Whether in front of a small group at a sales meeting or a conference audience, these tips help ease your nerves.

In fourth grade, Sandy Hedenberg suffered a bout of humiliation as a result of her teacher. During a game of Hangman, she accidentally wrote the word “weather” instead of “whether.” When the teacher realized what had happened, she slammed her fist on the desk and yelled that Hedenberg had ruined the game for everyone.  

“She made me horribly afraid of public speaking for most of my life,” states Hedenberg, broker-associate at REAL Broker LLC, in Pitman, N.J., adding that the moment devastated her confidence. She’s also a licensed life coach at Sandy Hedenberg Empowerment Coaching. “Thankfully, my confidence and courage have grown significantly over the last several years, which have completely changed my feelings about public speaking.”

Public speaking is the source of high anxiety for many, according to the Mayo Clinic. The fear of getting in front of people can be petrifying, cause panic attacks and can even trigger physical symptoms like shaking hands or quivering voices. Hedenberg suffered from hives developing on her neck and face. 
Hedenberg is a testament to the fact that this fear can be overcome, however. She spent many hours working on her internal self-talk and coming up with ways to work through her anxious moments, allowing her to face what was once a great fear. Today, she is able to get up in front of crowds with ease. In fact, she recently spoke in front of hundreds at The Triple Play REALTOR® Convention & Trade Expo in New Jersey.

She believes it’s important for anyone in leadership or those who head teams in real estate to ease their anxiety around public speaking.
“From a quality-of-life perspective, you don’t want to walk through life with a low-grade level of anxiety every time you have to do a presentation or talk with clients,” she adds. “When you speak confidently, the people you are speaking with are more receptive to what you are saying and take it in.”

Understanding the Brain’s Response to Public Speaking

Marianna Swallow has been doing theater since she was five years old.

“I love being in front of a crowd. I’ve done improv and stand-up comedy,” says Swallow. She is a professional speaker and conference presenter from Chicago and Charlotte, N.C. She’s also the author of 21 Ways to Engage Your Audience. 
She helps people uncover why they’re afraid of public speaking and offers them guidance to work through their fears.

“There are many reasons why people are afraid of it. I think many have the fear of being judged,” she adds. “The center of your brain, called the lizard brain, freaks out.”

That “lizard brain” or reptilian brain controls basic bodily functions and survival responses like flight-or-flight. Because this part of the brain can’t tell the difference between, say, a tiger chasing a person and the stress response caused by fear of public speaking, it reacts the same way in both situations. 
One must understand that the body’s response does not necessarily mean you’re in danger because you’re about to get on stage. There are things you can do to mitigate the very real bodily response so you can get in front of the crowd and speak with confidence.

Top Tips to Prepare for the Moment

Swallow believes in the right amount of preparation. No matter how well you know a topic, if your lizard brain signals danger, your knowledge will be replaced by a biological response to protect yourself. Preparation makes a difference.

She suggests breaking a topic down into talking points and practicing speaking out loud, well before the event. 

Hedenberg recommends recording yourself while you are practicing, no matter the size of the audience that you’ll be speaking in front of. 

“Then, listen to yourself on the recording. You are putting the messaging in your head,” she adds. Lots of people don’t like the sound of their own voices, but the practice helps train your brain.

Both women emphasize that managing negative self-talk should become part of the planning, whether for a speaking engagement or just in daily life. It’s not necessary to internalize a barrage of affirmations that might feel inaccessible. Simply replace negative self-talk with the facts. 

“Keep saying ‘I am prepared,’” Swallow says. “That goes a long way.”

Hedenberg is intimately familiary with negative self-talk, something that caused her great anxiety in her 20s. What she found beneficial was carrying a little spiral notebook in her handbag or pocket.

“Every time I was thinking negatively, I would stop myself and write down those thoughts, plus add a positive remark,” she says.

An example might look like catching yourself saying something negative if you keep forgetting a line in your presentation. Rather than chastising yourself for missing the line, you could instead say something like, “I’m going to keep practicing and I’ll get it right.”

Once you’re able to recognize your thought patterns, repetition and consistency in analyzing and replacing those patterns with healthier ones helps transform them. It’s about teaching your brain to be aware of your thoughts by writing things down, not just the negative thoughts but your more loving, compassionate thoughts.

