Order takers do not get referrals. Order takers think transactionally (short term), not about creating relationships (long term).
 

"I don't want to lose this buyer. I can't afford to risk it by insisting they get pre-approved, signing a buyer agency, etc.… I'm just going to go show them these 5 houses."

We've all been there. You can do that and make a living, but they won't respect you. And if they don't respect you, they won't tell their loved ones to call you. If you want to spend your time showing houses, great. But if you want to make a profession out of this, you need to have a process.

The upfront work is hugely important! With Buyers, the upfront work is some version of a Buyer's Consultation. Keep in mind, if you have not signed a Buyer's Agency with them, they are still a prospect. They need you to teach them about earnest money, the importance of pre-approval, how the market is behaving, etc. At a minimum, review the Buyer's Disclosure and RECAD. This is your opportunity to talk to them about the pitfalls of expecting the Seller to repair everything the inspector finds, make sure they understand how much closing costs they may incur, etc.… It's the start, the most important part.
 

"I want to go see these 4 houses tomorrow," your prospect says. Could you say this:

"Let's talk about that, we can move forward and go see these homes, but if we see one you really like and we are not prepared to compete against somebody who is ready (pre-approved, has their check book with them, has detailed what they want, learned the different market trends, loan types, all the next steps. . . We could end up missing out on 'the one' home. You don't want that to happen, do you? No, of course not. Then we need to talk about how to make sure this and quite a few other things don't happen to you guys. My job is to protect you, prepare you for bumps in the road. To have the best possible home buying experience, we need to talk about all the things we need to be paying attention to."

Order takers do not get referrals. They are not trusted advisors.

Be the person who stops and asks the questions to really find out what they are trying to accomplish. Instead of us just saying, "OK, we can do that. We can do that.' And later thinking, "I knew that wasn't going to work", like you are not straight with a seller on price because you want the listing, but you know it's too high. They will blame you later when it has not sold! Period.

Give them their options and the pluses and minuses of each. So, they can make the right decision for them. They need to see the wins they can have and the mistakes they can make before they happen.

Let's talk about the, "I can't lose this opportunity" mindset. It's a mindset of Scarcity, a "victim of circumstances out of your control" mindset. By doing what you feel you need to do to not lose a client, you are ruining your ability to see what can and needs to be accomplished, "How do I get you from point A to B"? And it leaves you working with people who are not real Buyers and Sellers! The Scarcity Mindset keeps you from being able to tell who is and who isn't a real Buyer or Seller. And it leaves us working with more and more people who aren't ready or capable. Maybe they just want to look at houses or hang out with realtors. I don't know, but I do know they can hang you up for a year! And they take time away from your ready, willing and able clients.

We can and will get these "not ready or prepared" clients under contract. But did we do the best thing for them? Did you even give them any advice? Will they be able to handle deferred repairs? Did they understand the whole process before they entered a legally binding contract? If you allow a mindset of Scarcity to win you will not cover all the bases for your real clients. It traps you.

Defend your process. Defend your pricing and suggestions. We are simply trying to give them clarity. When people refer you to others, they are referring your PROCESS, not you! Be professional for your people! You owe it to them. It is how we should do business.
What would you rather hear, "David will you sell our house."? Or "Hey, David, I hear you have a process to help us figure out what is best for us in this market, do things the right way. And you will give us all the info available to help us make our decision on list price, and for the offer process. Do you have time to help us too?"

If you are not afraid to tell them the truth, to have difficult conversations then you are working from a mindset of Abundance. Because it's ok if they don't use you or get a little peeved at you. Your mindset is, "it's ok, my job is to give you the best service possible, if this is not the right time for you, then it's not the right time for you. But, I can give you the tools to have a bigger success than you would otherwise, so you can take it to the next level, so I'm willing to have the hard conversations with you. I want to be your friend, yes. But I have a very niche expertise and I will never let my friends decide without having all the facts, all the possibilities and my opinion before they decide. That's friendship to me."

You cannot be in survival mode. Focus on your mindset! Don't slip into scarcity, don't compromise yourself- it will cost you and your clients. They need the best help they can get right now.

This is the best referral market I've ever seen. This is THE time to do things the right way, and with a process. Sellers and Buyers don't want to use just anyone, they want someone they can trust. They trust people that their friends and family tell them to trust. AND they trust people who show them professionalism and have a process. They don't value order takers. Your Abundance Mindset gives them confidence and clarity, so does your process.

If you are worried about losing an opportunity…. Think about this… if you are not doing all these things, process things, your client IS THINKING- "man, my realtor isn't really doing anything other than what I'm telling them to do. I'm finding the houses, what are they doing? They are no different than the rest."

You will lose more clients by not doing the process than you will by doing it.

Chose to be an Expert Real Estate Advisor. Talk to your Broker about your process. It is freeing!