Coaching Corner: The beauty of buyer consultations
By "Coach" Marilou Butcher Roth
In talking to agents, I am constantly reminded of the importance of having a buyer consultation with your clients. It will vary, depending on the client and their experience, but this industry changes rapidly and making sure your client is up to speed is crucial!
So why don't we do them? Some of the reasons I hear are that there isn't enough time, or the agent doesn't want to pressure the client. Sometimes it is because they do not know what to say during a consultation. Much of the perceived reasoning comes back to how confident you feel in this particular activity.
Let's put on your consumer hat for a moment -- in thinking from a consumer standpoint, what might be the benefit of your REALTOR giving you relevant information regarding your upcoming transaction? What might you expect to learn or receive? Your answer to these questions will be telling.
It seems that many issues might be averted with clear communication and discussion of expectations early on, rather than trying to put out fires that can occur during the course of a deal. So what do YOU need to do to prepare for a buyer consultation?
First, you, (yes you) need to get comfortable with presenting the idea to your client? If you are not comfortable, it will be difficult to get them on board with the benefit. The next important piece is to get curious and think about what you want and need to know from them so that you can be of most service to them. Every client and situation will be different, and yet, there will always be some basic questions you will have.
What materials do you want to go over and which ones will you be giving to them? Knowing that you are not a “cookie cutter†agent will prompt you into discovering what will provide the most relevancy to each client.
Possible topics may include: Agency (an absolute), the timeline of buying, the financing timeline and how that works, the showing process, the paperwork that they will be signing (do you fully understand each of these?), the negotiation process, the current marketplace and how that will impact them, the possibility of multiple offers, the inspection process, the appraisal process and the closing process (including title insurance). Depending on the experience of your buyer, you will tailor each consultation meet their individual needs, adding other talking points as needed.
Your buyers will be starting out much further ahead, and you will be continuing to add more professionalism to this industry!
Marilou Butcher Roth
Marilou Butcher Roth is the owner of The MBR Group, a coaching and training company working primarily with REALTORS who have a desire to work and live from a more inspired place. She is also the Broker/Owner of Group REALTORS in Cincinnati.
Marilou is a member of the Ohio REALTORS Board of Directors and past chairman of the organization’s Communications Committee.