Additional Tips to Ease the Burden of Public Speaking

• Pick a power outfit that makes you feel good and comfortable. “When you show up for a presentation, you have to wear something that makes you feel comfortable, and you feel comfortable in,” says Hedenberg. That means don’t wear uncomfortable shoes or a tie, if you don’t like them. “But show up with clothing that gives out the impression you want to make. Dressing well shows that you care about yourself.”
• Know your audience. “Don’t use jokes unless you really know your audience, and don’t start the speech the most boring way ever—‘I’m Marianna Swallow. I’m here to talk about blah, blah, blah.’” She believes in adding in the human connection, such as starting with a story that engages those who are present.
• Make eye contact with a few people. “If you can walk around and be comfortable with the audience, first look at one person, then move to someone else, and so on. It softens the audience and makes you more comfortable.”

National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission

Your leadership style might define how you lead, but certain qualities define how those you lead respond to you.

Some of the traits defining great leadership—like empathy, charisma and vision—are universal, no matter what kind of industry you lead in. Much of the time, these qualities are innate, but it’s also true that with time and effort, they can be cultivated. Here’s a look at what defines the best leaders and why it’s so important.

Empathetic

“A pillar of good leadership is healthy emotional intelligence,” says Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, author of A Leader’s Destiny: Why Psychology, Personality and Character Make All the Difference. “This refers to qualities, such as empathy, self-awareness, social awareness and the ability to take one’s psychological temperature and that of others.” Robert Morris, a Tennessee-based selling broker who leads real estate seminars, agrees. “Brokers wear a lot of hats,” he says. “We’re everything from psychologist to confidant and friend. There’s more going on than just real estate. We’re managing people and their emotions and the things in their lives. If you’re a good manager, you’re plugged in to all those pieces.”

Visionary

“Most leaders get paralyzed feeling they need to be clairvoyant and see 10 years ahead,” says William Vanderbloemen, who authored Be the Unicorn; 12 Data-Driven Habits that Separate the Best Leaders from the Rest. But that kind of foresight is unrealistic, he reassures. Instead, try to predict six months out, then act to be “a half-step ahead of your competition.”

Charismatic

An attractive personality is a must to earn trust, says Cindi Bulla, GRI, broker-owner of Realty Central Services in Amarillo, Texas. That’s because charisma helps “inspire followers to translate a leader’s vision into reality,” adds Aboujaoude. Although you can’t completely change your personality, you can tweak behaviors to improve how you come across. For instance, when speaking with someone, remove all distractions like your phone to show them you’re engaged, suggests Ruth Gotian, author of The Success Factor and The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring. Try to make more eye contact, use accessible language everyone can understand and vary the pitch and tone of your voice.

Motivational

“The most successful people chase a North Star or a high goal,” says Vanderbloemen. “The higher your North Star, the farther you’ll go.” To motivate agents, elevate their inspiration beyond exceeding last year’s sales, he suggests. Instead, center them around a purpose, like “we’re a people company that sells homes to let families lead great lives.”

Supportive

Good leaders feel “a genuine desire to lift others, rather than enshrine oneself or fulfill a God-given ‘right’ to lead,” says Aboujaoude. To bring out the best in agents, provide clear directions and expectations and offer resources and assistance, counsels Morris. Then, tell them they can do it and let them do it—don’t micromanage, he urges. By encouraging agents, you’ll help build their confidence, which will lead to better work performance.

Respectful

“Leadership starts with respect,” says Bulla. She doesn’t refer to herself as a boss or CEO, but rather as a leader or business owner. “My agents are fully capable of being brokers but have decided to focus on the consumer side and let me focus on the brokerage side,” she says. “By doing that, we are no less equal. I see it as them hiring me versus me hiring them. There’s no other explanation for our business model except they hired me for a service. They pay me what I convince them I’m worth.”

Communicative

Naturally, you need to be able to clearly and effectively share information. But listening is just as important. In fact, every great leader Vanderbloemen has encountered centers their conversations on others rather than talking about themselves. “Smart people ask more questions,” he says. To show agents you’ve heard them, try summarizing what they said and asking if you understood them correctly, suggests Gotian.

