Earning a Clients Trust is a Privilege all Agents Should Adhere to

I am a skeptic at heart and I fully admit it. Perhaps it is because I to have been burned in the past. It is hard to trust anyone these days. The "Great Recession" has made it virtually impossible to place your trust in anyone. Americans have ceased to rely on anything their banks tell them, and that is the shame of it all. If you cannot even trust your own bank then who can you trust?

As a full-time realtor of over 15 years you would think that I would have a little clout with the buying and selling public, but that is not always the case. The boom years did us all in, unfortunately. So many customers got taken to the cleaners with these supposed deals by fly by night agents that the agents who are still standing today are cleaning up their mess.

Every time I come into contact with a customer it is the first thing I hear. "My last agent screwed me and I don't want it to happen again." How does one combat that? I understand them because I am one of them. I was a customer before I was an agent. And boy do I realize now the mistakes I made in placing my trust in a bad agent. Even today, my phone and emails are bombarded with all kinds of "freebies" just waitng for me. What amazes me is how many people actually buy into this hogwash, especially the late night commercials on television promising riches overnight. Are Americans really that gullible?

I should not have to defend myself because some half cocked agent led a buyer into a nightmare of a real estate purchase because now that buyer is a seller who is doesn't want to get stuck with another untrustworthy agent. They just want to fix their problem and move on. My job is to gain their trust on both sides, so I make it a point to think like them and put myself in their position, which by the way, is not hard to do. You have to get somewhat emotionally involved in a clients plight in order to help them. Handling a short sale, for instance, is not just another business deal. People are trusting you with what will probably be their biggest losing investment of their lives and you better not screw it up. I don't think that is too much to ask. Aferall, you took this job on for better or worse, and this time is the worse of the worse. Prove yourself as trustworthy and reliable in this market and you stand on solid ground.

My reputation is at stake every time I take on a new client. I cannot afford to lose any customer. Each one is as valuable to me as my children, and I mean that. So, I make it a point to do the following things in order to gain their trust; Disclose anything and everything no matter how much it hurts. Give them options so that every decision is theirs and not yours. Get a lawyer involved so that they know you have a watch dog looking over you. Give them a resume and list of references. If you are as good an agent as you proclaim to be this should not be difficult. Show them where their money is and explain why you have to deposit their check. Many clients are afraid to leave money with an agent because so many of them have lost deposits to agents or owners who failed to return them. I always give my clients an escrow letter signed by my manager and make it abundantly clear that their money is refundable without penalty. There is absolutely no reason for me to keep someones deposit just because a deal fell through. You may be working for free at times, but that is the chance you take.

Gaining a customers trust is not always the easiest thing to do, but if you make the effort to at least do the right thing as a professional you will come out ahead most of the time, even to the most hard nosed of skeptics. Personally, I pride myself on doing a good job and gaining my clients trust. Whether or not they accept it at face value is up to them, but at least I can always feel comfortable that I did what was in my clients best interest first. That alone allows me to sleep very comfortably at night. If any of you other agents out there are having trouble sleeping or simply don't care when you put your head down on your pillow each night, then your priorities are all in the wrong place. Remember one thing. Real Estate is a SERVICE industry. If you provide good, honest, and reliable service your clients will not have a reason to look elsewhere for an agent. Never give them that opportunity.

This post is a submission to the ActiveRain / Adobe EchoSign Trust Contest. I could possibly win a prize. You can find out about the contest by clicking here