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One of the common misconceptions that most real estate agents in today’s market have is that they are there to please people and appear to be committed to that very detail.  But, the truth of the matter is, by “pleasing people” instead of “helping people”, they are actually setting themselves up for failure, whether that be consciously or unconsciously. 

Bottom line — You are not in this business to “please” people.  You are here to “help” people. 

It’s easy too!

You work with your client to build a rapport…spend hours working on their listing or providing property after property to them…helping with credit issues…and working tirelessly to get them to the point of “being pleased” with your efforts and being able to move forward.  At this point, this can go two ways.

#1. The client is satisfied with your efforts and is willing to commit to the purchase/sale of a home with you and moves into negotiations with a buyer/seller.

Or…

#2. The client can start to take advantage of an unsuspecting agent by coming up with more and more things that need “fixed” that aren’t important…and probably aren’t even a real concern simply because they need someone to “please” them again.

Now, that is just one example.  I’m sure I could come up with a host of examples ranging from family members to co-workers and so on…but, I think you get the point.

You see…people are not thinking machines.  People are EMOTIONAL machines that can THINK also.  You would never have to prepare yourself for the possibility if being taken advantage of by a thinking machine.  But, an emotional one…now THAT’S another story.  And, being another emotional machine like you are (and face it, you are one whether you like it or not) you can fall victim to those emotional needs in others because you suddenly feel the need to “please” them rather than actually “help” them.

So, having said all of that…below you will find a short list of things that you should watch out for when dealing with people to help ensure that you don’t fall into the career killing trap of “pleasing” a client rather than helping them stay on level ground.  Keep in mind that this list is by no means a list of rules…more like guidelines. 

• Your clients are running you around constantly.  You adhere to THEIR schedules and not your own and you don’t think that you are in charge any more.  (Set some boundaries.  And adhere to them!)
  
• You find yourself wasting time with what you thought was a “prospective client” only to find out that they have no intention of being committed to working with you.  Yet, you still to please them enough to want to work with you.  (Don’t be afraid to jettison this type of emotional baggage.  Cutting ties with “clients” like this will free up more time to help your real clients.)
  
• You want your clients to like you so much that you bend over backwards to meet their needs.  (I read a story about an agent that took on the job of babysitting a client’s kids in order to push them into working with her.  Yes….really.)
  
• You let your colleagues monopolize your time.  Chit chat is a killer.  And, the more time you spend “chit chatting” with other agents that apparently don’t have enough to do, the less time you have to spend helping your clients.  (Start setting some boundaries.  Don’t be afraid to say “Sorry, I’m busy.”)
  
• You would rather not call people and have your lead generation efforts suffer than to “bother someone” by calling.  (Whether that be your sphere of influence, cold calls, expired listings, whatever…if you think that by calling someone you are going to “bother” them, you have lost it completely.  And, you need to turn around quickly before you fail completely as well.)

• You take on clients that any normal person wouldn’t.  You don’t see the red flags in front of your face because you would rather be nice to them than tell them that they will not be working with you because you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  (Again, if you let your emotions run the show, logic is thrown out the window.  You have to have logical control of the situation and then allow your emotions to assist.  Not the other way around.)
  
• You find it hard to tell your clients the truth.  You find it hard to explain how to price their listing…or you are having issues with getting a buyer to sign a buyer’s agreement with you because you don’t want to offend them.  (Again, this is a business.  And, by being such, you have to treat it as such.  Take control logically and emotionally before you are taken advantage of…)

I have written numerous times that real estate is a PEOPLE game, not a numbers game.  Yes, you need to keep track of the numbers.  I am not saying that those are not important.  But, it is the people that you are here to assist that are of the most importance.  The real key to “helping” your clients is to avoid the pitfalls of wanting to “please” your clients along the way.

You can not please someone and then expect a reward in return.  There is no incentive for them to offer one because they have already received what they wanted out of the deal.  “Pleasing” someone comes as a reward of effort.  So, if you do your job as an agent and HELP your clients get into a new home or HELP them sell their home to the best of your ability, they will be “pleased”!  Remember that.

If you would like information on getting more clients, please contact Clint Miller of www.recr.com at 800-977-7058.  Or, you can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/recr.

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