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Within a week of Steve's entering the business, he met up with some hot buyers. In fact I had watched as they pulled up in their huge motor home. It looked like it was one hundred feet long, and brand new! To be honest I was a little envious of Steve for landing these clients right out of the gate, but still I wished him well.

For the next three weeks Steve worked with these folks. From sun up to sun down he searched, and scoured the market for exactly the kind of home they were interested in purchasing. He seemed to meet with them at least once every other day until finally he came to my desk one morning looking haggard and upset.

"Jim, I can't find anything for these people. What should I do?" he asked. His eyes were watering and I thought the guy might just break down in tears. But he held it together. I gave him some ideas on looking at FSBO's and Expired listings, and off he went with renewed vigor.

Within a week he was back. "Nothing I've shown them fits. What should I do now?" My advice this time - ask them to change their search criteria and start over. Steve agreed, as this seemed like the only alternative to a hopeless situation.

Again I happened to be sitting at my desk when his clients walked in. They sat down at Steve's desk and after a pregnant pause he delivered my advise. They took it well, smiling and nodding at each other while Steve spoke and then they said the words I will never forget:

"You know Steve, we've probably looked at about a thousand homes over the last two or three years and we just can't quite seem to find what we want." The man had said it so smoothly, and so easily I instantly imagined him having said it to ten other agents. They left within a few minutes, after shaking hands and promising to be in touch.

Steve left the business within weeks.

Sound familiar? We've all heard the horror stories about buyers. Buyers are liars....Buyer's can't be trusted....Buyers are flakes....Buyers aren't loyal. But is this really true?

No, no it's not. Buyers are no different from sellers. They are just people. What is different about buyers, rather than sellers is how we treat them.

The easy thing for Steve to do was to get mad at the buyer. The hard thing to do, and what he in the end refused to do was get mad at himself. By just using some simple strategies Steve could have avoided four weeks' worth of wasted work.

Are you ready to learn what Steve missed? Let's do it!

Five Ways to Raise Your Buyer Standards:

1. Prepare Each Buyer

   Ask yourself what is the first thing that happens when I meet a buyer? Many agents within just a few seconds meeting a new buyer are sitting in front of a computer screen searching for potential homes. This is exactly what not to do!

   Top Producers let buyers know that there is a process to buying a home. They then offer to show the buyer what to expect during the time they will be working together.

   Walk-in Script:

   Agent: "Listen (Name), what I like to do with all my buyers is to just take a couple of minutes and show you how I work, would that be OK?"
   Suspect: Yeah, great, Ok
   Agent: Before we begin may I ask you a couple of questions?
   Suspect: Sure, Yes, Ok
   

   Now you may ask yourself what if a buyer says:
   Suspect: "You know I just really want to look at some homes."

   This will be an extremely rare event but agents always ask me this question so let me just say that you now have two choices: You can say no - which I would highly recommend, or you can say OK and go show a few homes. But let me give you a quick script to go along with it:

   Agent: "Sure, I'd be happy to show you a few homes. But would you do me a favor? Would you agree to sit with me for a few minutes after the last showing today? There are some things that I really would like to cover that can help you save you a lot of time and money?"

   If you have the luxury of setting up the buyer appointment over the phone be sure to let the buyer know in advance exactly what to expect. For instance:

   Phone Script:

   "Listen, when you come in, just to kind of give you an overview I generally take a few minutes to ask you a few questions, fill you in on the local market, give you some ideas on how I work, and then we can spend some time looking at specific homes. How does that sound?"

2. Question Each Buyer

   Professional agents understand the importance of having an SOP. In the military this is referred to as a Standard Operating Procedure. When your business becomes systemized you can then begin to create efficiency, and move towards providing your clients with predictable, uniform service. This can be critical for those agents that wish to develop a strong sphere of an influence program.

   So the next stage of the buyer counseling session is asking a predetermined series of straightforward questions. Why ask questions at this stage? It is absolutely essential to uncovering if you have a ready, willing, and able buyer on your hands. You don't want to waste your time by investing energy into a buyer who can't or won't at the end of the day be able to complete the purchase.

   A strong series of questions can uncover these issues early enough in your relationship for you to take corrective action. You may decide that the buyer is ready to buy, but not yet able to buy, or that they are able to buy but not yet ready; whatever the case you will know it now and not later when it is to late.

3. Measure the Buyer

   What if you hear an answer that makes you feel uncomfortable about working with the buyer? After all the questionnaire is a qualification tool designed to weed out buyers, who are not ready, willing, or able to move forward. For instance:

   Agent: Have you spoken with a lender?

   Suspect: No were waiting for our insurance settlement.

   Oops, that doesn't sound good. But what do you do now? Be honest with the buyers, let them know your feelings. I know this may sound unnatural, but it is far better to talk about this now rather than three weeks from now. Let me give you an example:

   1. What are your favorite websites to view property?
   2. How many homes have you owned?
   3. How long have you been looking?
   4. How have your been looking? (Signs, Internet, ...)
   5. How many homes have you looked at?
   6. What areas are you most interested in?
   7. Have you seen any properties that you have liked?
   8. What are you looking for in a home?
   9. Have you recently made an offer on any homes?
   10. Have you selected a Realtor?
   11. Does anyone in your family have a real estate license? If yes, will they be involved?
   12. Do you have obstacles to overcome before making a purchase? (job transfer, settlement, ...)
   13. When would you ideally like to move?
   14. What is motivating you to buy a home now?
   15. Is anyone else involved in the decision making process?

