Listening Skills for Real Estate Agents Begin by Answering the Phone

When a potential client calls me, I try to listen very carefully before offering solutions. Most agents talk too much, I find. They don’t always listen. And listening is key to finding out what our clients want from us. Listening and asking questions. Often, a phone call will begin because a person is looking for information and believes there is one agenda at hand when what the client really wants is something else. I try to figure out how I can help.

Sometimes, I end up referring the client to a different real estate agent in another state because they live outside of California and need to buy or sell a piece of real estate that is outside of my Sacramento Valley jurisdiction. There are also times that a person might not have thought about selling a home in Sacramento until they have talked to me. That might be the best idea for them, and if it’s not they can count on me to say it. Because I don’t need that business right now today, and I’m happy to wait a few years if that’s what it takes and is best for the client. The key is what is best for the client.

I’m not going anywhere that I know about anytime soon. I will be here in Sacramento, answering my phone, taking care of real estate and talking with people. Conversing with people is what I do best, so that’s what I do. There are other people who call, real estate agents, for example, who begin the conversation by telling me they do not want to do what needs to be done for their buyer to buy a home. I wonder at that point why I am talking to the agent when the agent is stuck inside a square box and can’t seem to get out.

If I see my phone is ringing with another buyer or seller question, the best use of my time is to answer that call and listen to those buyers and sellers. I like to talk to real estate agents, but I am not their broker nor their manager. I can give them the information they seek about a home, but if they want to argue with me how they want to operate differently than other agents, I don’t have time for that. So it’s nothing personal when I say I have to go and take another call, because I do.

It’s generally a seller or a buyer calling on the other line who needs my help. They need me to listen to them, analyze their situation and offer solutions. Sometimes these conversations lead to a sale, and sometimes not. These phone discussions lead to enough sales, though, that I don’t have to worry about whether I am doing the right thing by listening, because I am.

Not every real estate agent has developed listening skills, I have noticed. Charles Chatham would rollover in his grave today.