When Did You Last Look at Your Business Through Your Client’s Eyes?

When you’ve been in real estate for a while, it’s easy to become very familiar with the process.

You know what happens after an appraisal. You know how a campaign unfolds. You know why buyer feedback matters, what happens when an offer comes in and what needs to occur between signing a contract and settlement.

You’ve probably done it hundreds, if not thousands, of times. But your client hasn’t…and that’s an important distinction.

Because while you might think you deliver a great client experience, the real question is: what does that experience actually feel like from the other side?

Start at the beginning

Think about the first interaction someone has with your business. They make an inquiry or call your office. How quickly does someone respond?

When you book an appraisal, what happens next? Do the potential sellers know what to expect? Do you turn up prepared? Do you listen to what they actually want to achieve, or are you already thinking about the presentation you’re about to deliver?

These might sound like small things, but from the client's perspective they’re not. They’re forming an impression of you long before they sign an agency agreement. And every interaction is either reinforcing their decision to trust you or giving them a reason to question it.

What feels routine to you may not feel routine to them

Once the property hits the market, the gap between the agent's experience and the client's experience can become even more obvious.

An agent might see a quiet open home and think: ‘It happens. We'll see what next week brings.’

The seller may be thinking: ‘Why did nobody come? Is something wrong with our house? Have we made a terrible decision?’

You might have three negotiations happening, two appraisals that afternoon and another campaign launching tomorrow.

But your vendor only has one property on the market - Their property, their biggest financial asset, perhaps even the place that shaped their biggest life memories, and represents their biggest transition in years.

That is why communication matters so much. It’s not enough to know that everything is progressing as it should. Your client needs to know it too.

And that doesn't mean calling only when you have good news. Sometimes the most valuable call you can make is the one that simply says: ‘There’s nothing significant to report today, but here’s what we’re seeing and here’s what happens next.’

How does your feedback actually feel?

Feedback is another area worth considering through the client's eyes. Agents deal with buyer feedback every day. We’re well acquainted with phrases like: ‘Too expensive’, ‘Too small’, ‘Wrong location’, ‘Didn't like the kitchen’, ‘Loved it but preferred another property’.

To an agent, that’s information. To an owner, it can feel deeply personal.

A home might represent 20 years of their life. They might have raised their children there, renovated it themselves or spent years building memories within those walls.

That doesn't mean you should soften important feedback or avoid difficult conversations.

Quite the opposite. Your job is to help clients understand what the market is telling them, but how you communicate that information matters.

Are you simply relaying comments, or are you providing context? Are you helping the client identify patterns? Are you explaining what the feedback means for the campaign and what, if anything, you recommend doing next?

Information is useful, but interpretation is where an experienced agent adds true value.

Then comes negotiation

Negotiation is another everyday part of our job that can be anything but everyday for the people we represent.

An offer arrives. For you, the numbers immediately start moving. You’re thinking about buyer motivation, competing interest, market evidence, conditions and how much further the negotiation might go.

Your client may simply hear one number and react emotionally. Again, this is where perspective matters.

The client doesn't just need someone to pass offers backwards and forwards. They need someone who can slow the moment down, explain what is happening and help them make an informed decision.

That requires communication, patience and, sometimes, the courage to have a conversation they might not want to hear.

What happens after the sold sticker goes up?

Then there’s one of the biggest missed opportunities in real estate: what happens after the transaction.

For the agent, settlement often represents the end of a campaign. For the client, it might represent the beginning of an entirely new chapter. Yet this is often where communication suddenly stops.

We talk a lot in real estate about building relationships, generating referrals and creating clients for life. But relationships aren't built by adding someone's details to a database and sending them an automated market update once a month.

They’re built by staying interested. all after settlement. Check in six months later. Remember the conversation you had about where they were moving or what they planned to do next - not because you’re trying to secure another transaction immediately, but because you genuinely value the relationship.

Walk through your own business

Every now and then, I think every agent should mentally become their own client. Start with the first phone call and walk through the entire experience.

• How easy are you to contact?

• How well do you listen?

• Do clients understand what happens next?

• How often do they hear from you?

• Do you explain things clearly or assume they already understand?

• Do you communicate when there is nothing to report?

• Do they feel guided during difficult decisions?

• And once the deal is done, do they still hear from you?

You might discover that the experience you're delivering is exactly what you intended. You might also find a few gaps. That's not a bad thing, because once you can see your business through your client's eyes, you have an opportunity to make it better.

We spend a lot of time in real estate thinking about what we do: the calls, appraisals, listings, campaigns, negotiations and sales.

But ultimately, clients judge us on something slightly different. They judge us on what it felt like to work with us.

And here’s the thing…the client experience isn't the experience you intended to deliver; it's the one they actually had.

About the Author

Manos Findikakis is the CEO of Agents’Agency, Australia’s first multi-brand real estate network, ‘the only fully integrated solution for you and your people to create an unforgettable experience.’

For all enquiries and more information on how the Agents’Agency can help you take your career to the next level, click here to get in touch.