Leigh Thomas Brown says real estate agents should start every client conversation by asking, "Do I have your permission to tell you the truth?" This one question shifts the relationship from sales pitch to honest advice, letting agents recommend against moves or deals when they're not in the client's interest.
I think it's the one thing that's been missing in real estate for all these years is a fundamental focus on getting the client what they want. And sometimes what they want is to not move. It is to stay put. It is to not buy the house over here that backs up to a 4-lane road or a proposed 4-lane road. And sometimes it has to do with telling them the offer they got is terrible, or that the offer they want to put forth is terrible. It all goes back to honesty. And honesty sometimes means that somebody else getting what they want means you don't get what you want. And if you want your clients to trust you, they have to know that you do put their needs first. Now, how do you get there? Well, in that first client consultation, in real estate, we talk about how it's going to work. We talk about the process. We talk about our state laws with agency and all of the hard and tricky things. And sometimes we forget to ask a really important question. So if you're in sales, I want you to ask this question at the beginning of every single client interaction or the customer interaction that you hope, hope, hope will turn into a client interaction. Ready? Get your reading glasses, get your ink pen. Do I have your permission to tell you the truth?
