Ask your clients a few questions about themselves and you’ll learn how you can meet their needs.

People love to talk about two things: themselves and their children. And this can be a great thing for your business. In fact, you can gather lots of information about someone just by asking them one or two questions and listening to their answers. This chattiness comes in handy when you’re getting to know your clients; it allows you to better serve them and address their unique needs.

In the course of a five minute conversation with a client, you can often find out the names of their children, how they met their spouse or significant other and where they went on their last vacation. Whether you’re meeting with clients for the first time or the hundredth time, it never hurts to ask a few personal questions to break the ice and learn more about them.

Get the Conversation Started
1. Interests
• Are they avid golfers or fans of the local professional sports teams?
• How do they like to spend their time off?
• What’s their favorite vacation destination or restaurant?

2. Personal information
• Where were they born?
• When is their birthday?
• Where did they go to school?
• Are they married? If so, what’s their husband’s or wife’s name?
• What do they do for a living?

3. Family
• Do they have children?
• What are their names and ages?
• Do they play sports, a musical instrument or participate in another activity?
• Do they have pets?
Don’t interrogate your clients: they’re not on a game show or at the police station. Ask them one or two questions whenever you speak with them so that you can get to know them better. Start with one question and then remember to follow it with the next logical question (e.g., if they mention that their child is going away to college, ask how they feel about their child leaving the nest). Take notes if possible, but make sure to ask your client if it’s okay.

When you finish speaking with your client, be sure to record the information you learned into Referral Maker CRM and write a personal note to say how much you enjoyed speaking/meeting with them. Referral Maker is a real estate CRM designed to help you track your numbers, update your database and allow you to Work by Referral with ease. Click here to learn more and to start using Referral Maker CRM today.