Real Estate Expert" or "Customer Service Is Our Number One Priority", etc. etc. etc.
But when you taste something and you can't quite say what it tastes like...well, it tastes like chicken. Much like "service" in our industry - it's all relatively "chicken".
There is no doubt that if you left his web page and called another RealtorŪ or company, that you can find an agent/company that is ready, willing and able to provide you with good customer service. Your transactional needs will be met.
And that's where it will end as well.
Which brings me to my point. Most agents and companies focus on providing "excellent service" or enough to get the job done. And then move on. All the while though, while you're listed with them or out looking with them to buy a home, they're prospecting for business the entire time. They might spend 20 minutes looking for properties to show you, but 4 hours door knocking and another 2 hours designing an advertisement, 1 hour blogging, and 1 hour cold-calling or social networking.
Understand, that this is the norm and there's nothing wrong with it. However, if you're looking for something different. If you're looking for something more than "excellent service" (chicken), and you want a RealtorŪ with a company that supports incredibly dedicated VIP (Very Important Person) relationship-based service, then you're in the right place.
Working by Referral: A Relationship-Centered Approach
What's in it for you?
At the end of the day, that's what it's all about. How does a relationship-centered approach to customer service benefit you?
A relationship-centered approach to customer service is simply building a long-lasting relationship with a professional RealtorŪ that brings value to you and your family. And I'm not talking about getting a holiday card and one phone call a year to "follow up".
The transactional way of doing business is limiting in that, again, many agents focus on acquiring "new business" whereas, I focus on delivering valuable service to my clients before, during and after the transaction. Why?
Think about this for a second, why does Starbucks give out "gold cards" to people who take the time to go online and get one? It's free (well kind of, you have to buy coffee and other items to earn your free drinks) - http://www.starbucks.com/card/rewards. But why do they make it gold and why would they give free anything? Chances are, if you like Starbuck's coffee, you're going to keep buying it.
Simple, they want repeat business. They want you to go and tell your friends and family about the benefits of the gold card (free shots, free drinks, free birthday drinks, etc). Starbuck's wants you to feel like a VIP (hence the "gold card").
Now that may seem like a ploy to "hook you" in to continue buying their product, but I see it for what it is. Starbuck's, in my opinion, offers a fantastic product and great service. I like going to Starbuck's. They provide me with a valuable product and service. And, to boot, they gave me a gold card. I feel special.
To me, that's what the relationship-centered approach to my business is. I want to provide you with such professional service, that you will not forget and in turn you will refer me to your family, friends and associates whenever the opportunity arises.
As long as I provide incredible client services and then continue to bring some kind of value to you after the sale, as a trusted professional, you will refer me and I can focus solely on your referrals (my clients). This allows me to not have to pursue "new business" by being a "salesman" and knocking on strangers doors and making annoying cold-calls or spending $1000's of dollars on direct mail and advertising.
My "advertising" is for my clients homes. My "direct mail" is valuable information I will send to my clients. My "calls" aren't cold, they're meaningful conversations with people I know and trust and who trust me to handle any of their friends and family the same way.
I challenge you to visit any number of real estate agent websites and find this information.
I've done extensive research in this area and I can guarantee you, you will find video's and verbage that all sounds the same (because most of it is written copy) and the video's are "social media marketing" to draw you in and make them look impressive and "cutting-edge".
I have personally written what you see here. I have been trained by a company on how to provide the services I do and I have received training on SYSTEMS from my company, Realty Connect USA, that has helped me be the agent I am.
But learning something or listening to training is one thing. Doing it and living it is another. I DO it and Live it.
Instead of Chicken, Think Systems.
Finally, I want to tell you my "secret". Earlier I mentioned how you can think of the words "tastes like chicken" when they hear a dozen agents and read websites that talk about "great service".
Now I want you to imagine and think of the word "Systems" when I write the word "Service".
My services (remember substitute it with "systems") are based on the fundamentals of building a long-lasting relationship with each and every client. In order to achieve this, I use a set of systems.
Think about this. If you've ever eaten at McDonald's, it's not the best food you're going to eat. It's fast food. In, out and on your way. But if the food wasn't good and the services (remember systems) were poor, you probably wouldn't go there.
If you've ever been behind the counter of a McDonald's or known someone (perhaps your kids, grandkids, etc) who have worked there, you'll notice that behind those counters is a SYSTEM that is built to provide excellent service and a product that tastes good enough for you to come back when you want fast food.
Any company you can think of relies on systems to operate it's business.
Being a real estate agent should be no different. But it is.
Again, the industry has taught agents they must continually "prospect" for "new business". If I took you through a typical day in a real estate agent's life, forget it. You would be shocked at how unorganized many can be. It's really scary actually. You'd think, "Holy cow, I can't believe I gave my home to this person to sell."
Some insight to understanding this.
- You need a high school degree to get a real estate license
- We, real estate agents, are INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS
- Real estate companies are mostly INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED
- Open Houses and advertisements are used to PROSPECT FOR NEW BUSINESS
Wow. What does all this mean?
It means, if you've actually read this far, you should call me. (631)881-5959
I want to leave you with this thought. Next time you're in a store that you consider to be "top-notch", watch the employees. Listen to them. Notice the layout of the store. I'm not going to name stores here because everyone has differing opinions, but certain brands offer incredible SYSTEMS to their customers that we see as SERVICE. Service is based on the systems that fuel it. Without a system, the service will die.
It is my opinion, that the real estate industry is suffering from a massive decline in systems. And again, this business is about relationships and it's a hands-on business and the system I use is the framework that helps me pour my energy, time and resources into my clients needs and concerns rather than cold-calling or creating an advertisement to drum up new business.
I don't "wing it".
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you so much to all of my current and past clients who have referred me to their friends and family. I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart.
It's a good life!
"Oh by the way, I'm never too busy for any of your referrals."