Don’t Blow These 9 Trust Building Secrets
Part of having a niche is the ability to build more/stronger trust with your ideal clients.
Being the “expert” is one of the best ways to do this. Would you ever work with someone you didn’t trust?
My guess is that you’d rather work with someone who you knew you could trust right? Well clients are no different. They want to work with a professional that they not only know and like, but trust as well. And for most, trust doesn’t happen overnight; building trust is an ongoing process.
If you are interested in building trust with your existing and new niche clients then make sure you don’t blow these 9 trust building secrets. (Some of these may seem obvious, but if you are like me, then I bet there are a few here you could work on…)
Setting Client Roles Upfront
Sometimes new buyers/sellers don’t know what their role is in the home buying and selling process and sometimes experienced clients THINK they know what their role is and may be over stepping. (Admit it, we have all had those type of clients) When your clients are clear about their roles they will be clear about the expectations and time lines as well. This will help you and your clients work together as a team which will allow you ALL to move forward if you run into any roadblocks. Step one will definitely ensure that trust is gained on both sides.
Keep Your Promises
Sometimes this seems so simple and obvious, but it needs to be mentioned. If you promise to get the photographer arranged on a particular day, make sure it’s done when you said. If you say you will meet them at 6:00 pm, meet them at 6:00 pm, not 6:05 pm… It may seem unimportant or trivial and you may brush it off as being a few minutes late but every time you don’t hold onto these promises, you lose your clients trust.
Respect Their Time
If you are in a meeting with your clients and you have time booked to be with them, then they are your only concern. Your clients are paying you a LOT of money to be THEIR expert. Ignoring your clients to make a quick phone call or text while you are with them will make them feel unimportant if you allow interruptions to take you away during your time with them. This lack of respect will slow destroy any trust they may have been built.
Set Reasonable Expectations
Similar to the first point, it’s important to know you’re your clients may not always know what we do behind the scenes. Sometimes they think we do more or less than we actually do. It’s important to make sure your clients understand exactly what you will do for them. This is your chance to show your value! Set the expectations early about what is and isn’t included when they work with you. Are they going to run into hidden costs? Do they get services they may not have known about included? Are you going to be spending more or less time with then then they were hoping? Tell them upfront! By ensuring you keep to these expectations, your clients will learn to trust you very quickly.
Never Over Promise
You have all heard the saying “Under promise, over deliver”, when it comes to setting clients expectations, it couldn’t be more true. It can become really easy to want to promise your clients the moon in order to keep them happy in the moment. But if you can’t deliver, it does more damage than good. Over promising will lead to broken promises which leads to broken trust.
Don’t Make Your Client Feel Stupid
No one likes to feel stupid. Especially a client who is paying you… If your clients get even the slightest hint that you are treating them as if they are inferior, they are going to lose faith in you. Clients that don’t feel valued by you will stop seeing the value in you. It’s more than likely not your intention to treat them this way, it may be an attitude, a little comment, or even a look that gives the clients the impression you feel this way. Remember, it’s about THEIR perception of what you feel.
Cover Any Potential Pitfalls
When a client doesn’t know what roadblocks they may run into, they will be shocked when things come up. Lay out from the beginning any and all issues that may arrive so they are prepared in advance and not in shock if something comes up they weren’t expecting.
Conclusion
As you can see, keeping trust with your clients and potential clients is a bit of a balancing act and will take work to master. Once you learn these skills you can be sure your clients will not only be ecstatic to work with you, but will be quite happy to refer you to others.
To you and your niche,
Ryan Smith – The Niche Agent
(P.S. I TRUST that you will share this with your fellow real estate friends. By now, I’d like to think you are starting to know, like and trust me, right? )
