There are so many moving parts in a real estate transaction. You’ve got your client, yourself, the other agent, and the person they represent.

 But you’ve also got the lender, the home inspector, the appraiser, buyer and seller attorneys, a representative from the title company, and insurance agents for either or both sides.

 Any one of these could forget what they were supposed to do—or forget to attend an important meeting—or surprise everyone with a revelation that upends the deal.

 While everyone wants  the transaction to go smoothly from start to finish, no one can guarantee that it will. Because all those moving parts are humans. And humans are great at complicating things.

BECOME YOUR CLIENT’S SECRET WEAPON

 So, if and when things get messy, do you know how to keep your cool and keep your client happy?

 I’m about to share what I’ve learned to help you become the kind of agent who can handle any complication with a calm confidence that instantly dissolves your client’s fears—and assures them you will do everything in your power to make that complication work to their benefit.

 It starts with your willingness to do what it takes to build a strong, connected network of trustworthy and capable real estate professionals.

NO TOP AGENT IS AN ISLAND

 It’s super beneficial to have relationships with other agents. And there are plenty of ways to build and maintain those relationships.

Let’s look at places where you can meet the people who might be involved in real estate transactions in your area:

• Networking events —especially those in your area or events that  every  real estate professional should attend every year.
• Social media —use the  top social media platforms  to search for real estate professionals in your local market; follow them and comment on their posts.
• RealTrends.com  and Zillow’s  Agent Finder —to  find the top producers  in your area, then reach out and ask to set up a mastermind over coffee or lunch.

 When things do go wrong, it helps to draw from experiences and insights other than your own. Plus, the more people you know who are different from yourself, the more you learn to empathize with people whose backgrounds and perspectives differ from your own.

 You also learn helpful tricks and hacks you might never have learned if you hadn’t met so-and-so at one of the networking events you attended. And who knows? Perhaps so-and-so will introduce you to a new client — or a lender or appraiser or home inspector.

 With all the variables involved in buying or selling a home, it makes a huge difference when you know you can trust the people involved in the transaction.

 And since you know things can still go wrong, you need to be constantly building and nurturing these relationships—before the deal, during the deal, and after the deal is done.

BEFORE THE DEAL

 Make it a top priority to build strong and mutually beneficial relationships with as many competent and trustworthy real estate professionals as you can.

 Here are some actions you can take before (and after) taking on a real estate transaction:

• Search the internet for local real estate professionals  who serve as mortgage lenders, home inspectors, appraisers, attorneys, insurance agents, etc.
• Attend open houses  to meet the listing agent and, if you get a positive impression from them, look them up on social media.
• Create events of your own  and invite real estate professionals in your area, so you and your guests can get better acquainted with each other.

 Make as many friends as possible. The actions listed above aren’t just for the early stages of your career. You will want to continue taking action to connect with other real estate professionals and nurture the relationships you’ve built.

DURING THE DEAL 

 When you’re in the middle of a deal, there are things you should be doing to keep that deal on the rails—or to get it back on  the rails when something goes wrong.

1. Send a closing team email —to everyone involved so everyone knows all the players and how to get a hold of any of them. Make it as easy as possible for everyone involved to get in touch with anyone else on the team. If you have a  transaction coordinator , have them reach out to everyone and invite questions about the process.
2. Constant communication —You need to be in constant communication with your client and other professionals involved in the transaction to ensure everyone knows what’s going on and what’s expected of them.
3. Keep an open mind —remember not every transaction is the same, and be prepared to try an outside-the-box approach to keep your client happy. What you did for your last client may not be as helpful with your current client.
4. Keep the long game in view —it’s not the end of the world if the transaction doesn’t go exactly as planned. Consider it an added challenge to help you grow as a real estate agent. Always be learning and be willing to adapt.

 If there’s no saving the deal, the number one thing is to keep your client happy .  Do whatever you can to save your relationship with that client. Take your own emotions out of the equation and get back to the process at hand.

 When things go wrong, the TWO KEY pieces of information to identify as early as possible are:

1. Who’s the number one player/decision-maker
2. Who’s the easiest to get a hold of

 Reach out to both of these people to maximize your chances of getting a helpful and timely response—getting you that much closer to an outcome that is favorable to your client.

AFTER THE DEAL

 The deal is finally done. You’re happy with the outcome, and, more importantly, so is your client. Naturally, you’re feeling especially grateful for the people involved who contributed to that outcome.

 So, what can you do to solidify and strengthen the relationships you built during this deal? Because when someone goes above and beyond to save a deal, a thank you card just doesn’t feel like enough.

 Fortunately, there are a million different ways to set up client appreciation events or agent-appreciation events to call these people out for whatever they did that you noticed and appreciated.

 For starters, you could throw a closing team party to thank everyone on the closing team with a hearty meal and an assortment of drinks to make everyone feel at home—and make you  someone they’ll remember.

 For more ideas, stay tuned for my next article, which will go into more detail on what you can expect and what you can do after the deal is done.

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