Your attitude towards clients (and yourself!)

Virtually every sales trainer, mentor, coach, author and speaker will talk about attitude at some point in our teachings.  And we all have some version of the same thing:  your attitude, positive or negative, will have a direct correlation to your business/sales.

The same goes for your attitude towards prospects and clients.

In my career as both a former agent and now a coach/speaker, I’ve observed that agents typically fall into one of three attitude categories when dealing with clients/prospects.  I’ve personified them to get the point across.

1. Gordon Gekko -  Michael Douglas won a Best Actor Oscar and Golden Globe for his portrayal of Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street.  Greed was his motivation, money was his reward.  He would say and do anything to make more  money.  He would screw over partners, employees, friends (if he had any), family…anyone.

I’ve seen many agents behave in that manner.  They’ll lie about statistics, make false promises, purposely suggest a higher price to secure the listings, falsely tell buyers that other offers are coming in, tell prospective buyers how low their seller will go…all just to get a deal done.  Basically the will say anything to get an appointment, or get a contract signed.

The Gordon Gekko’s of the real estate world have no regard for the client’s best interest, they only want to get paid.

Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t get paid, but if you provide great service for your clients you’ll not only get paid by them now, you’ll get paid down the road with referrals and future business.

In real estate, it’s not one and done.  It’s one and the rest of your life, if you provide good service.

Gordon Gekko’s have an uphill battle, because they usually can only get new business.  There are arguments, fights at the settlement table, etc. with their clients, so it’s very difficult to call them 3-6 months later and ask for referrals.

2.  Sally Field – Among other things, Sally Field is famous for her Oscar acceptance speech where she exclaimed, “…you like me.  Right now, you like me!”

An agent with the Sally Field attitude is so very grateful to be talking to a warm body who might possibly buy or sell, that they’ll lavish upon their prospects and do the prospects’ bidding, almost no matter what that means, including giving away their commissions, almost without hesitation.  And they’ll typically be on call 24/7 for their prospects and clients.

In other words, they’re doormats.  They’ll drop everything to show someone a house who just called in, spend all day at a home inspection, host countless open houses every weekend without asking for a price reduction, list a house at whatever price the seller tells them, and they’ll be happy to turn in offers that are 50% off the asking price over and over again.

Don’t confuse doing what the client wants, when they want with good customer service.  Taking a listing overpriced won’t sell the home.  Running out to show a house when someone calls in on the sign is a very low percentage play and will ultimately lead to high monthly gas bills and low monthly sales.

An agent with the Sally Field type attitude usually works a lot of hours, has a lot of stress and drama, is typically the one working the hardest to keep a deal together (meaning the buyer, seller and other agent aren’t as attached as they are), and typically doesn’t do a lot of deals.

3. Morgan Freeman – By all accounts Morgan Freeman is a consummate professional.  He recently received a Kennedy Center Award and everyone who spoke on his behalf said he was such a pleasure to work with, and he made them better for having worked with him.

You are a professional real estate agent.  Act like one.  Be like one.  Have that attitude about what you do.  I’m not saying be arrogant, and that people should be lucky to work with you.  I’m saying that you need to have a schedule and standards.  Be professional and honest and people will feel lucky for having worked with you.

You need to hold yourself in high regard for the service you provide.

Heck, you’ll wait two weeks to get a good haircut or your nails done, or bring your car in for a tune-up, but you won’t regard your service, yourself, your business as worthy of a schedule and standards?

There is a level of respect that you command when you are professional, and have standards.

It starts with your attitude towards yourself and your service.  And it starts with not being attached to each and every person you think may be a lead.  Keep generating leads and you’ll be able to pick the ones that fit your standards.

You’re a professional, and should be treated like one…by your own self and your clients!