"So What's It Gonna Take To Close This Deal?"

The language we use around something as personal and emotional as homes cannot be this brash, surely? Who wants to hear about their home referred to as a 'product'. Who wants to hear agents speaking about a transaction as if their home was a crate of apples? Who wants to hear agents speak about transacting and 'always be closing' when that sounds purely self-serving? Who really wants to hear how quick and easy it was for an agent to make BIG BUCKS selling a home in 24 hours while they sat on a beach? Who really wants to hear about agents "CRUSHING IT"?

While I agree its critically important to message your achievements and successes, the language and manner in which you message this requires much more careful consideration. It requires a little more elegance and possibly even some restraint. One of the elements the consumer resents most about real estate professionals is some of the tackiness and gloating and brash aggression in the language we use. We in the industry understand this language and view it very differently to the outside world. I promise you the outside world does not find it terribly attractive. Some find it downright vulgar.

If we want to be part of a respected profession knowing the work we do is indeed critically important and valuable, we need to act the part too. The lawyer who runs ads on TV promising MILLIONS to those who sue for the most ridiculous claims gives the rest of that profession a bad name. The majority of lawyers suffer because of the minority who broadcast an image of self-serving vulgarity. Do you see the best surgeons boasting how much money they made last year? How do professionals in other fields speak to their clients? Does a concierge at a fine hotel speak to you about revenue per room night when checking in?

Our clients are human beings. Many are emotional and vulnerable around their homes. They invite us into their homes with some hesitation as they will be placing an enormous level of trust in what we do, over an extended period of time. Give them the courtesy, empathy, sensitivity - and language - so that you EARN their trust. People prefer doing business with people they like. Being liked in real estate brokerage is often earned by clearly messaging that you place the interests of your client well before your own. Message clearly that your objective goes well beyond merely the transaction.

Most of us do this already, but in stressful times we forget just how important it is to make sure our language and choice of words and actions reflect this accurately and clearly. We are in the real estate advisory profession, NOT merely the real estate transactions business. I posted this message recently to the 26,000-plus agents at COMPASS that I write to every morning: it was incredibly re-assuring by the hundreds of positive responses I received that most COMPASS agents agree with me on this subject!