As a follow-up to this week’s blog posts on pricing, it’s an appropiate juncture to discuss healthy ways in which to communicate with your most challenging clients. Perhaps those who repeatedly refuse to heed your advice on marketing their home would fit nicely into this category. Thus we suggest ten tips for communicating with them appropriately and successfully.
1.) Maintain Self Control – When you lose your self control, you also lose your client’s respect. Once that occurs, it’s extremely difficult to get it back.
2.) Ask Non Threatening Questions – When individuals are placed on the defensive, communication ususally breaks down.
3.) Listen to Their Reasoning – They just may offer a perspective that you hadn’t thought about.
4.) Acknowledge the Problem – Acknowledgement is an effective way of showing that you understand.
5.) Don’t Argue – Arguing also puts people on the defensive and creates a total breakdown in communication.
6.) Empathize – Verbalizing that you care lays the foundation for a solution oriented discussion.
7.) Offer Solutions – Think of your relationship with your client as a partnership. Part of the value that you bring is to offer solutions.
8.) Continue to Act Professionally – On occassion your reputation is all you have. A good reputation is difficult to maintain when you act less than professional.
9.) Analyze What Went Wrong – In real estate, and business in general, similar challenges tend to repeat themselves. Understanding the things that you could have done differently, without dwelling on them, can be helpful when a similar situation arises again.
10.) Set Limits as to What You Will Tolerate – Sometimes a relationship just doesn’t work. Your fiduciary responsibility to your client does not include abuse. Even when it’s verbal, if your client continues to display a lack of respect for you or your professionalism, it may be time to cut ties.
Have you ever had to terminate a relationship with a client?
What other affective communication techniques have you employed?
Please share in the comment section below.
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