Choosing a real estate professional is a significant decision for almost any buyer or seller. In the luxury home listing market, where the stakes are highest, a real estate professional’s reputation is crucial to attracting the best clients and listings in the luxury home listing market.
This is why building trust with your high-end client base is so important—you can showcase your skills and talents while opening doors to future listings for years to come. To gain the trust of luxury real estate clientele, you must:
- Be personable and easy to work with
- Have a reputation of honesty and integrity
- Add value that others don’t
- Make homeowners comfortable with mutual decisions
Many real estate professionals eliminate their chances of the best listings by overlooking key elements of these traits. This guide to creating a trustworthy profile for your clients will help you avoid that.
Become a Luxury Real Estate Professional
Your reputation and professional profile can make all the difference as you navigate the competitive market of luxury real estate. You need to be using all the tools at your disposal to build a reliable product that clients and other professionals have no problem referring to or trust.
Your listing profile should include:
- Real estate certifications
- Your credentials
- Links to website, social profiles and professional portfolios
- Broad market experience
- Local and luxury market experience if applicable
These components are not mandatory, nor is it wrong to include other information. It is important to present compelling reasons for prospective clients to invest their time, energy, and money into you for representation. This means you must differentiate yourself from your competitors.
Don’t be afraid to include client testimonials, showcase large sales, and describe what will set you apart upfront. For some people, the details of first-class luxury real estate services may be lost on them unless they are highlighted.
The Human Element of Real Estate
Clients often trust real estate professionals for the human element just as much as their qualifications. Being easy to work with, for example, is a skill that you should prioritize and exercise as much as you can for winning over long-term clients.
Some key elements to remember when building client trust include:
- Be Empathetic: Listing or buying a house can be a huge milestone—and stressful for the homeowner or buyer. Talk with them about how they feel and what you can help with while listing their house.
- Keep Your Word: Even while dealing with high-end real estate, you don’t need to sell promises you can’t keep. Under-promising and over-delivering is a great way to protect yourself from failure while delighting clients.
- Availability is the Best Ability: Your clients are likely to have all sorts of questions during the listing process. Being available, open and communicative are traits that will build trust quickly.
- Be Agreeable: If there are two equally qualified and accomplished real estate professionals, and one of them has a reputation for being cheerful and easy to work with, while the other is difficult, customer preference is straightforward. Even if clients are presenting you with difficult circumstances or you need to set boundaries, do it in a manner that is professional and courteous.
Ultimately, a big part of your job as a luxury real estate professional is human relations mixed with marketing. The best in the business are willing to constantly work at honing their skills to better serve their clients.
Provide Resources for Additional Value
The luxury real estate market has many moving parts, and there are typically connections that need to be made throughout the purchasing process. A great way to build your reputation as a go-to real estate professional is to provide connections for necessities such as:
- Moving and cleaning services
- Property management professionals
- Reputable home repair services
- Trustworthy mortgage or financial professionals
If you can build a comprehensive suite of resources that smoothly transitions clients through the listing and selling process of their homes, you will quickly gain a valuable reputation. From there, the referrals will grow, and you’ll have even more opportunities for successfully expanding your client base and sphere of influence.
Get Started as a Luxury Real Estate Professional Today
Learning to assess and service the luxury real estate market takes time and experience. At the Institute, our members include top producers who have extensive knowledge and resources at their disposal to help you grow your professional profile and prosper as a result.
If you’re looking to take the next step in branding yourself and winning clients, contact the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing today.
Diane Hartley is the president of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, a premier independent authority in training and designation for real estate agents working in the upper-tier residential market. Hartley brings her passion for luxury marketing and more than 20 years of experience growing and leading businesses to her role as president of the Institute.