Dependable

When he managed a large team of agents, Morris kept regular office hours and was always available by phone or text. “It’s important to be in the office where agents can reach you,” he emphasizes. “Otherwise, why are you managing if you’re not there?” On a related note, always keep your commitments, Vanderbloemen adds. “Most people are horrible at following up on promises. So, if you do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it and at the cost you promised, you’ll be in the top 1% of your industry.”

Honorable

One of Morris’ favorite quotes is “the speed of the leader determines the speed of the pack.” That’s because leaders are role models, he explains. So, make sure your agents see you following the rules and continuing to further your professional education. “I live by the golden rule,” he reveals. “I treat people the way I want to be treated and never ask them to do something I’m not willing to do.”

Competent

Along with her years in the field, Bulla has held multiple leadership roles at the local, state and National Association of REALTORS®. As a result, she’s aware of industry trends and potential threats and opportunities—knowledge she passes on to agents. Such skill and competence are especially imperative in challenging markets, when agents need leaders who can quickly diagnose and solve problems, she says. Have situations under control and then make sure you project that you do. That way, agents will know you’re the great leader you are.

National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission

Real estate is a non-linear business, which makes some feel unstable, but as a broker, you can provide that sense of balance.

Change is a constant—especially in the real estate industry. That’s why brokers are so important. With the terrain constantly shifting, agents need the reassurance of leaders who’ve seen it all and come out ahead. “Brokers must be the calm in the storm that tells everyone, ‘it’s going to be okay,’” says Robert Morris, a Tennessee-based selling broker who leads real estate seminars. Here’s how to give them a sense of security.

Offer Perspective

Your experience is an asset when it comes to assuaging agents’ fears. Communicate how highs and lows are part of the business, especially with agents who’ve never experienced a challenging market. So, if you have stories about how you navigated similarly rough times, share them. “Having seen these things before, it gives some level of comfort that this too shall pass,” says Morris, who’s been in real estate for 40 years. “There’ve been changes all along and we’re still standing.”

Model Calm and Optimism

Agents follow their leader. That’s why it’s so important to remain calm. “Nothing makes me panic because I have seen it all,” says Ben G. Schachter, the Florida-based broker and president of The Signature Real Estate Companies and co-founder and head of sales of TotalBrokerage Software. “I don’t panic because the reality is when you run a large successful business, you take different hits every day.”

Along with maintaining your composure, try to project optimism, he adds. “The moment a leader shows pessimism or frustration or depression is the start of a cancerous growth in the organization. You never want that. You always want positivity, even when the market slows down. Even when you’ve lost a chunk of business. It’s always sunny skies ahead.”

Be Brief

In times of greater instability, “no one needs the details,” says Ruth Gotian, Ed. D, author of “The Success Factor” and “The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring.” Too many details can often be overwhelming. Instead, agents want to know their leader has made decisions based on the best available information. To ease their anxiety, keep your messages brief, she suggests. Imagine you’re a newscaster and report what happened, what you’re doing about it, and why they’ll be OK.

Make Yourself Available

Morris will never forget an agent he knew who was struggling with his mental state and had plans of self-harm. When this agent was having second thoughts, he called his broker to talk. Unfortunately, the broker couldn’t chat because they were heading to a closing—and the agent went ahead with his plan. “I always say to brokers: ‘this is your flock. You need to be around to see what people are going through,’” he reminds.

Your agents might not be in such a dire condition, and you are not by any means a doctor or mental health expert, but an agent may reach out when they need you, whether for a personal or professional matter. It’s important that you are available and cognizant of where some agents might be struggling, and it’s also important to have the resources needed to guide them to help if help is needed.

Maintain Vigilance

If one of your agents is acting atypically, ask them what’s going on, suggests Morris. If they’re dealing with something important—say, their child was just suspended from school—suggest they leave to handle the issue while you and your team cover their work. Not only will they feel more at ease once they address the problem; their anxiety could distract others in the office, he explains. “Remove those types of challenges to keep a good cohesive environment.”

Offer Support

“Remind agents this is a stressful industry and it’s normal to feel some kind of stress,” says Morris. “What’s key is how we handle the stress we have.” By normalizing anxiety, your agents will feel more comfortable admitting when they’re struggling. To encourage them to share, consider creating a support group in your office, he suggests.

