Inspiration

Buyer Qualification Techniques

RAT 31 (Rawlings Agency Tips)

Over the course of the past three weeks I have been working with two agencies, one in lettings and one in sales - looking at their business, training their staff and conducting individual coaching sessions. One of my main observations has been the way agents regularly miss seemingly-obvious opportunities to generate better results from buyers or tenants.

Agents are still registering applicants by asking for the most superficial and primitive information (name, address, what are you looking for, etc) and also wondering what to say when showing properties (eg “this is the bathroom”!)

Worst still, how often do I find that the people handling initial enquiries are often admin staff for whom picking up the phone is an interruption to their current task in hand. And it shows! Worse still – it costs money rather than making money.

Surely one of the key attributes of a successful agent is the ability to persuade. To persuade a vendor to instruct you at a decent fee, to persuade a tenant to view, to persuade a buyer to make an offer, and a seller to accept an offer. Without the powers of persuasion, we are simply order takers relying on hard work and a fair dose of luck.

The key to persuasive conversation is four-fold – skilful multi-level questioning, proactive listening, assumptive interpretation and authoritative progression. It requires courage, tenacity and quick-thinking, but most of all – knowledge. This is about deliberate, learned techniques that the applicant/client will not realise you are using. For example, asking a buyer the question "What has prompted your move?" will deliver far more useful information than "What are you looking for?"

If you or your staff are not yet consciously aware of the subtler aspects of the psychology of how to harness the decision-making process, then perhaps we should talk.

I still have a few dates available for October and I’d be delighted to help you take fullest advantage of the opportunities presented by the current market. Please contact me at rrawlings@estateagencyinsight.co.uk for further infornation.

Finally, I'm hearing great success stories from the many agents who regularly use my latest Publicity Programme (which now also includes lettings if required). If you are not currently using it exclusively in your area, why not let me give you a proposal which explains how relevant hands-off local publicity can generate more instructions for your agency. Please email me here if you'd like to know more.

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© Richard Rawlings 2010
Richard Rawlings is the founding director of Estate Agency Insight, which specialises in helping estate agencies harness opportunity through innovative method, marketing, publicity, and training. He can be contacted at or on 0845 838 1354.

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