*Communicating with your client after the listing is signed

One of KJF Partners’ Core Values is:

“We are driven by our personal commitment to create value for our investors, tenants, teammates and brokers.”

To serve our broker partners, we send occasional emails that focus on lessons learned through my brokerage history or that I notice from my current role on the principal side of the business.

Brokerage is a challenging business that relies on client retention to grow your base of business and client pool. If you are primarily a listing agent, communication with your client after you win the listing, will create fertile ground for future growth or leave your field of opportunity barren.

The following presumes that I’ve already listed my property with. You did a great job convincing me that you were the best choice to achieve the goal of getting my property sold at the highest achievable price, within my time constraints. Now that you have my listing, managing my expectations and, our communication, will help you create a working relationship that will serve us both.  The following are some do’s, don’ts (and tips) that may help you:

  •  Do have regularly scheduled calls to update your client on marketing activities, interested prospects and real objections that you’re facing/hearing. I value your input and need real time information to make good decisions.
  • Don’t assume that I think you’re working my listing hard. You need to show and tell me what you’re doing to achieve my goals. If I am not hearing from you, my assumption may be that you’re not working my deal. For me, no news is not good news.
  • Do send me on-market comps and recent closings that are similar to my deal. Your job, in my opinion, is to get the highest achievable price within a reasonable time period. I need to know if we’re losing deals because we’re priced too high.
  • Do get your listing extended when our property is under contract. It’s always easiest to extend your deal when things are going well. Don’t wait until a deal dies and then ask me to extend your listing. Your chances of success go down dramatically.
  •  Do send me written updates on a regular basis. Summarize offer activity, and active interest.
  • If we have multiple offers on our property, do create a summary of important deal terms on one sheet to help me make quick decisions and respond quickly to the highest probability Buyers. Time kills deals.
  • Don’t make me chase you for call backs. One of the most irritating things is when I have to call my listing agent multiple times to get a call back. If my deal was important enough to list, then returning a call should be a top priority. Remember, you are always working to grow our relationship. Make me feel that my goals are important to you.
  • Don’t complain about the location, the lease terms, the tenant quality….. those things won’t change and, were present when you listed the property. Develop solutions for the challenges and tell me what you’re doing to overcome them.
  • Do remind me of my real goals when it’s time to make an important decision. My goal probably isn’t to sell my property, it was something more personal. Selling my property helps me create, (or avoid), something important. Maybe I was afraid of losing a tenant, maybe I need the cash for something important. Maybe I think the property may never be worth more than it is right now…..if you remind me of the “why,” I’ll have a better chance of doing the right thing when it’s hard to do.
  • Don’t let me miss a good market by being overpriced and letting my listing get stale. Show me that we’re missing the most desirable buyers because we’re overpriced, and ask for a reduction. Chances are, you won’t get a price reduction without asking for it.
  • Do help me qualify buyers and choose the right, (highest probability), buyer. The best buyer for my property may not always be the offer with the highest price. Make sure I know who has the highest probability of closing at their offered price.
  • Do have a plan for our conversations: show me what your actions have been since we last talked, show me the results those actions have created, show me who we have that may be real prospects, and show me what you plan to do next.

Clearly, there are many more do’s and don’ts but, if you always make me feel like: (1) you’re doing everything within reason to achieve my goals, and (2) you always communicate in a manner that has me believe it’s important to you, your chances of growing our relationship will be on an upward trajectory.

Happy Hunting!

Joe

Joe Faris

KJF Partners, Inc.

Cell Phone: 949-275-5038

Email: jfaris@kjfpartners.com

Website: www.kjfpartners.com

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