How do you Deal With Picky Clients?
That is a question that has been plaguing me for quite some time. I have been trying to find a way to screen my leads so that I end up with great clients. Recently I have been bombarded with clients who want me to make the decisions for them. I know it is our job to educate and inform our clients to make a good decision. However, I feel that it is not our job to pick and choose the home they should buy.
For example, I have had clients who besides asking you for mortgage lenders and inspectors, ask for your advice on what you think of the home and if you like it. I always respond the same way: “In the end you are the one(s) who will be living in the home.”
But I follow up by asking them questions about the specific qualities of the home to help them make their decision. If they have more likes than dislikes about the home, I ask them if they could live with the things they dislike. If they can’t, I tell them that we have plenty more homes to look at and choose from.
Besides the indecisive clients, there are the clients who are “sitting on the fence.” These are
buyers who have found homes they like but are reluctant to make a decision about the home because of concerns over the market. Usually the home is aggressively priced and has other interested parties. When the buyers do finally decide to make an offer, they find that the home has already had multiple offers, or has already had an offer accepted. Then they wonder why they did not get the home!
I do not have a magic answer for them, but I do tell them that if they find a home they want, they will have to act faster than the last time.
At this point, some of these buyers feel that they will never find a home they want. And as their agent, I cannot help but feel bad for them, I also feel as though I somehow failed them in their pursuit for a home. I know that it’s not my fault — I did my part; I helped them find a home they wanted.
I am wondering what you do to help nudge your clients in the right direction? What do you do to screen your potential clients? Is there a set of questions you ask them? Do you have your clients sign a Buyers Broker Agreement? Any feedback you can give me will be invaluable.
Ulises Romo is a REALTOR® for PRO-formance Realty Concepts in Phoenix.
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Comments
Hi Ulises, sometimes it's easy to forget just how nervous (terrified?) first time homebuyers really are. As their Realtor they are looking to you for assurance that this is the right thing to do, and not a colossal mistake. If you are sure that a home is a good fit for them and within their means, then it's time to close them. Let them know that it is a 'home' first and foremost, and an investment for the longer term.
Remind them that it has all, or most, of the amenities that they said they wanted when we first sat down and signed our agency agreement. Tell them that you don't want them to ride by the house in 3 years and say we should have listened to Ulises and bought that house.
Dan Derito
Keller Williams Realty
Posted by: Dan Derito | March 17, 2008 09:46 AM
One service that I provide to my Buyers is copious notetaking on each house. I tell my buyers at the very first house, "In my experience, after seeing 4 houses, it's difficult to remember the details of the first one. So as you are walking through the house, think out loud about the things you like and don't like. Remember, you won't hurt my feelings if you don't like a house - I didn't pick out the floral wallpaper, so tell me if you don't like it. I'll keep a list of positives and negatives about each house, and at the end of the week, we'll compare them all and pick out your top three." Then after seeing 8-10 houses, I pull out all the sheets, remind them about what they like and don't like, and help them totally rule out most of them. Then we compare the comments to get our top 2 or 3 to go see again and pick one. My clients really like this process and are grateful for my assistance in the home buying journey.
Posted by: Heidi Fore | March 18, 2008 07:33 AM
Ulises,
It sounds like you are doing and saying alot of the correct things with your buyers. A great qualifying question to ask prospective buyers who you first begin to work with is "if I find you a house tomorrow that meets your criteria, are you prepared to write an offer?". Listen closely to their answers and ask follow-up questions accordingly to get to the truth. Ask them what are their "must haves" and what are simply "wants". Explain to them that not every house will necessarily have every single criteria they are looking for, but if a home has 8 out of 10 or 4 out of 5, will they be willing to compromise on the one or two things the home doesn't have. If they aren't willing to make "any" concessions, then they aren't highly motivated to buy a home.
It's okay to tell your clients you think a home is a good value for the price, but you're right in saying that at the end of the day, they have to live there.
If you find that you've shown a client everything there is to see that meets their criteria, and they are still gun shy, then you have to ask yourself if you want to invest any more time in finding them a home. We can end up spinning our wheels and wasting alot of time, if we don't ask the right questions initially.
I hope this helped some.
Jay Lerner, Broker
Keller Williams Portland Central
Posted by: Jay Lerner | March 18, 2008 01:03 PM