Last week we talked about metaphor as a way of communicating with people at a deeper level.
The agents who will survive and thrive in the changing real estate environment are the ones who can genuinely connect with people and build trust with them. This is much more than being honest, kind and enthusiastic (although these are essential). It means gaining both their heart and head trust, having the professional empathy to see the world from their perspective and being so good at trading in real estate that people can’t help sharing their experience with others.
Today I’m going to give you another tool to help you gain that deeper connection with your prospective clients. We all know that a compliment goes a long way but let’s take that idea to a new level. A compliment says something positive about a person – how they look, or how nice their property is or how successful their kids are. An ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, says something positive about something they have done, like renovating their home, designing their gardens, having a lot of creativity or having a remarkable impact in their community.
When we acknowledge people for things that they have done, they instantly feel a deeper connection with us because we have taken the time to understand something that matters to them and we have made the effort to show them we care. There’s a lot of power in noticing. Even more in understanding.
This level of interaction is rare in our society today. It takes attention and care to notice the things that people do that make them special. Often the courage, impactful or wise things people do are subtle, it takes attention to notice, but the rewards are enormous. You’ll gain trust, connection and build relationships that are meaningful and committed.
But here’s a warning – if you use acknowledgement as a technique and you make an acknowledgement that isn’t 100% authentic, it will totally backfire. They will know, perhaps only subconsciously, but it will break the trust and make it impossible to build it back.