Indicators You're Relationship Has Gone Sour
(at least with your clients)
Even in my frenzied pace during a rapid fire real estate summer like the one we're having now, I manage to stumble on an article with crucial wisdom applicable to real estate practice. Sometimes, as is the case for the source material I was inspired to use for this blog as well as the one forthcoming, I discover an article that is of equal importance to both real estate professionals and would-be clients. While the points discussed were written as a caution to professionals as to how they treat their clients and the business implications thereof, they can easily be criteria for the would-be client as a barometer for their relationship with any service provider. For real estate clients, buyers or sellers, most of these points I am about to discuss can help you determine whether or not to even engage in a long term relationship with the real estate agent with whom you've begun your interaction.
A word of caution for a real estate professional and their potential clients
Joseph and JoAnn Callaway, co-authors of the amazing book Clients First: The Two-Word Miracle, outline ten bad habits professionals can slip into if they are not careful. As I mentioned, I not only find these very relevant warnings for real estate people (for which I will paraphrase specifically), but for their potential clients who will be considering the future of their professional relationship. I will begin with the first and arguably most common bad habit found among real estate practitioners.
It's NOT about you, Mr./Mrs./Ms Real Estate Agent
The Calloways very accurately observe the necessity to have a strong ego, or 'sense of self' in business, to protect you from being taken advantage of by competitors, vendors and even clients. One doesn't need to notice how fond real estate people are of their name and their picture to recognize how applicable the Calloway observation is for my profession. But a big ego can weigh you down into a dangerous pitfall if you're not careful. If you start to believe professional victories and the 'glory' which goes with them are the reason you are in the business and the end goal of your profession, you may be setting a trap for yourself. Before you know it, and whether you can connect the behavior initially or not, you will run the risk of putting the interest of your clients behind your own and giving into further moral and ethical ambiguities. A minefield of potentially serious and reputation-harming (not enhancing) disaster awaits.
Check yourself; specifically what you talk about with your clients
Building rapport does not mean finding common interests and subsequently working those interests back into a conversation about yourself. This kind of arrogance is client-repellent and an indicator that you are engaging in a very bad habit. Would-be clients who are my readers, you know instinctively when the person you are speaking with has this habit and whether you recognize it or not, a 'red flag' has been raised in your mind. More on these habits to come in my next blog!
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