At JohnHart Real Estate, our staff and agents alike have become accustomed to unusual questions. We ask a lot of questions. And, thanks to our CEO, founder, and principal broker Harout Keuroghlian, we also receive plenty of them too. One of Harout’s classic questions consistently draws blank stares from new recruits: “Do you know enough not to know anything?” This doesn’t sound like a virtue to you? Harout’s coming from the philosophy that ignorance isn’t bliss; it’s opportunity. And our whip-smart agents have warmed to the idea that, no matter how much they know, there’s always more knowledge to gain. All you really need to know is the right question.
The Path to Solid Relationships is Paved with Good Questions
While exploring JohnHart’s 12 Skills for Exponential Growth in Real Estate, we’ve already underscored the importance of building solid relationships. Asking good questions is one of the most important means of relationship building available to a real estate professional.
As Harout often says, you need to develop a “morbid curiosity” about your clients. You don’t want to just know what kind of home your client wants. You want to know their favorite restaurant, their birthday, their hobbies, their kids’ birthdays, their aesthetic preferences… the list goes on.
Some agents stop their questions after the number of bathrooms, bedrooms, and square footage. And it’s painfully obvious these agents have no real interest in developing a relationship.
Will they get the sale? Maybe. But they probably won’t get the sale after that. And the one after that. Or the sale of their client’s cousin’s house.
Those kinds of chain reactions are reserved for agents who maintain relationships. And relationships that last are built through asking good questions.
Prioritize Being a Learn-It-All Over a Know-It-All
Knowledge is prized in our society. Otherwise, sayings like “knowledge is power” wouldn’t have so much longevity. But agents need to strive to find a healthy balance between knowledge and curiosity.
Let’s look at the term “know-it-all.” We’ve all met a “know-it-all” in our lives and, despite our reverence for knowledge, it’s not a term that most would consider flattering. Why? Because no one knows it all. And if you meet someone who believes they do know it all, we recognize their knowledge will run out much more quickly than their pride.
In the real estate industry, clients will quickly see through a know-it-all. That’s why Harout places value in being a “learn-it-all” instead.
A know-it-all has no questions but plenty of answers… even a few wrong ones! But a learn-it-all, a term popularized by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, has an insatiable thirst for knowledge. And people, including valuable clients, are much more likely to enjoy the company of a learn-it-all versus a know-it-all.
They’re also more likely to retain confidence in a learn it-all. That’s because the learn-it-all asks good questions and acts accordingly. Meanwhile, the know-it-all charges confidently forward… and sometimes stumbles.
And it can be a critical mistake to stumble in front of a client. Especially when you’re holding their sensitive transaction in your hands.
How to Start Asking Good Questions
Good questions are the hallmark of the learn-it-all. But what constitutes a good question? And, if you’re not already in the habit of asking questions, how do you get started?
The best questions are unbiased, refusing to steer the recipient to a preordained answer. That’s because bias pollutes the truth. If you value your client’s honest perspective, then make sure your questions are to the point, free from personal bias, and clear in their intent.
Harout directs us to the 80/20 principle of active listening. This guideline states more effective sales are made when the representative spends 80% of a conversation listening and only 20% of the conversation speaking.
How do you think your conversational ratio compares? Challenge yourself to ask more questions to see how close you can get to the 80/20 ratio. We think the rewards will be
Using What You’ve Learned to Foster a Relationship
So, now you’re asking good questions and gathering information… but what do you do with it? How does knowing your client’s kids’ birthdays or their favorite kind of wine help you be a better real estate agent?
This information gives you multiple points of connection to your client. And it’s through these points of connection that you can effectively build a strong, long-lasting relationship.
Use important dates and milestones to reach out to your client with a phone call or a thoughtful gift. And if you’ve been asking good questions, you should have no trouble deciding what to give them. This builds a bond between you and the client that outlives the transaction.
Hunting the Truth
Another reason why asking good questions is crucial for a savvy agent is because answers evolve as situations change. What’s true at the beginning of a transaction may not be true at the end.
Now this isn’t an invitation to repeat the same questions over and over. It’s just a caution against relying on certainty. Asking or even rephrasing the right question can illuminate where an answer stands in time.
In this way, questions can also challenge accepted models, or persuade clients to rethink reflexive answers for more accurate truths. How often have you received what you want in life only to realize it wasn’t truly what you wanted after all? Asking good questions helps to drive straight to the heart of the truth. And sometimes, it’s a truth a client doesn’t even recognize until you ask them about it.
After working with, and for, many different real estate firms, it became apparent to Harout that there was a major disconnect between what consumers needed/wanted and the service that was being provided to them. It was upon this realization that Harout founded and opened JohnHart Real Estate; and as the CEO/Principal Broker he has continued to break from the norm and redefine real estate with an insatiable appetite to give his clients the service and attention they deserve.
