Good morning! I was thinking today that our goal as real estate professionals should always be to educate our clients. What brought this thought on? It could be that I'm on tap to teach the class "How to get a loan today" at Renton Technical College in a few hours. Wish me luck!
But even if I weren't teaching today, I think it's important to be educating our clients throughout. Let's face it. What we do is often mysterious to our customers. It's a huge decision for them and, oftentimes, they seem pretty frazzled by the whole experience. Think back for a moment when you purchased your first home. It wasn't enough that we were leading otherwise busy lives. Then we decided to buy and all of a sudden they're asking us for all of our blood!
That's why it's so important to educate our clients about our business. When I entered the mortgage business 3 years ago, my goal was to make people better understand what I did. Franky, I share everything. There should be no mystery about what we do. And in this day and age, I think the customer appreciates it.
What does educating your client do for you? It gives you credibility. Your customer looks to you as the real estate source. Today our customer is looking for reassurance. We can be their source of inspiration. So what are you doing to let your client know you care? Are you going the extra mile to educate and inform? I'm curious what you're doing that's working. I don't know about you but I'd rather have a client who knows what's going on. In fact, even if they choose not to use me, they're better informed about our occasionally murky world! Have a great day!
Paul McFadden
Paul:
I am a firm believer in educating the public on what we do. This is a very important part of what I do in the community. Weather it be a first time home buyers seminar or a seminar on the new $8,000 tax credit that the feds are offering. You are absolutely correct that it helps lend credibility and more importantly, it builds relationships with the consumer. In the book, The Contrarian Effect, the author speaks of giving free information to the consumer on your products and services. This helps to build report and confidence with the consumer. We can do this in many ways; public classes and seminars, newsletters, blog sites, online live web chats about a particular topic. The possibilities are endless. If we can give the consumer confidence in large numbers at a time, our job just became a little easier. The consumer gets to know us, our personality and how we operate our business.
Christine: Thanks for you comments. I appreciate it. It sounds like you know what you're doing. Keep up the great work!
Paul - Excellent post! I attempt to make each client feel at ease during the real estate process. I thoroughly enjoy working with the first time buyer and explain the reasons why we go through the steps we do and to make sure this transaction is an enjoyable and eye opening experience for them. All the best to you and your business.
Kenneth: Thanks! I wish you well as well. It's always nice to meet someone who works altruistically. I hold people such as you in very high esteem. Take care.
Educating our customers is a must. If we dont do it and someone else does then they will likely choose that person. Thats why they hire us.
Hi Paul;
Great post... we all should try to give our clients as much information as possible. They depend on us for guidance. Thank you for sharing.
Hey Paul....this post falls under relationship building 101. Very positive read
Thanks
Bo
Conitnue to educated yourself so you can educate others is the name of the game.
Paul... as you know, I agree with your statement 110% about educating the consumer. My problem is this... you stated this...
"What does educating your client do for you? It gives you credibility. Your customer looks to you as the real estate source."
I would disagree with educating your client gives you credibility if you are giving them the wrong information. Sure, the borrower might feel good, but how does that help them and or you, if it's wrong. I just got some disturbing info from a client last night, on how 3 different Wells Fargo loan officers gave the same info on FHA loans, when it was 110% wrong. We see it often than we should. I see it weekly on AR and it's not just a tad wrong. Just last week I saw one loan officer write about FHA loans needing 5% down and that your minimum out of pocket be 5%. Rut row... WRONG... and that person could be educating that client and gaining credibility.
Overall, I agree that we should be educating, but we also need to know what we are talking about before we put it out there, no matter how we do it. If just 1% not sure, research correctly and find out first... right? Just my opinion.
Jeff: Thanks for your comments as always. Since we're parsing, I would argue that giving a client wrong information isn't educating. Rather it's misinformation. If that isn't corrected, our credibility is shot as it should be. Thanks!
Tony: Thanks! So true. It's our job to stay on top of things.
Bo: Thanks for the positive feedback. Enjoy your weekend!
Anthony: I appreciate your feedback! Thank you. Our #1 goal should be to be the informed source.
Chuck: I agree with you. Thanks for weighing in! The customer has a myriad of choices. All the more reason for us to be well informed.
Paul.... I would agree that giving a client wrong information would be misinformation. Sorry if I didn't sound clear... but you know how many people say that they are educating people, yet that it's wrong information? So my point is that person that assumes they are educating under your statement with misinformation, is thinking that they should get credibility. It's called assuming, just as the consumer thinks that they are getting good, credibility information.
Again, I know wrong information is wrong information... but if someone is teaching you wrong information, yet they get credibility because the person thinking that they are getting the right information, you shouldn't be looked at as the real estate source. But how does a consumer know this? To go a step further, I have had loan officers tell me certain specifics when it came to mortgages, that their information was 110% wrong, yet they learned it from someone else. Well, if I didn't jump in, they would spread it to another new loan officer, and then what do you have? A backwards domino affect that is putting crap out there... lol thanks
Jeff: I think we're essentially saying the same thing. I've made mistakes as well and been corrected. We all have. The key is to catch up, own up and stop any damage before it starts. We all in theory want to be credible. I realize not everyone is and I cringe when I hear misinformation too. Again, credibility comes from being right. Perhaps the lesson should always be learned that we know what we're talking about before we pass it along! Thanks again. I hope you're enjoying your weekend!
Paul, I will say that I was impressed with how well you did in the class we held on Saturday and I am sure that those people who were there appreciated how you broke down the lending process and made it transparent to them. They'll be in better positions to make decisions down the road whether that is 6 days, 6 months, or longer from when we met them.
I agree with you that education is key and teaching how each of our industries work is an important part of providing transparency to the public so that when they go out to choose an agent or lender, they are better prepared to make that decision. We have always said an educated client is a good client since they are better suited to make decisions in a complex process of home or investment purchase.
Rebecca: Thanks for the complement! I appreciate it. I'm really enjoying doing this series with you and look forward to your upcoming classes. Have a wonderful week!
Educating is one of our biggest functions as professionals and it is what we bring as value to the table.
Bill: I agree with you. None of us wants to be knows as the cheapest; rather we want to be remembered for how much service we provided! Thanks!