Partner With Your Agents

To help her agents appeal to prospects and feel more confident, Cindi Bulla, broker-owner, Realty Central Services in Texas, partners with them. “It’s like we have one resume,” she says, explaining their resume also includes her accomplishments. “I am selling them what I bring to the table for them to brag about [to their clients and prospects]. They can say, ‘my broker partner is this, and this, and this.’ If they’re competing with someone with 20 or 30 years of experience, all they have to say is, ‘you have my enthusiasm and my outside-the-box youthful approach to marketing plus all the experience my broker brings.’”

Offer Recognition

“We all like to be acknowledged, to know that we matter and are making a difference,” says Morris. So, give frequent awards, he suggests. Recognize agents who sell the most in dollars. But also reward those who sell the most total units or are the most helpful in the office. “Look at different ways to recognize and honor people’s efforts and make sure everybody has a chance of winning.”

Coach Agents to Use Downtime

“Success is where preparation and opportunity meet,” reminds Morris. So, encourage your agents to up-skill in slower markets. Sometimes, agents waffle when things slow down, and they have trouble figuring out how to maintain momentum. During less busy periods, remind them that they’ll have time to take classes and earn more certifications, he says. “That way, when opportunity knocks, they can answer.” 

National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission

Communication within a brokerage starts at the top. Set your agents and your office up for success by modeling open, frequent communication.

Good communication is central to the success of businesses no matter the industry. This is especially true, however, in the real estate sector where stakeholders across multiple aspects of the sales process must be able to share insightful information quickly, reliably and professionally.

Clear lines of communication must always be available between brokers, managers, agents and clients to ensure all parties are updated when circumstances change, which can happen frequently and without much warning. This is particularly important for agents and brokers overseeing the minutiae of real estate transactions.

To help brokers and agents ensure operations run smoothly, and to aid all parties in building trusting relationships, below are some strategies for enhancing broker-agent communication.

Identify Communication Issues

To enhance broker-agent communication, it’s first important for brokers to remember the various unique issues that their agents face in the field, like sometimes constant communication with clients, factors that change quickly and without warning and unforseen issues or delays. It’s up to the broker to model prompt, concise and insightful communication with regularity so that agents have an example of what to emulate to their business partners and clients.

There are also common communication barriers that brokers will want to consider when assessing the root cause of communication breakdowns in the office:

• Language barriers – Around 20% of US citizens speak multiple languages, though in some locations this figure is much higher. Brokers working in multilingual locations need to understand the language needs of their agents and their clients to be able to communicate effectively. 
• Geographical circumstances – In some cases, brokers and agents may be situated in different localities or states during the completion of a real estate transaction. This can impact communication capabilities, especially if different time zones are involved. Brokers need to accommodate for geographical circumstances.
• Conflicting objectives – Brokers and agents may simply have different priorities and timelines in mind when ironing out the finer details of a transaction. They might also have different priorities for their businesses. If neither party is willing to adjust, they may find themselves facing a communication impasse.
• Difference in communication style – Some professionals have a deeply entrenched communication style that may exist at odds to another’s. If one party prefers concise messages and the other is detail oriented, a middle ground will need to be located. 

Analyze Current Communication Practices

Understanding the above communication issues will help brokers and agents understand where improvements could be made. However, to ensure alterations are effective, it’s important to analyze existing communication practices to highlight potential weaknesses.

This process involves a review of current communication methods. Stakeholders should consider how communications are typically approached. For example, are messages usually relayed over the phone? Are emails preferred? Are office meetings a common occurrence?

By analyzing current communication preferences, and comparing these findings to common communication issues, stakeholders can highlight gaps in their process that need to be filled.

Strategies to Enhance Broker-Agent Communication

Now that the groundwork has been done, it’s time to determine specific strategies that real estate professionals can pursue to enhance broker-agent communication. Below are some key tips to consider when optimizing communication methods for better business outcomes. 

Develop a culture of collaboration

For any communication tools, technologies and methodologies to be effective, professionals must first develop a workplace culture focused on collaboration. Ensuring that all parties feel comfortable communicating with one another will help ensure a streamlined approach during complicated transactions. Encouraging brokers, agents and any other key parties to share ideas openly and with regularity will help foster an effective communication process.

