Clients to Friendships

For me the most gratifying part of my job is when you have a client tell you that they like what you have done for them. Or, they like how you think for them. Knowing that client appeciate my efforts makes it worth while and encouraging. It tells me also that in this job there is opportunity to also extend the relationship from clients to friendships.

There is a lot of competition between real estate agents for business and if the only factor that can be adjusted is commission than we are mostly doomed because the next new player could always have a lower rate. When I started in this business I was asked to think about what can set me apart from others? This was a great excercise because it made me think about my skills and my personality. It made me think of how much I would do for my friends and how they would come to me for help and how they could expect honest answers even if its not what they want to hear. This is what I have packaged together as part of the service I now provide to my clients. This is how I distinguish myself and where I claim my value. From this perspective clients develop a loyalty to me which I respect and return in different forms of favours and gifts. It's not about the money anymore, it's about the relationship - mutual consideration - friendship. The best part becomes the moment when someone tells you what a fabulous job you have done in help / caring for their interests - this is my most rewarding experience.

I realised quite early on that with so much competition in marketplace, a real estate agent must bring more to the table than just a low price. There's always someone that's willing to beat the price but it is much more difficult to beat a personality and high regard for a near stranger.
I strongly believe that technology has already loosened the real estate agents grip on connecting buyer to seller and a real estate agent's value is now going back to the basics of providing good service and client care. The role is now to provide a time saving service that clients aren't available to do for themselves because of their own busy careers. Business owners can appreciate this the most because they learn that they should focus their time on where they can earn the most money and outsource anything that takes away from the main business. The question becomes, how much is your time worth and if having a professional handle your problem saves you time from having to do it yourself and loosing money from your main business.