Over the weekend, an agent had a client request for a showing on a second property. The problem was, that client STILL hadn’t gotten her pre-approval letter. The agent was faced with a tough choice…take the client out, knowing that there was a chance they would NEVER be a buyer, or refuse to do the showing until the client had the PAL and maybe loose a potential client and sale. It’s a difficult choice and a difficult conversation, either way. And we have all faced it.
What if there were a way to set expectations early…during the initial consultation…to prevent having to make those uncomfortable choices/conversations? Well, there is. And it is as simple as it is effective.
We call it a “social contract”, a slight misnomer, but it gets the point across. During your initial consultation, after you have decided if this is a client you would like to work with, state the following:
“I will do (some action that you will commit to that is of value to the customer) so long as you are serious and so long as we are making progress. The number one way you show me you are serious is getting that pre-approval letter. Making progress means that we are narrowing our choices as we go. If we are a couple weeks into our search and we are still all over the map…literally or figuratively… we are not making progress. Fair enough?”
Without fail, the customer will commit to your terms, effectively creating that social contract. You are now committed to delivering that thing of value you promised, and they are obligated to being serious and making progress.
Fill in the blank with what you offer the client that is of value. For me, it’s time. So, mine looks like, “I will commit to giving you all of my time that it takes to find your home, so long as you are serious and so long as we are making progress.”
So what does this do? First, it sets expectations. I am going to do this…you are going to do that. It is a way of ensuring that you offer excellent service (we are in a service industry, after all) while maintaining control of the relationship and preventing customers/clients from wasting your time. It sets boundaries, an issue most newer agents struggle with. When the client fails to deliver on one of their commitments, the conversation needed to get back on track …or to eliminate them from your pipeline BEFORE they suck away all your time…is MUCH easier.. It goes something like this:
“Remember during our first meeting when I said I would ____________ so long as you are serious and so long as we are making progress? Without that pre-approval, I can’t tell if we’re serious – OR – I feel like we need to re-evaluate our wish list…maybe we can assign numerical priorities to each item to really get a feel for what’s a deal breaker and what isn’t.” At Sage, we then use the “Psychology of Choice” theory to weight the wish list appropriately, but that’s a topic for another day.
It’s a MUCH easier conversation, because 1) they have already heard it and 2) most clients will feel the weight of the obligation they committed themselves to. If they don’t comply, it’s time to cut them loose, an action made easier because they have shown themselves to be less than serious buyers. You can move on, knowing that you’re not leaving an active, serious buyer relationship and focus your time and attention on a more deserving customer.