This principle doesn’t apply solely to brokers and agents, either. It can be adopted between agents and homebuyers and landlords and tenants. Regular, transparent communication that aims for proactivity rather than reactivity helps to ensure smooth and simple transactions.

Utilize digital communication tools

To support brokers and agents in freely communicating information promptly, it’s important to use responsive and easily-accessible communication tools. This includes software solutions like project management systems, instant messaging services and video conferencing tools.

Brokers and agents should be able to access these tools at all times, which means brokers will want to look into services and platforms that can be installed on smart devices, rather than constrained to the office or a computer. It’s also wise to discuss with agents what’s reasonable when it comes to acknowledging notifications and figuring out response times. That way, everyone is on the same page, and no updates are unintentionally ignored. 

Pursue continuous training initiatives

The best practices governing effective communication between brokers and agents should be frequently reaffirmed to ensure all parties continue to follow them. Continuous training helps to keep such ideas fresh in everyone’s minds to aid long-term working relationships.

All parties should be encouraged to engage with workshops, meetings and courses intended to hone their communication skills in relation to new tools and techniques. Initiatives can also be used to provide a structured environment for parties to share unique thoughts and ideas.

Implement KPIs for communication

To measure the efficacy of new and existing communication strategies, stakeholders should think about which key performance indicators they associate with effective communication. This could include metrics like response times, communication tool usage, productivity after new measures have been implemented and insightful feedback from clients and colleagues.

KPIs can be frequently assessed to highlight the efficacy of new processes and identify any areas that still need improvement. During this review process, feedback from stakeholders can also be analyzed to help all parties continuously optimize shared communication efforts.

To ensure brokers and agents are positioned to update each other with key information and changes effectively, time must be dedicated to the development and continuous improvement of communication strategies.

By understanding common industry-specific communication challenges, analyzing existing communication practices and implementing new strategies positioned to action these issues, brokers and agents can enhance communication practices to improve business outcomes.

National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission

Mentorship programs can boost agent success and increase morale.

The company that Jon Yacovetta works for was pretty new in 2020, with a lot of growth due to an influx of new agents coming on board. 

“I have a background in education and leadership, and I had phenomenal mentorship myself from Bret Weinstein, our founder and CEO,” says the Director of Mentoring at Guide Real Estate, in Aurora, Colo. “So, as we were taking on these new agents, Bret thought it would be a good idea for me to put those skills and what I learned from him to use, and to teach these new agents how to do real estate and provide the supervision all new agents require.” 

After the initiative proved successful, Yacovetta and Weinstein decided to implement a formal mentorship program, which took off and became a magnet for attracting talent. When executed well, a mentorship program can make a huge difference for agents and the brokerage, helping agents gain confidence and clients and thus bringing in more money.

He adds that it also becomes a point for recruitment and growth, plus it creates new opportunities for producing agents to earn and to add to their experience and expertise.

Mentorship Makes a Difference

Ahmed Islam grew up in Dubai but came to New York City when he was 16. After getting his real estate license and working for several years in the industry, he entered a mentorship program offered through the National Association of REALTORS® as a mentee. His main reason was that he felt he needed more guidance and basic advice to enter the world of commercial real estate.

“I’d go to commercial brokerages, and they’d tell I just wasn’t ready for it,” he adds. “I had a lack of experience in it.” 

He’d identified a California agent in the commercial sector who he wanted to learn from. “The good thing about him was he went above and beyond. He taught me a lot of motivational stuff, not just work. I hit the jackpot,” he states. 

“Being mentored helped me bridge the gap from residential to commercial. I had tried to get into commercial for seven years,” says Islam, who is now a commercial real estate specialist and partner at Prime Realty Services in Camp Hill, Pa. 

Because of his great experience as a mentee, Islam became a mentor and has served as one for the past three years. 

“Being a mentor is giving back like all the people that paved the way for me,” he adds. “They took time out of their schedule to help me. They were selfless. No one was paying them.”

Considerations for a Mentorship Program

“There are many benefits to having a mentorship program, like more successful agents and fostering a feeling of giving back for mentors,” says Yacovetta. “It just has to be done right, and that’s the most difficult part.”

