In sales-oriented industries like real estate, first impressions often make the difference between closing and going home empty handed. That’s why building rapport with potential real estate clients is something all agents must know how to do.
So, whether you’re starting your real estate career or already a veteran agent, improving your ability to get people to like, know, and trust you is always a good idea. Besides, it won’t take long, especially with some help from recent Real Estate Rockstars guest Isabel Affinito.
Isabel is an expert on building rapport, and she shared some excellent tips with listeners during her podcast interview. For an overview of Isabel’s top three rapport-building tips, read on. To hear them all along with other invaluable information, including a rundown on Isabel’s best door-knocking script, listen to the podcast below.
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Tip #1: Ask Plenty of Questions
When you meet a potential client for the first time, Isabel recommends you remember one thing in particular: they don’t care about you. What she means by this is that people don’t want to hear about how many homes you’ve sold or why you’re the best real estate agent in town.
Instead of talking about yourself, you should strive to learn more about the potential client. Ask them questions. Find out more about what they’re looking for in an agent, and also take the time to learn more about their background and their interests.
Even if your goal is to build a business relationship, asking personal questions won’t hurt. In nearly all cases, it will actually help cement your position as their real estate agent of choice.
Tip #2: Structure Your Conversations
While you should be asking potential clients plenty of questions, you shouldn’t ask so many that the conversation starts to feel like an interrogation. One of the easiest ways to ensure your conversations flow as smoothly as possible is ask two questions before following with a comment.
Here’s an example taken from Isabel’s podcast interview: So, you like to go hiking? Where do you like to go? Oh, awesome, I’ve never been to any of those places, but I’d love to check them out!
Obviously, not all of your conversations should follow this structure to a tee, but if you’re really struggling to find the right flow, it’s a great tool to use while building confidence and experience talking to prospects.
Tip #3: Always Keep Learning
No matter how great you are at building relationships with new people, there’s always room to improve. Strive to learn more about building rapport and establishing solid relationships whenever possible. Here are a couple book recommendations from Isabel to get you started:
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
First Published in 1936, How to Win Friends & Influence People is still as relevant today as it was over 80 years ago. If you haven’t read this classic on the art of mastering interpersonal relationships, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy today.
Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
Want the competitive edge when negotiating real estate deals or attempting to win over potential clients? Get yourself a copy of Never Split the Difference. It’s the best resource out there for improving your ability to persuade others, and the skills it teaches will help you get off on the right foot with potential clients.
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