Learning What Prospective Clients
Need, Want & Expect

Prospective clients are leads who are open to buying or selling real estate. If they don't hire you, they will probably hire another agent.

Your task is to help them choose you as their agent.

By learning about prospective clients, you start building a relationship with them. Through this relationship, you will also help them learn more…you, the market and how you can help them in this market.

By helping them learn more, you will also help them choose you.

Build a Relationship As You Learn More

Not only will this information-gathering process help you learn more about your potential clients, it will help you build a relationship with them.

What You Need To Know
About Prospective Clients

And just as certainly, all clients expect good client service from their agents.

However, to convert prospective clients to actual clients, you will need specific information about them. This information will include:

• basic identification
  • name
  • contact data
  • currently own or rent their home
  • how long lived in current home
• interested in
  • buying
  • selling
  • renting
• competition
  • are they talking to other agents
  • have they hired another agent
• dreams
  • what is their dream in life
  • in real estate
• what do they like and dislike about their current home
• family
  • spouse
  • partner
  • children
  • other members of the household, including pets
• location
  • where is their current home located
  • where will they move to
• motivation: are they
  • relocating
  • upsizing
  • downsizing
  • is there a change in their domestic situation
• occupation
  • How and where do they earn a living
  • what trends and changes are affecting the workplace
• recreation
  • what do they do when they are not working
  • where do they go on their vacations
• timeframe
  • when do they want to move
  • when must they move

Note that this list is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of what you need to know about prospective clients. Use it as a starting point to develop you own list that reflects you and your market.

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Persistence Pays

This usually means having among other things, backbone, chutzpah, determination, intestinal fortitude, spunk and stick-to-it-iveness.

It includes following up on all leads and continuing to follow up until you not only make contact, but have a meaningful conversation with these people.

Help Prospective Clients Learn More...

Strategy AM-1 (Go Narrow Go Deep) outlines the importance of learning as much as you can about the market you serve.

This market knowledge positions you as an expert and helps attract prospects.

Don’t keep this knowledge to yourself. Tell prospects about what is happening in the market in which they are interested.

...About you

There is cliché that suggests: people don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care.

In practice, this means don’t tell prospects how much you know. Show them how much you care about them.

Be as helpful as you can without becoming intrusive and overbearing.

Without bragging, let them know how you have helped other people like them.

Allow testimonials and third party endorsements do your talking for you.

The more that potential clients know about you and how you can help them, the more likely it is that they will select you.

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Converting Prospects To Clients

1. Qualify them

For sellers this means satisfying yourself that they are ready willing and able to sell the property they want to list.

For buyers it means satisfying yourself that they have the resources to purchase the type of property they are seeking.

Avoid getting bogged down in complex qualification processes. Keep them simple.

2. Get Hired

In a nutshell this means prospective clients specifically agreeing to hire you.

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