He explains what’s helped his brokerage create and maintain a successful mentorship program:

Assign someone to run it 

“A mentorship program will not get off the ground without dedicated personnel,” he says. In order to implement a formalized program, someone must have the time and capacity to run it. Consider hiring a staff member or making the mentorship program the main focus of an associate broker’s job.  

Leaders need to invest in the program

Simply deciding to create a mentorship program isn’t enough. You have to be willing to see the initiative through and make clear your investment in it. “At the leadership level, the leaders have to be passionate about agent quality and growth. They have to be patient enough to understand the plight of new agents and be willing to endure those plights.”

Bring in agents who want to be mentored

A motivated agent will be more successful in a mentorship program than one who’s uninterested,” Yacovetta says. “That’s why it’s important to consider offering mentorship to a dedicated few who really want to be mentored. “We recruit like-minded individuals who want to learn and who want to be led. So, being careful about who we bring on certainly plays a part in the longevity of the program. We’ve had 35 agents make it through the program.”

Let potential mentors voice their interest 

“If they want to be a mentor, they’re already on board,” he adds. The ones who are interested come to him to help out, and no one is ever required to do it. “They’ve already had the experience in real estate to know that new agents need help in order to survive.” They also want to provide that help to better the agent and the industry.  

Guide the trainers 

Meeting with the mentors once a week to check on their mindset, their process and how their mentees are doing keeps the program running smoothly.  To be a mentor, agents must agree to provide supervision as stipulated per their regulatory agency, and have closed a minimum of 75 transactions. 

Guide the mentees 

Those who are interested in the program meet with Yacovetta in-person, and they go over the mentorship agreement, which outlines the entire program, expectations, and criteria for graduation.

Require time together 

At Guide Real Estate, mentors must meet with their mentees at least once per week for accountability purposes, goal tracking and general support. The mentoring, however, is highly variable, Yacovetta says. Mentees are enrolled in the program for their first five transactions and must complete a series of classes and practical application tasks to graduate. The mentors can tailor their process based on what the mentee needs.

Offer the right resources 

Mentors need to ensure that mentees have access to as many educational and systematic resources as possible, Yacovetta advises. For example, they need a CRM. Also, they should know where to seek out classes to build their skill set and to stay up on their continuing education credits. A mentee also needs to know who their network is within the program. “There should be a clear phone tree in place in the event the mentee has an emergency and that mentor is not immediately available,” he adds.

The Benefits of Mentorship for the Brokerage

Islam believes if the agent advances in their business, the brokerage grows as a result.

“A brokerage should have a lot of interest in strengthening their agents, which helps them. How will they succeed if we don’t help them?” he asks. 

He also feels that those connections between mentors and mentees can flourish friendships throughout the industry, strengthening the industry.

“I have remained friends with my mentor. He knows a lot of people. He’s the connector with somebody that I want to connect with. He always introduces me to people all the time,” Islam says. 

He also believes that the new agents can teach the experienced agents things they never knew before or encourage them to try something they wouldn’t have attempted previously, like social media and new technologies. It’s a win-win for a brokerage for the different generations to learn from one another and benefit from each other’s skill sets. 

Yacovetta’s brokerage chooses to keep costs low for agents, which means they rely on agents to make sales in order to bring in money. Since that’s the case, their agents need to feel confident in the field and they need to produce. This makes a mentorship program a natural fit to boost agent—and thus, brokerage—success. 

“We only make money if they’re making money. So, it is certainly a mutually beneficial situation. We put in the time and the resources up front,” he states. “If the agent finds success, the investment pays off for everyone.”

Successful mentorship programs aren’t just a boon for the mentees, either. A good one offers incentives for the mentor as well. 

“I’ve certainly grown as an agent, a mentor and a leader,” Yacovetta says.

National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission

Personalized service and transparent communication go a long way in making a customer happy.

Starting a career in real estate can be daunting yet rewarding. Transitioning educational knowledge into building relationships with prospective buyers requires humility and a determination to perfect the craft.

When I was a newbie in the industry, my strategy began with dedicating time to learning from leaders who excelled at providing unique customer experiences that left a lasting impression. Their advice offered insight into the different dynamics of the real estate industry.

Agents look to brokers as leaders and rely on broker support to help them define and implement successful customer satisfaction practices. Brokers succeed when they are committed to leading their agents and providing them with the resources and community necessary to foster relationships.

