The Power Of The Perfect Question

I was 23 years old when I first started in Real Estate wondering who on earth was going to trust me with helping them buy and sell a house. (The good news is that someone did because I am still here. ) From the very beginning I would take classes and they all focused on asking people lots of questions to determine what their needs were and how to help them best. This concept terrified me! I was afraid that being young and asking questions would just make me seem naive and uneducated which would cause my clients to loose confidence in me. Turns out I was completely off base on that one!
We all bring our own experiences to the table which affects how we relate to others. Do a little experiment. The next time you ask someone how their day is and they tell you that it is ‘good’ or ‘great’ ask them what that really means. For one person it may mean they just got the promotion and raise of a lifetime and for another it may mean that they were lucky enough to find matching socks that day. Two VERY different meanings of the words ‘good’ and ‘great’!
So the more questions you ask the more you can get at the root of what your client wants or is trying to accomplish. Is there a perfect question? Maybe not, but as a general rule of thumb there is always one more question that can be asked in any situation to gain further clarity. Admittedly you do want to be careful with this and not go too Dr. Phil on them, but for the most part people don’t truly stop to listen to what the other person is saying when they are talking and any questions you ask will make the other person feel grateful that someone took the time to care about them.
So get out there and see what you can find out!
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