What if you had an eye for quality interior design? What if after passing by a residence, you already see its potential for luxury? What if you had a unique grasp on architecture, lighting, shapes and even sound? What would you do? What if you had the imagination of a child and the dedication of an adult achiever?
The world will have no limits for you — no boundaries. You will be able to get what you’ve set your mind to. You would be in luxury real estate.
When Nicole Truszkowski decided to venture into real estate, like every other rookie, she wasn’t very confident. She underwent training, attended some classes and took those exams.
When she got her license, things changed. Her license gave her the confidence that she needed to start her own company. It wasn’t easy starting a business. But Truszkowski had determination. In real estate, people will always have networks. But what Truszkowski wanted was a network within a network — the Exceptional Agents Network. She wanted to build a network that would allow her access to the wealthy people inside and outside of her community.
She slowly branched out. In the process, she maintained a good working relationship with both agents and clients. She believed that to pick the best agents, you must always have a set of criteria. It’s OK to disagree as long as you share the same moral principles. Choose agents with similar work ethic — these people will understand you.
Always come up with your own standards, your own criteria. Truszkowski took care of her clients like nobody ever did. She had her biggest sale because of a client whom she was working with for five years. Her patience paid off, and she got an $18 million sale.
Here are a few things she learned along the way.
1. Be available to your clients — always
They too have networks. Once they see how committed you are to helping them choose the best houses for them, they will know that you are the person for any job related to real estate. You will become referable to the rich and famous. You will be remembered, and people will seek you out because you took excellent care of one of their contacts. They know that you will do the same for them.
In the world of luxury real estate, you always need to be in constant communication with your clients. Some might be accessible through social media, and others might not. You don’t have to spend too much when it comes to communication.
Truszkowski uses WeChat, Skype, WhatsApp, etc. These tools are free to use once you have an internet connection available. Some agents might detach from their clients after the sale, but Truszkowski chooses to include them in her network.
2. Always stay informed and updated
You don’t have to know everything, but it would be best if you appeared well-informed and smart. You don’t have to talk too much, just listen and answer questions. Probe, and get to know your clients.
You will be amazed at what you will find out. You’ll probably realize that the overnight success of one of your clients took several years of challenges and difficulty. You’ll even get to talk about ideas on how to generate more income, get more leads and even how to effectively advertise.
It doesn’t hurt to bring your powerful sales and negotiating skills to the table. Clients will be impressed, especially if you know your stuff.
3. Do better than meeting expectations
Fail to meet your client’s expectation in luxury real estate, and you’re done for. Meet their expectations, and you’ve probably knocked on the network of the wealthy. Exceed their expectations, and you have penetrated a network that would soon become your bread and butter.
In a world where people doubt advertisements and marketing promotions, the only other option to trust is word-of-mouth. And if you do what Truszkowski did and become referable in a network of wealthy people, you just might be the next Nicole Truszkowski.
To listen to the full interview, please click here.
Pat Hiban is the author of NYT best selling book “6 steps to 7 figures – A Real Estate Professional’s Guide to Building Wealth and Creating Your Destiny” and the Host of Pat Hiban Interviews Real Estate Rockstars an Agent to Agent Real Estate Radio Podcast with Hiban Digital. Follow him on Instagram or Twitter.