Our success at Stone Martin Builders (SMB) is directly related to the lessons I learned through my professional community, composed of industry leaders and a diverse group of real estate professionals that I found through my involvement with local real estate organizations. As a company, we’ve learned that these three simple and effective tools have helped us maintain buyer satisfaction that exceeds expectations:

• Build dynamic teams committed to buyer success
• Be comfortable having difficult conversations 
• Customer satisfaction extends beyond the process; always aim to offer more

At SMB, being a trusted advisor to prospective buyers requires the right support. All our teams provide a seamless experience and guide home buyers through each stage of the process. Relationship building is at the helm of how we operate, which is the key takeaway for brokers to relay to their agents.

Building a relationship with the buyer and their family starts with understanding who they are, what goals they want to achieve and where they are in the homebuying journey. Once an agent understands these factors, they need to be equipped with the tools and resources to help guide buyers to their goals.

A brokerage needs to offer the right support so that agents can focus on the client. This might look like regular check-ins with agents to ensure they are committed to their clients’ goals and providing the resources an agent needs—a transaction coordinator, marketing support, educational opportunities, technology, etc.

Encourage Empathy

As experts in the homebuying space, we are all trying to empower buyers by providing the right amount of information to educate without causing overwhelm. As I train real estate professionals, I like to reinforce that we should walk alongside buyers, ensuring they understand that their agent is not here to push them into something they are not prepared for. Additionally, as buyers advance in the homebuying process, real estate practitioners should show empathy and compassion. Not all clients come with the same level of preparation and knowledge of the process, and it is the agent’s job to be their guide.

The Value of Feedback

Asking for feedback can also help an agent navigate new ways to personalize the buyer’s experience. For example, we implemented the buyer satisfaction survey. We provide this survey at three points: at closing, 30 days post-close, and one year post-close. This allows SMB to gauge what areas in our process call for improvement.

Create the Right Environment

In this industry, it is crucial to be comfortable having transparent conversations with buyers who might want to avoid important information, like the state of their finances. These conversations can oftentimes be difficult or uncomfortable for clients. But understanding a client’s financial circumstances helps inform the sale, so agents who are informed are better prepared to help their clients. As a broker, troubleshoot situations that involve uncomfortable conversations with your agents. Give agents tools to help create a relaxed environment during first introductions so that they can increase buyers’ willingness to be open about their financial circumstances.

Take the Extra Step

Agents should provide the same level of service to all clients, but they can also tailor their approach to the client’s needs. For example, when necessary, taking an extra step with detail-oriented buyers can aid in easing concerns. SMB agent teams in the Huntsville, Ala., area commonly work with buyers who are engineers or government employees who seek a deeper understanding of the building process. As an extra level of service, these agents facilitate opportunities for buyers to meet with the build team. This extra step reinforces the buyer’s trust in the agent.

In these unique circumstances, additional steps may prolong the process, but brokers will want to emphasize that agents should not be deterred. Earlier in my career as a new real estate professional, I worked with an entrepreneur who was a first-time homebuyer. This buyer needed more information to understand the process. I provided all the information and documentation needed, and it made the process longer. However, seeing the process through to completion and watching him get his keys was rewarding. We saw our hard work pay off in real time.

It’s important that brokers remember agents are representatives of the brokerage. When brokers meet the needs of their buyers and aim to offer that extra step in service, they can build a lasting relationship with the company, often resulting in referrals to family and friends who are ready to enter the real estate market.

Communicate Often and With Clarity

Delays in the home-building process that are outside an agent’s control can negatively impact customer satisfaction, such as delays in materials or inclement weather. Materials that are slow to arrive are two examples. In these situations, effective communication is non-negotiable. I have found communicating weekly with the buyer about where they are in the homebuying process is necessary to navigate the process.

Unwanted surprises can also trip up momentum. Providing photos or videos of the home in its various stages during the building process prevents these hiccups. In rare instances where quality does not meet customer satisfaction, having customer service representatives contact home buyers who have had negative experiences can help. Seeking constantly to improve, this feedback is an opportunity to gain experience, as these instances can be used as case studies for sales teams’ training efforts. Team members learn how to rectify these situations as they impact the homebuying journey.

National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission