Building Relationships in Real Estate
As with any business built upon human interaction, relationships are an incredibly important part of your success as an agent. Your relationship with your clients is perhaps the first one that comes to mind—and rightfully so—and there are numerous ways to build said relationship. However, you should never overlooked your relationship with other agents—and that includes competitors as well! There are many effective ways to go about doing this, so let’s start with these few:
Your Relationship with your Client
Anytime we talk about important relationships in real estate, the relationship between agent and client is usually the first one that we think of. Ultimately your interactions with your client can set you up to succeed—or fail—in not just interactions with that client, but with future clients as well! The most important thing in the agent-client relationship that you should always strive to provide is communication. This goes beyond just answering your clients questions, as the good agent recognizes that a constant line of communication is necessary for the best possible experience for your client! First, establish some basics: what hours is your client able to talk? What hours are they not? Do they mind being contacted at work? Would setting up regular meetings work best for them? These are just a handful of a plethora of questions that you need to be thinking about!
Also, you need to consider that your relationship with a current or past client can affect your relationship with future clients. That is, if a past client was unhappy with the work that you did or felt that you were a poor communicator, they’re likely to share that with others and that could end up costing you a client in the future!
Your Relationship with Other Agents
How you work and interact with other agents is a key part of your success as an agent, and this applies even to agents with whom you are competing! If you’re a part of a brokerage, then your fellow agents are your best resource—especially when you’re first starting out! As such, the relationships that you build with them are crucial in your success as an agent! Remember that you’re a part of a real estate team, and the success of each agent helps other agents around them. There are many ways to build relationships with your fellow agents, and referring clients in search of an agent to them is a great way to earn their trust. Often times agents serve a particular area or part of town, and thus knowing their territory and referring to clients to them that are looking to buy or sell a home in their territory is just a good thing to do. Conversely, encroaching upon another agent’s territory is a quick way to sour a relationship that you’ve built with them, so be mindful!
Lastly, remember that agents that you’re competing against are perhaps the most important people to have a good relationship with. This may sound strange, but if a competitor has only good things to say about you then that speaks volumes to your skill and professionalism as an agent!