Are you getting in the way of your Realtor?
What I mean is, do you trust the person you hired? If you trust somebody you hired—and you should trust the Realtor you hire—you’ll stand back and let them do the work, right? At the end of the day, if you’re going to do all the work, you should’ve just listed your home on your own. But because you know you’ll get a better price by listing with a Realtor or you know you don’t have the time to do all the work, you’ll hire a professional to get the job done.
In my experience, when my clients stand back and let me do what I know I should do, they always win. When I work with clients to try and micromanage me and stand over my shoulder, I tend to do not as well as I would like to, and ultimately that affects them.
A lot of our business (about 68%) comes by way of past client referrals, so many people we work with already know somebody who’s worked with us. There’s already a certain level of trust built in there because their mom, son, coworker, etc., referred us.
We also get many clients via the internet, and when we meet these people for the first time, we’re absolute strangers. How can you trust someone you’ve never even met?
If you get referred to a Realtor and you’re considering working with them, make sure you interview them. A lot of people just meet one Realtor and say, “Hey, you seem like a nice person—let’s do this” without having any expectations or strategies set in place. When clients feel like their expectations aren’t being met, they tend to micromanage the process.
“Interview multiple agents before hiring one.”
The reason it’s valuable to interview different agents is so you can understand what different agents can do for you. Every agent is different—they each have a different personality, experience level, track record, and network. Meeting with multiple agents and understanding what your options are will help you find someone you can trust.
Let’s say you had a handyman come into your house and you told them to do 10 or 15 different things and you’re standing over their shoulder saying, “What about this? What about that?” In my experience, you always get what you expect. If you expect the handyman to miss something, they’ll probably miss something. If you’re over their shoulder micromanaging them, it will probably distract them and make them more likely to miss something.
It’s the same relationship dynamic with your Realtor; it’s a very high-trust position. I work with a lot of different clients—some of them let me do my thing, and others tend to micromanage because they haven’t let themselves be vulnerable to my advice.
If I work with someone who says, “Robert, we hired you for a reason. You go and do what you have to do to get us what we need,” those clients will win. The clients who micromanage me and tend to get in my way will affect their own bottom line.
If you have any questions about interviewing Realtors so you can hire someone you trust or you’d like my help in buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Until then, happy selling!
