Phone Etiquette In Real Estate – The Secret To Effective Communication
Phone etiquette is key to your success as a real estate agent. Follow these nine tips to communicate effectively and provide a positive customer experience over the phone.
Be sure to speak clearly so your caller can understand what you’re saying. You should also listen attentively to their requests and jot down any important information they may give you.
Answering the Phone
It may seem like a no-brainer, but phone answering is an effective communication technique. It’s the easiest way to set up an appointment and show your clients that you take your job seriously.
When you answer the phone, speak clearly and calmly. Similarly, don’t chew gum or munch on snacks while talking on the phone because even discreet mouth-moving can be heard by callers. Enunciate your words to prevent miscommunication, especially when speaking with elderly or hard-of-hearing customers.
If you can’t answer the phone, let the caller know you will be with them shortly. This will prevent them from calling you back after they’ve already left a message and will also keep their expectations realistic. Ideally, you should respond within three rings. If you can’t, ask them to leave a voicemail or schedule a time that works for them. This will help you avoid irritating callers and improve your customer retention.
Smiling
You may consider it cliche, but smiling over the phone is a proven effective real estate communication technique. It lets the caller know you are happy to speak with them and take their request seriously. Smiling is especially important on the telephone because the customer cannot see your body language.
Speaking clearly and calmly is also an important aspect of proper phone etiquette. This ensures that the caller understands you and doesn’t feel rushed. It also shows that you actively listen to their requests and can help them solve their problem.
Texting is one of the most common ways real estate agents communicate with clients. However, it’s important to remember that texting etiquette differs from traditional phone conversations. It would help to keep your business text conversations from becoming too casual or personal, and you must be careful to communicate essential information with clients through this medium.
Interrupting
Some people tend to interrupt, often without realizing it. They may feel that their thoughts are important and must be heard, or they might think that interrupting shows a sense of dominance or alpha behavior. Regardless of the reason, interrupting is not an effective communication technique and can be frustrating for everyone involved.
In addition, interruptions are often used as a form of microaggression. This is because they can make others feel lower in social status. Some people with higher social status might feel they have the right to interrupt those of a lower social rank because it helps them establish dominance.
Speaking clearly and calmly is an effective communication technique. While on the phone with clients, give them your undivided attention by putting aside other tasks and listening carefully to their requests.
You can also jot down notes to help you remember the details. In a customer service industry where acquiring new customers is five to 25 times more expensive than retaining existing ones, excellent phone etiquette is essential for success.
Listening
When you are on a call, focus your attention on the speaker. It is important to screen out distractions like social media, books, or papers and concentrate on listening with empathy.
Be aware of how you feel when the person on the other end expresses joy or sadness, and try to match their tone. Empathy is an effective communication technique that makes your clients feel valued.
Avoid using slang or casual language over the phone. This type of vocabulary can come off as unprofessional and must be clarified for your callers. Instead of saying, “Hang on a sec” when you’re busy, try replacing it with a more formal version like “Just a minute, please.”
Your smartphone is your business lifeline. You must follow key phone and texting etiquette tips for real estate agents to make your interactions more professional. These simple tips can give your callers a better experience and help them achieve their goals.
The Importance Of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in Real Estate
The customer is the king in any market, in general, and in real estate, in particular. This is why excellent customer relations are the key to attaining long-term success.
Clients today need a personalized experience. This is one aspect that finds value within the entire framework of customer handling. With robust customer handling, the company can maintain good relationships, which manifests as augmented sales. However, this section discusses the importance of customer relationships in the real estate business.
Increase The Loyalty Of The Customer.
According to a report by Microsoft, around 96% of clients consider customer service to be one of the key factors in establishing loyalty. Customers who spend their hard-earned money on anything, say an apartment, undoubtedly want the best of services from there. If the customer service rating reaches a point of satisfaction, it reflects in the form of an increase in sales.
Building Strong Brand Relationships
Establishing a strong relationship between the buyer and the seller is challenging as it goes through ruggedness and plane surfaces of satisfaction and disappointment. But as a business, your efforts need to be earnest. Loyal clients also refer to other customers, this is how establishing strong brand relationships helps compound sales and increase the number of clients.
Increased Productivity
Great customer service can immensely help in increasing the productivity of the real estate business. This is because customer service hastens internal operations and helps to draw more clients. When you are successful in integrating more and more clients, then it helps raise the company’s revenue generation.
This is where phone etiquette becomes paramount in the real estate industry. On the other hand, stagnant communication results in less productivity. This is why business enterprises related to the real estate sector, and that too, irrespective of scale, focus on good customer service in highly competitive markets.
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