Connect on a Personal Level and Improve Retention by Knowing Your Agents’ Stories
Conversations on a personal level come easier to some managers than others. Naturally social managers chat effortlessly with their team members, while other managers are less conversationally engaged. Wherever you land on this spectrum, know that connecting with your agents—and knowing details about their lives, thoughts and values—is imperative if you want to create long-term relationships, earn loyalty and increase retention.
So how do you do that? Here are three basic personal questions that, if asked and remembered, will form a foundation of understanding between you and each of your agents.
Who Are They?
This is step one and the bare minimum. It’s difficult to be connected to an agent if you don’t know the basics about who they are. Besides your agents’ names, you should strive to know their personal info (e.g., family, relationships and kids), where they live now and where they’re from, and their professional background. This information is an absolute necessity to learn in order for agents to know that you are interested in them. It is the foundation for forming a more meaningful connection as you subsequently learn more about them.
What Is Important to Them?
After learning basic information and exchanging conversational niceties, seek out opportunities to talk with agents about what matters to them. Their values will be discovered through questions as simple as, “So what are your personal goals right now?”, “What is happening in your world?” or “What is important to you these days?” Their responses may be either personal or professional. The point is that you will learn what is on their minds. Then, by empathizing with whatever they tell you—and, in some situations, being in a position to directly help them—you will strengthen both your understanding of your agent and the personal connection between the two of you.
What Do They Do for Fun?
This is a helpful tidbit to know about your agents. Talk with them about what interests them. People always feel good talking about what makes them happy, so learn about their hobbies and how they spend their free time. Better yet, the next time you see them, preemptively ask them about something that they have shared with you! Showing that you remember their interests and care enough to ask about them is invaluable in reinforcing that their happiness matters to you.
Obviously, you will still need to discuss business and drive sales with your agents, but do not disregard the long-term value of engaging on a personal level. If you are one of the lucky ones that can recall names and personal facts at will, good for you! If you are not one of those fortunate ones, however, keep notes on each agent and refer back to them periodically. Doing so will show that your agents that they matter to you as people and not just as agents on your roster.
It’s that simple. Care about your agents personally as well as professionally, and your long-term relationship will be stronger as a result.
For a FREE copy of Sherri’s “Sales Meeting Agenda Checklist” to increase agent attendance and engagement, and to drive more sales, click here.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 20 years of experience in real estate, Johnson offers coaching, consulting and keynotes, and is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour and the Official Real Estate Coach for McKissock Learning and Real Estate Express. She is also an RISMedia 2020 Real Estate Newsmaker as an industry Influencer. Sign up for a free 30-minute coaching strategy session or visit www.sherrijohnson.com for more information.
