In the real estate business (or any business), not much can get done without clear, open communication. Effective dialogue can help any business transaction go from good to great, and putting the client at the center of your discussions fosters relationships, boosts productivity, and, ultimately, benefits your bottom line with increased social and financial capital. Let’s examine what client-centric communication is and how it can take your transactions to the next level.
Understanding Client-Centric Communication
It’s one thing to talk about client-centric communication and another thing to fully understand it and use it effectively. Client-centric communication is a strategy that focuses on the client’s needs, preferences, and expectations to fulfill their goals in reaching out to your business. This can be a challenge in the real estate industry because it’s a business based on transactions. Client-centric communication asks you to go beyond the transactional nature of the business and think in terms of relationship-building, active engagement, and transparency at all times.
Tailoring Communication to Meet Client Preferences
The first critical aspect of meeting client preferences is to meet your clients where they’re most comfortable and responsive. Some people will always prefer to meet face-to-face, others like telephone calls, and still others like emails. These days, you may also have clients who have a strong preference for conducting communications over text message, which may seem odd or feel unprofessional, but is a way that many people like to collect things in writing. Your clients and potential clients will appreciate you being flexible and inclusive with your communication channels.
Tailoring communications isn’t just about what method of communication you use but also about how you deliver those communications. Be personal and respectful—always address clients by their preferred names and pronouns. Make a note of their communication preferences, and if you ever need to deviate from them, ask first. A simple “I may need to call you about this instead of emailing. Is that okay?” will go a long way. These common-sense strategies are a good start to transforming all your communication into client-centric communication.
Building Trust Through Transparency
The next aspect of client-centric communication is transparency. Being transparent is how you maintain an open dialogue about business processes, timelines, paperwork, and any potential challenges that might arise. This is something that goes beyond the real estate industry into any sector (and is a good thing to keep in mind for your personal life, too!) Clear, straightforward, and transparent communication fosters strong relationships and helps people feel like you and they are truly working toward the same goals. Clients like to know that their business and their concerns matter to you, and being open and transparent contributes to your trustworthiness and their greater client satisfaction.
Effective Dialogue in Your Transactions
Respecting client preferences and being transparent in your communications are the first two facets of a client-centric approach. The third aspect, no less important, is effective dialogue. There are two components to this, which are:
Active Listening, meaning you listen—truly listen—to your client’s needs and concerns to better serve them and help them achieve their goals. Ask open-ended questions to get insight into their preferences and encourage them to tell you their priorities and any worries they have about your services or any upcoming or pending transactions.
Clarity and Responsiveness, meaning you are clear, timely, professional, empathetic, and straightforward in answering your clients’ questions and addressing their concerns. This adds to the foundation of trust that you’ve built through transparency and further enhances your client relationships.
When you can take these two components and put them together to create an effective back-and-forth conversation with your clients, you’ll find that your relationships become stronger, and your interactions and transactions begin to go a lot more smoothly.
Utilizing Technology for Client-Centric Communications
While I am a huge proponent of meeting face-to-face, there’s no doubt that technology has changed the way we communicate in the modern age. From sending letters across the country via stagecoach to sending emails halfway around the world at lightning-fast speeds, it’s become a lot easier to connect with other people and boost the pace of how we interact. There are plenty of tools out there that you can avail yourself of, especially in the real estate sector, to make your communication more streamlined for you and more accessible and inclusive for your clients. Some of these tools are:
- Customer relationship management (CRM) software
- Virtual tours (or 360° photo galleries and catalogs)
- Closed-captioning and alt text on social media posts and website content
- Instant chat assistance on your website
These are just some suggestions for strengthening your client-centric communications approach through the use of new and available technologies. These tech features aren’t necessarily expensive, meaning they won’t cost you much in overhead, but the ability to reach more people in accessible ways through technology continues to highlight your trustworthiness and will also provide a return on investment.
Go Forth and Communicate
A client-centric approach doesn’t have to be a huge paradigm shift for your business, but it does require a bit of thoughtfulness and effort. The keys are to be open, transparent, responsive, and respectful, which everyone should already be doing anyway. A client-centric approach is more of a mindset than a methodology. It’s about recognizing that having a clientele that trusts you for clear, caring communication is a clientele that will recommend you to others. Effective dialogue is not just critical for business now but will bring you more business in the future, helping you boost your productivity and bottom line. That’s a win for everybody.
