Are you passionate about property? Are you wondering what the best practices are that make you a good estate agent?
So what are the qualities that would allow you to be successful in this industry? Read this article to find out.
Contents
This is one of the most important skills to develop in both your professional and personal life. It is an essential quality in any business.
Indeed, as an estate agent, you are in contact with people every day. You regularly come into contact with your prospects and your clients. You must therefore be sociable, it makes sense! But you must also communicate your desire to help and advise. This must be seen in your way of being and your words.
A person who has good interpersonal skills is much more able to adapt to situations, avoid or resolve conflicts, and gain the trust and respect of others. You must be comfortable with people and create cordial relationships while remaining professional. All of this will contribute to your good reputation.
How to improve your agency skills
Knowing how to listen to your clients is essential if you want to be a good sales agent. Why? During a property transaction, the agent must advise. They are an intermediary between sellers and future buyers. He must support and advise his buyer or seller clients as best he can.
Listening will allow you to discern the needs, fears and expectations of your customers. You will be able to better understand their projects, which will allow you to respond more effectively to their needs.
They won’t be a simple “salesman”, ready to use fishy sales techniques to sell your product. On the contrary, make an effort to ask questions, to be attentive to the expectations of your customers and to respond to them as best you can.
Diplomacy is another vital quality to do the job. As you can imagine, as an estate agent, you will have to manage demanding clients, with unrealistic expectations, or even those who are not inclined to listen to the advice of a professional. And as you know, sellers often tend to overvalue their properties!
Helping your seller realise that their property is not at the price they are looking for requires diplomacy and tact. There is no question of turning your client down! So in your support and explanations, remain diplomatic and tactful! This will help them to reason and understand that some of their demands are unrealistic… An estate agent can do a lot of things for their clients, but no miracles yet 🙂
You will also be required to manage delicate situations. Once again, knowing how to be tactful will allow you to defuse potential conflicts.
Knowing how to manage your schedule is essential. You will have to juggle lots of. different tasks: Prospecting for business, taking on and managing listings, finding buyers, sales progression, etc.
If you want to succeed in this profession, be organised! Write down your tasks and appointments in your diary. Prioritise your actions. Tackle the most important tasks first. In the property industry, 20% of your actions will allow you to obtain 80% of your turnover! So, focus on the factors that will give you results. Establish a clear schedule at the risk of getting lost in your tasks to accomplish and no longer being able to get out of them. In short, become the master of your schedule!
Rigour is another quality to master to become a top estate agent. This quality is expressed in various facets of the profession:
– Management of customer and buyer portfolios: Note down in an appropriate place the contact details of all your buyer and seller customers as well as all necessary information. This may seem logical, and yet many make the mistake of not doing it!
– File management and regulations: And yes, it involves knowing the technical, legal and legislative regulations. At the heart of the property transaction, the agent is the trusted person to whom clients will turn for any questions or the slightest concern. When putting together a file, the agent must remain attentive and particularly rigorous with every detail. All information must be verified and truthful at the risk of being held liable for a lack of advice.
– Writing your ads: Well-crafted ads will help you stand out from the crowd. Provide information about the town, nearby points of interest, public transportation, etc. Add value: avoid clichés! The buyer knows that there is a living room, what they want is to see themselves in it. Talk about the view, the exposure, the detail that creates this very special charm to the property… Make your future clients want to discover it.
Estate agents are prone to the stereotype of being dishonest! It is up to us to break this. You must establish a basis of trust between you and your clients. How? By being honest and behaving ethically!
Whether dealing with buyers or sellers, you must be objective in your estimates and advice. And not tell customers what they want to hear. To do this, be transparent! Explain to them the reality of the market, the actions taken and the services provided. Take care of your relationships with your partners, your customers, but also with the experts with whom you are led to work: Solicitors, Mortgage Advisors or other agents etc.
Act ethically. By being honest in every way, you will gain the trust of your customers, employees and partners. You will then create a great reputation for yourself, and that is priceless!
Buying or selling a property is often a complex decision and process. You will have to ask questions, but it is important to know how to ask THE RIGHT questions. Often vague and evasive answers hide the heart of the problem! Which is likely to happen if you lack knowledge.
To summarise, listening and knowledge often go hand in hand. The job of an agent requires knowing how to listen to better understand your clients. Being able to analyse and understand the expectations and needs of a buyer, or a seller, will help you successfully negotiate. Do not neglect this quality, it is essential for working in property.
Okay, that seems logical. Being a good agent means being professional! And yet, we have all seen other agents lack professionalism. Being on time for an appointment: that’s non-negotiable. Looking smart: 100%. Having all the documents necessary for the appointment to go smoothly: wouldn’t dare not! But go further: Get to know each of your properties, take a tour of the local area to locate points of interest (schools, bus stops, shops, etc.), anticipate your clients’ questions… Don’t be negligent!
And above all, give them all the answers, including the annoying ones, so that they can decide their best interests.
Make no mistake, hiding information from customers to close a sale will eventually backfire on you at some point.
Courage is also an essential quality. Why? You will have to prospect to find new properties to sell. You will have to pick up your phone and call prospects, and that is the dread of many!
You will experience joys but also disappointments. And sometimes difficult times. In these moments, you will need to have a strong resistance to failure. Not every sale will go through smoothly! So be courageous. You are risking your reputation with every decision you make when selling a property. Be confident in your decisions.
Why is curiosity one of the best practices for estate agents?
Staying up to date with the property market and regulations is essential. The laws change regularly in the property industry and each situation is different. So stay attentive!
Also, be curious about your clients, and find out what they really want from the house sale to give them the best service possible. Knowing your clients’ property well will allow you to sell efficiently. This can also lead to new properties for sale for you.
Imagine that you are meeting a buyer client for the first time. But what would make them want to buy the property? Maybe their family is growing! So they need to find a bigger property, ideally with a nice garden… But, interestingly, they have to sell the flat they already own! If you aren’t curious, you may not find out that the buyer could be your next vendor. he is also a seller! And instead of simply searching for a property for your buyer, you end up selling his current property too! A good agent asks questions!
You now know the 10 best practices for estate agents the ensure success
Becoming an independent agent with iad France means combining the real estate profession with entrepreneurship. You will be able to develop your business from home, at the pace that suits you.
With iad, you will have the opportunity to evolve and build a passive income by creating a team of collaborators. They will have, just like you, the status of independent estate agent.
And if you have no training or experience in the profession, can you still join iad?
Yes!
iad takes care of the training. By joining the network, you are assured of receiving the best training:
With iad, you are independent but not isolated! Your mentor will accompany you on your first meetings, taking on mandates, visits, etc. He will teach you the different prospecting strategies.
But how do you join iad? Nothing could be simpler: contact an iad advisor! They will present the business opportunity to you in more detail and explain the procedure for registering.
After completing your application for approval, which is done quickly and electronically, you can then start the training course offered by the network. Then order your starter kit, “the basic kit for the iad agent”, including signs, business cards, etc. You are now ready to register your first properties!
The property industry requires advanced skills to be a good estate agent. We have listed 10 required best practices for estate agents here, but it goes much further. Other qualities will be useful to you when working in real estate. In particular, you will need to be resilient. And yes, the job can be made up of desert crossings. But, thanks to your perseverance and endurance, you will be able to achieve the goals you have set for yourself. Also, be available for your clients! This will be very much appreciated.
Now you know the qualities needed to work in real estate. So, don’t wait any longer, if you think this job is for you…
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