   Agent: I understand, let me ask you question, if for some reason the insurance settlement didn't come in would you still be in a position to complete a purchase?
   Suspect: Well, no, but it's a sure thing!

   You now have to make a decision. You either tell these buyers to hit the highway, refer the buyers to another agent in your office (you still have a shot at getting paid), or put them in a holding pattern. What's a holding pattern? It's a delicate way of saying that you won't work with them until they get their act together.

   The Holding Pattern Response:

   Agent: Here's my concern, because I've worked with buyers in similar situations, if we find you the perfect home and the settlement doesn't come through then you will be heartbroken and so will I, besides the fact that most sellers won't take their home off the market based on a potential settlement.

   Why don't we do this; I'll show you a few homes to give you an idea of price ranges, and then as soon as your settlement comes in we can really get serious. In the meantime I'll keep you posted on all the hottest buys. Does that sound fair?

   The questionnaire helps you by establishing the minimum standards you will accept before you will begin working with each new buyer. You can then measure each buyer against your standard. This may be a new concept for some agents. But it is an absolute necessary change if you want to increase your ability to control time and profit.

   Three Things You Must Do With the Questionnaire:

   1. Establish Minimum Acceptable Standards What will you accept and what won't you accept?
   2. Establish a Contingency Plan - If you won't accept the buyer how will you handle it?
   3. Use the questionnaire with every buyer without exception.
   4. Reject the Buyer

   If you begin using this tool soon you will find yourself in the position of rejecting a buyer. Ouch! You may say to yourself I could never reject a buyer. Yes you can and yes you will! If you want to achieve a higher standard in your business then you must begin by setting a new standard for your buyers and sellers.

   So how do you really do it? How do you give the kiss of death to a poor, unsuspecting buyer?

   First understand that a buyer that doesn't meet your standards will already have a good indication that they may not be the best apple in the barrel. They may have had a bankruptcy, a recent job transfer, recent divorce, felony conviction, or some kind of cloud hanging over them, or they may be just unwilling to commit to you. They may have their grandma Joe in the business, or their uncle Fred. Whatever your reason for rejecting them, they will begin to get that itchy feeling when you begin asking some serious questions.

   You may even see it in their faces, and body language. They may get suddenly nervous, excited, or agitated. They may become defensive, or angry. These items should be sending up flares that you may have a future problem unless you deal with it head on, right now!

   The Blow-Off Script:

   Agent: You know I appreciate your taking the time to answer these questions, unfortunately I'm not going to be able to help you. Because of (Reason) I can't take time out of my schedule to invest in this project. Again I want to thank you for considering me, but I just can't help you. (Stand Up)

   Now occasionally (rarely) you may get a feisty firecracker who really can't believe your blowing them off. Believe me when this happens you will breathe a huge sigh of relief when they finally do leave your office because you will immediately know that you made the right decision.

   When and if this happens don't fall into the trap of defending your decision - stay standing, look them in the eye, and deliver the final blow:

   Agent: I'm sure there are many agents in town who will be happy to help you.

4. Refer the Buyer

   Occasionally you will run into a buyer that may not meet your standards but would surely meet another agents lack of standards in your office. This is a great opportunity for you, because it's an easy out for you and you also have the double benefit of possible still receiving a fee should the buyer actually buy something down the road.

   Keep one thing in mind when referring to an agent within your own company. This agent instantly becomes your representative. If you refer a buyer to a flake it will reflect back on you, so take care with those referrals.

   Now how do you gracefully push a buyer off on to another agent? First and foremost have an agent available in the office that you will agree to send your referrals to. Someone that will give you regular updates, and progress reports, and someone that is a good reflection on you. You may want to have more than one agent since the first agent may not always be available to accept a referral. Now your ready for the script:

   The Push Off:

   Agent: You know as we've been talking I realized something and I need to apologize. It sounds like you folks are going to really need some specialized attention and because of my schedule I don't think I'm going to be able to give you the attention you deserve but I do have a solution, I'd like to refer you to one of my associates.

   Now the buyer may say something like:

   Suspect: We would really rather work with you...

   Agent: I understand, and the good news is that (agent name) and I work together quite often so I know you will get the best service in the business.

   Is it easy to blow off, or push off a buyer. Honestly no, the first time you do it you will feel uncomfortable for about thirty seconds. But just think of all of the inevitable pain and suffering you avoided!

About the Author:

Jim Remley is a speaker, author, and consultant. He is also an active real estate broker in Southern Oregon where he owns a network of six offices. Jim won the Rookie Instructor of the Year award in 2001 from Realty-U, the largest network of real estate educators in the nation. Recently he won the 2002 Pacesetter Award, and was nominated for the Real Estate Instructor of the Year Award during the first quarter of 2003. To learn more about Jim please visit www.properformer.com or email him at jim@properformer.com.

To book Jim as a speaker for your next event please contact: www.brokeragentspeakers.com
1-800-361-6848

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