The Talent of Showing Property
A large part of a real estate agent’s job description is: “Take people out and keep showing them property until they find one they want.” Sales agents know that they need to showing enough property so that the consumer feels comfortable making a decision. In my experience many agents doing rentals don’t want to show enough homes. The primary issue is that the rental commissions are smaller and the typical agent doesn’t want to put the time and effort in. This is a short sighted approach.
Every rental agent knows that time pressure is important and as a result one of the first questions agents ask a prospect is “When do you need to be in your new apartment?” A much better question is “Why are you moving?” When you ask them “Why” they will start telling you their story and you will find out how motivated they are to move and in answering your question they will almost always tell you their time frame. If they don’t give you the “When” after you ask “Why” simply follow up with “When would you like to be in your new home?”
Persistence Pays – Always
A motivated individual needs a place to live. They are going to rent a new home. A good agent is going to keep showing them property until they have seen enough to know the right home when they walk into it. Fundamentally the more homes you show someone the greater the odds are that they will rent one from you. Successful rental agents will take people out multiple times and show them as many properties as needed. One of the things an agent can do to improve their closing ratio is to say this to every prospect on the first appointment “I know you need to see what’s out there so that you feel comfortable making a decision. I want you to know that I will show you as many listings as you want to see”.
One common error is for an agent to think “I have shown them everything that fits their criteria. There are only 4 apartments that fill their needs and I have shown them all already”. I call this type of agent the “order taker” and they don’t do very well in real estate. People change their minds all the time and most people compromise. The home people end up renting is often very different from their original “wish list”. You have to keep showing them what their options are until they come to grips with the realities of the marketplace. Here is a “link” to one of my training pieces that I give to every new agent called “Real Estate 101”. Agents that can grasp these fundamental principles will make more money and enjoy the real estate business a lot more than agents that don’t.
About Greg Young
Greg Young is the owner and President of Broker Heaven NY, a real estate training and consulting firm located in Manhattan devoted to helping agents and companies reach their full potential. Greg has trained thousands of agents over his 30 year career and has created numerous rental and sales training programs.