Selling a home is a formidable process for homeowners. To them, there’s too many unknowns. There’s things they don’t know that they don’t know. What they do know is they want to sell or buy a house. Either they want to sell the home they built memories in or purchase a home to build heartfelt memories in. This house is irreplaceable to them. It means the world to them.
So, imagine hiring a real estate agent to help you on your home-memory-building journey. Finding the right agent is not just important to finding the best house, but important to helping you feel confident in your purchase. This means the first impression is make or break. The first time you meet your new real estate agent, you see someone dressed down, difficult to talk to, and doesn’t know too much about the industry let alone their career. Not only that, but they seem kinda sketchy. How would you feel trusting this agent with the future of your home?
For some, this is a reality. Bad real estate agents hurt everyone. They don’t just have sloppy presentation, but they waste the time of their clients, service partners, and other real estate agents by being a bad real estate agent. Agents should always strive to embody professionalism in their business. Doing so instills trust and security in the client’s eyes.
That’s why you should always avoid the bad habits of unprofessional real estate agents. There’s plenty of signs that make a real estate agent a bad one, and the most jarring are also the most common. that’s good news for you, the reader, because they’re easy to spot so you can avoid them in the future.
Before you read on, why don’t you send this to the real estate agent who’s just starting out? It’ll help them more than you know.
Lazy Communication Habits
So much of a real estate agent’s career is built on productive communication. It’s the cornerstone of your success when you’re representing a client, collaborating with services, and working as a member of your brokerage. Communication skills will make people gravitate to you, both in your personal and professional life. That’s why having them in your career will help you become a successful real estate agent.
When you communicate clearly and thoroughly, you will create a sense of trust with your client. This small characteristic has monumental benefits on your career. One of them being the confidence you earn from working with your client. When they feel like the experience with you is productive and valuable, they will feel inclined to recommend you to their network. This includes family members and friends.
Learning how to communicate gives your client peace of mind that they can trust you as a real estate agent. Unfortunately for you lazy communicators, the way you communicate can send your client into a spiral of worry. They will distrust you and feel like this home selling process was a major oversight. This can be easily remedied by practicing great communication skills with your client.
Lazy communication can exist everywhere. You can spot it in interpersonal interactions, responding to your client’s inquiries in a timely manner (such as a lingering email or a frantic phone call), or even representing the client in the transaction process. Being accessible to talk through your client’s concerns is one way you can be a proactive communicator.
Lack of Service Marketing
The “secret agent” lifestyle is glorified by films as thrilling and adventurous, filled with high-tech gadgets, and intercontinental love stories. In real estate, “secret agent” is a colloquial term used to describe an agent who doesn’t market their services.
Their presence in the industry goes unseen and unheard which denotes the title of “secret agent.” They are literally a secret because they don’t produce any noise in the public. Therefore, people, agents, and service providers, won’t know if an agent is active or not.
This is a sign of an unprofessional real estate agent. Marketing your services is vital to the success of your career. If you can’t promote your services as a real estate agent, you’re not truly embodying the presence of the agent. You appear uncommitted to your profession. Moreover, you will not generate any leads or land a single client, because “secret agents” can’t be found.
To avoid becoming an industry mystery, you should always promote your services and presence as a real estate agent. You could always market your services online. But, taking a digital approach to marketing isn’t the only way to spread word about your services. You can use testimonials and word-of-mouth to help build your network and develop buzz about your new career. There’s no need to keep your professionalism and wonderful services a secret.
Poor Grooming and Sloppy First Appearances
As a homeowner or a prospective homebuyer, nothing will ruin your enthusiasm like seeing your real estate agent step through the door wearing sweatpants, a sweater, and a head full of disheveled hair. Turns out you have a difficult time earning trust when you look like you just got out of bed. We all love sleeping, but waking up helps you stay alert and help your client. That’s why it’s important to stay conscious about your appearance as a real estate agent.
First impressions are a major part to building trust and credibility with your client. You can create client reassurance by dressing for the job with a business professional wardrobe. Don’t forget to use a comb to take out the knots, tangles, and disheveled look in your hair.
Dressing for the job shows the client you’re making them a commitment even during the first impression. This is the best visual way to avoid looking like a sloppy, unprofessional real estate agent.
Lawsuits, Slow Business, and other Repercussions
You don’t have to be a professional real estate agent. Really – nobody is telling you how to function at work. The unfortunate part of being an unprofessional real estate agent is that you will be at higher risk of repercussions.
Working with a bad real estate agent is challenging for others because they can be unreliable. Agents who are unreliable build bad communication habits and are aloof when conducting business. In real estate, having someone who is engaged and interested in conducting business will turn any challenging project into a delight.
People won’t have any desire to do business with those who make work difficult with their lack of professionalism. That’s why conducting yourself in a professional manner and doing everything you can to ensure a standard quality of work is imperative to your success.
Building a successful career will be a difficult if you’re balancing a lawsuit. Which will happen to some real estate agents who have a poor quality of work. If a client thinks you’re not meeting their needs, they could hire a lawyer to help pursue charges against your services. However, becoming a professional who practices a high quality of work will help avoid lawsuits altogether.
Some common reasons why agents will get sued are:
- Failure to disclose information.
- Breach of contract.
- Failure to advise or identify.
- Negligence of the real estate agent.
The very least, this could result in getting reported to the Department of Real Estate (DRE).
Become a real estate agent requires hard work and dedication to the to the job. There’s a commitment you must make to your client if you want to perform well in your career. Some people have large expectations for themselves when they become agents. This backfires when they lack professional development. The good news, becoming a professional can be done by anyone. If you’ve noticed you have unprofessional habits, it’s okay. All you have to do is be honest with your professionalism, and choose to make a change in yourself.
Okay – we want to hear your horror stories. What’s been a time you dealt with an unprofessional real estate agent?
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