One of the most important skills in real estate is the ability to qualify clients. You need to know each client’s experience in real estate, their level of involvement, and their reasons for buying or selling right now. A lot of agents fail to ask the proper questions to get them the vital information they need, but there are really only three basic bits of information you need to know to qualify your client: Why, How, and When.
Most agents ask a lot of “When” questions such as, “When do you want to go to market?” or “When do you need to be moved into your new place?” or “When would you like for me to come by?” Then at the listing presentation level agents switch to “How” questions: “How do you want to see your property marketed?” or “How do you want to proceed with me as your agent?” The most important questions, however, are the “Why” questions.
“Why” questions tell you what your client’s motivation is to do a deal, whether buying or selling. Why are they buying/selling their property? Why did they choose to live where they are moving? “Why” questions are about death, marriage, divorce, relocation, financial gain, financial loss, or the client’s chosen lifestyle. Once you know “Why” then you know exactly which other questions you need to ask and what information you need to know in order to qualify your client. For example, you can easily ask your client, “Do you need to sell in order to be able to buy?” They will tell you yes or no, but you still need to know what their actual reasoning is and whether they might potentially be a seller or even a landlord.
Here is an example line of questioning you can use, beginning with “Why”;
Why are you moving? This tells you the client’s motivation.
When do you need to be moved into your new place? This gives you their timeline.
Where are you looking to live? This tells you about your client’s target marketplace.
Have you inquired about any properties, or been to any other opens? This tells you how involved they have been thus far in their process.
Have you bid on anything, or made any offers? This tells you how far they are in the sales process.
And possibly the most important question you have been working toward is,
Is this your first, second or third purchase in the area? If this is their second or third deal, then you know you are working with a higher-level client, possibly at property management level, and you definitely want to meet with them personally to view their property.
Whether you are writing fees of $50,000 a year or $2.13 million, you must understand the best ways to execute the qualification process. It’s all about establishing relationships with your clients that will build your business over time and make you the best real estate agent you can be.
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.