Communication in the Real Estate Business

Effective communication is something that everyone knows about, but that very few people actually practice. Communication in real estate is particularly important because miscommunication can cost you a sale. If you fail to establish yourself as a professional agent, and if you are unable to communicate things to your clients, then you might as well have never bothered.

When you are communicating with real estate clients and prospects, there are three main sources of communication that you must cultivate: listening, speaking and body language. These three factors are terribly important, and if you haven’t mastered the skills, this would be a good time to start.

Listening

You’ve probably heard about effective listening before, but did you really understand what was said? Listening means not only hearing what your clients say, but also comprehending their meaning and letting them know you were paying attention.

When clients or prospects talk to you, do you affirm what they say? This means taking their statement, and turning it around into a question or statement of your own. If you are able to reiterate back what someone has said, then you can show that you were actively listening. In turn, this communicates that you care what your client or prospect is saying, and that you value their opinion. A few of the starters for this type of active listening are:

“So what you’re saying is…”
“If I’m understanding you correctly, you’re looking for…”
“So essentially, you need…”

It also helps to go back to prior conversations hours or days after the conversation took place. In real estate, you have to show your clients that you pay attention to what they say and that you do what they ask. You are in a primarily customer-service-oriented business, and following up with clients is a large part of that. Here are a few examples of what you can say to show that you were listening and that you have thought about their question, concern or issue: