Residential Real EstateJuice in the Jam: Building Business and Increasing Loyalty
Commission objections, home inspection problems, financing falling through, and getting price reductions are just a few of the challenges Realtors® are faced with everyday. When they happen, the human instinct for survival often kicks in and causes us to either avoid the issue, dance around it, or postpone having to deal with the bad news.
These can be very uncomfortable issues to work through and nobody enjoys dealing with problems. Or do they? When you understand that creatively dealing with objections, problems and distractions can release tremendous natural energy, and build strong relationships with clients, facing these challenges can become something you look forward to.
Recognizing the one thing every objection, problem or distraction has in common is the first step in turning these uncomfortable situations into enjoyable events. What every one of them has in common is that when one pops up it instantly becomes the center of attention -- whether you want to acknowledge it or not.
They instantly create tension and drain energy from the interaction, and no amount of dancing around the issue can stop the drain. Your client, the other agent, or anyone else in the room, senses the tension and become increasingly uncomfortable the longer the issue remains unaddressed.
They can distract from whatever you"re trying to do and can stop all forward progress until they"re faced. The good news is, however, that everyone wants to see them resolved creatively. They may not want to face it themselves, but they"re watching to see what you do, and that creates a huge opportunity.
Have you every watched a top street performer working a big crowd? If you haven"t, you need to find one and watch. If you have, then you"ve probably seen a great example of how to turn the energy drain of distractions and problems into big pluses. Street performers call it "Juicing the Jam." "Juice" is natural energy and the "jam" -- well, that"s pretty obvious. Dealing with a "jam" creatively releases the "juice," the Natural Energy in the crowd. Crowds love it when a performer has fun "Juicing the Jam" and they show their appreciation by putting more money in the performer"s hat at the end of the show. Here"s an example of how it works.
At the Minnesota Renaissance Festival there"s a street performer that goes by the name of Bung. He"s a nasty looking fellow with a playful glint in his eye and he"s often found digging through garbage cans or slinging verbal harangues at passersby. More often than not you"ll find a crowd of dozens of people, sometimes hundreds, gathered around him to see what he"ll do next. He"s got a number of routines the crowds have come to expect and they applaud whenever he launches into one of them. Invariably, however, someone dares to disrupt the flow of his routines by stepping forward to take a picture. That"s when the fun begins because that"s when Bung "Juices the Jam."
One time, when I was watching him, a man stepped forward to take a picture of Bung exchanging insults with another festival performer. The man tripped on a child in front of him and stumbled into the circle Bung had drawn around his performance. That stumble drew every eye in the audience and disrupted Bung"s routine. The man tried to step back into the anonymity of the crowd, but Bung ordered stay put.
Bung took the camera from the man, took an extreme close-up of himself, then handed the camera back to the man and ordered him to step back into the crowd. As the man did so, Bung turned around and displayed a very nice gold watch to the crowd. They loved it, but roared when the man saw it and yelled, "Hey, that"s my watch!" The distraction of the stumbling cameraman, the "jam" had been turned into a fun bit that released the laughter, and Natural Energy, of the crowd. Bung had successfully "Juiced the Jam" and the crowd showed its appreciation at the end of the show by filling Bung"s hat with lots of folding money.
How does this relate to the problems we face everyday as Realtors®? Simple. Instead of trying to dance our way around an objection, problem or distraction, face it head on and deal with it, hopefully in a creative, playful manner. The issue, the "jam," isn"t going to go away; it"s going to sit there draining energy from the interaction until it"s dealt with. If you deal with it directly, and can put a smile on your client"s face while doing so, you"ve released the Natural Energy that builds stronger relationships. By "Juicing the Jam" you"ve released the most potent force there is when it comes to building your business -- customer loyalty -- and customer loyalty translates into more money in your "hat" in the form of additional sales and referrals.
When you can look at "jams" as opportunities to show you clients the value you bring to the relationship, you"ll find yourself getting excited about challenges instead of being afraid of them. It makes your work more fun and it energizes not only your business, but you.