I've recently started seeing someone new and I will tell you it's been years since I was excited about someone, but I'm excited about this guy. Why? Because he treats me really well and he's taking the time to really court me. It makes me feel respected and valued and important. And it made me think.
We've become such a time-centered culture, constantly multi-tasking, that we have forgotten how to just slow down and "be" with someone. We're so focused on our own goals and tasks that the relationships around us get lost in the shuffle.
As part of my weekend workshops, I do a class where we practice listening - really listening to one another. Whenever I do the demonstration of the technique, the person I am practicing with is always taken aback. They are stunned at the fact that someone really listened for a change. Because usually we don't. We're so busy thinking about the next thing that we're going to say that we forget to be present with the person speaking.
What would it be like if we treated our clients like someone we were "courting". I know it's an old-fashioned term, but it is a word that was once used to refer both to what we do in dating relationships and with highly prized potential clients. Whatever happened to courtship?
What if you were to really take an interest in your clients? What if you were to think of the relationship with them like you do a love-relationship? (No, I'm not talking sex or other inappropriate associations, I'm talking about love.) When you love someone, you pay attention to them, you assume the best of them, you look forward to their calls, you smile when you see them, and you slow down to be with them.
So here's the $64,000 question (am I dating myself here today or what?)
When was the last time you assumed the best when dealing with a cranky client?
When was the last time you looked forward to a call from your client?
Did you slow down to truly be with your client the last time you spoke with them? Did you smile? Did you pay attention?
Do you think that your client noticed whether or not you did any of these things? You bet they did. These are subtle things in some cases, but no less important for that fact. Want to know why some agents get more referrals than others? They court their clients.
Go out today and see who you can make feel special, valued, and important. Your business - and your clients - will love you for it.
Kelle Sparta is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More Referrals, and Increase Your Sales, as well as being a speaker and trainer and coach specializing in the real estate industry. Kelle is the founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training company that provides coaching, products, and training to empower agents and brokers to create lives and businesses they can love. To learn more about hiring Kelle as your coach, visit her website. For more information, visit her website at http://www.spartasuccess.com/. © 2007, Kelle Sparta.
Great reminders, Kelle. Thanks
Shawna Gibson