35 Client Experience Red Flags to Watch Out for in Your Real Estate Business
Have you ever wondered what makes potential clients choose other realtors over your real estate business?
All realtors are sometimes clueless why they lost the potential client's trust.
After going above and beyond for a home buyer or seller, you usually don't get feedback on why your dream client went to the competitor.
A client's behavior cannot be predicted 100% every time. But, there are certain client experience red flags realtors don't notice or don't pay enough attention to because they don't think they are causing harm.
Double-check your business's impression on potential clients, grab our FREE 35 Client Experience Red Flags Checklist, and improve your real estate business to close more deals.
35 Client Experience Red Flags Checklist
We have listed the top 35 business red flags to watch out for when building impeccable first impression, fantastic client experience, and stronger client relationship.
In most cases, seeing some of those red flags is why potential clients don't want to hire your business. They scan and detect them immediately, run away to the competitor, never return, leave a bad review, or don't send referrals.
Please keep in mind that none of the red flags below are related to your real estate expertise, skills, or knowledge. We believe you are a top expert in your field, and building a stronger client experience is of utmost importance to you, so we wanted to help you.
You can download and print this as a handy checklist at the end.
Dodgy business appearance
We see many real estate websites that look unprofessional and scammy. Sometimes the business info and contacts are hidden, so they cannot be checked in the state's registry. Other times, the business is registered abroad (in some unrelated country) even if the service provider is a small local business, which may raise some doubts. If you run a serious business, your email should not look personal, funny, or dodgy (e.g., realtormarina91@gmail.com or king.tom.123 @proton.me). Wherever potential clients are asked to submit their personal info, if the form looks weird, don't expect them to do so. If you are working hard to build a high-end real estate business, immediately check and fix the first five red flags.
1. Dodgy business info.
2. Dodgy website (poor look and feel, messed up pages, text placeholders left, broken links, etc.).
3. Dodgy local business accounts (Google Business, Yelp, etc.).
4. Dodgy social media accounts (funny name and profile picture, no business info, weird and unrelated content, etc.).
5. Dodgy contact form, phone number, and email.
Unclear message
All your print and digital marketing channels and materials should be consistent, clear, and have a straightforward call to action. It's a common practice that business owners cannot briefly and shortly describe their business. Instead, they go on and on about irrelevant info and forget to tell potential clients what to do with it. You wouldn't believe how quickly people get confused and walk away for "no good reason". Well, here are the most common seven good reasons:
6. Unclear service.
7. Unclear offer.
8. Unclear price.
9. Unclear process.
10. Unclear contact.
11. Unclear location.
12. Unclear CTA.
No recommendation
If most of your business's reviews are between 1 and 3.9 stars, potential clients will unlikely want to hire you, and there are obviously some improvements needed asap. Never fake or buy reviews and testimonials. No one will trust your business if your "previous clients" are located in some faraway country or continent or look like stock image models.
13. Average and bad reviews.
14. Fake reviews and client testimonials.
Poor appearance
For professional businesses, a professional appearance is essential. Having a branding and marketing plan and taking strategic actions maximizes your efforts. Professional and up-to-date branding is everything a potential client sees – from your logo, promo products, website, and marketing channels to your office interior. And all of that should match in style.
15. Poor branding (logo, website, business card, print and digital materials, etc.).
16. Poor headshots and team photos.
17. Poor stock images and videos.
18. Poor website, blog, and social media content (descriptions, copy, posts, articles, bio, etc.).
19. Spammy marketing (too many emails, texts, newsletters, calls, flyers, postcards, etc.).
20. Poor office.
Poor property portfolio (inventory)
If your website is crowded with poor-quality listings, that could be repulsive to potential clients. Such listings include poorly maintained properties, suspicious city areas and communities, lack of home staging and professional real estate photography, and poor property descriptions and info. Based on your listings, potential clients will notice what type of properties and clients you are dealing with. Even if your attention was to help everyone, by doing so, others may not see your business as a perfect fit for their needs.
21. Poor area.
22. Poor properties.
23. Poor real estate photography.
24. Poor property description.
Poor business organization
Your real estate skills are undoubtedly impeccable, but business organization and management tell a different story. If you dig deep, you'll know what could be improved. Take notes of your daily routine and be honest with yourself. Always assume your client knows nothing about real estate and explain every step in detail. Check third-party apps you use in your workflow and how they appear on your client's end. This is especially worth inspecting if you work with rentals and have continuous online communication with landlords and tenants.
25. Poor business organization.
26. Poor time management.
27. Poor contracts.
28. Poor replies to client concerns.
29. Long time to reply.
30. Unclear contact person (for teams).
31. Poor property management.
32. Confusing client apps.
33. Confusing and dodgy online contract and payment apps.
Social behavior
The last two are a client's personal preference but also the red flags should your personality and behavior not reflect your business values and your dream client's environment. You are absolutely fine if your and your team's personalities and behavior are professional, pleasant, approachable, and confidential. Potential clients are usually unconsciously looking for a professional with the same character. If they refuse to work with you, perhaps they clicked with someone else better regardless of your exceptional services. You should not take it personally because it's not. On the other hand, depending on your dream clients' profile, there could be room for improvement. Work on your social behavior, manners, vocabulary, and outfit to better fit your clients' environment and expectations.
34. Unfitting personality.
35. Unfitting behavior.
How to check your business's first impression
We all feel very proud about something we did or paid a lot of money for. Whether that's business related, a product we purchased, an activity we did, an accomplishment, or a creative project.
When someone doesn't share our enthusiasm about it, or even worst, tells us it s*cks, we feel personally attacked. That's our automatic defense mechanism.
But in reality, sometimes we feel too proud of something that doesn't look professional or align with our business values and goals.
Receiving constructive feedback or criticism is in our favor if we want to further improve and grow our business.
When you decide to double-check how your business appears to your potential and previous clients, we recommend these five steps:
Plan at least 3 days for the assessment. You will need more time to fix red flags afterward.
Relax, go outside, do something fun, and forget about your business for a day or two.
With a fresh pair of eyes, do the assessment. Download our 35 Client Experience Red Flag Checklist.
The hack to see your business objectively is to imagine yourself shopping online. Remember the last time you didn't buy the product you were looking for? What influenced your decision at that time?
If unable to look at your business from your client's perspective, ask someone else for feedback. It's less convenient to ask a partner, family member, and close friend as they don't want to hurt your feelings. It's better to ask someone you are not that close to and could do something in return for their time.
For the most quality feedback, reach out to a professional. We would love to help you out with your brand struggles.
How to find out why the potential client chose the competitor over you
If you have noticed a pattern that many clients you want to work with have gone to other realtors, there could be an easy-to-fix problem.
If you still believe your business is an excellent fit for their needs, we suggest creating a 2-question feedback form asking what the problem was and what could be improved. Something like this:
Can you please share with us what led you to choose not to work with us on this occasion?
We value your feedback, and we would greatly appreciate it if you could let us know what we could have done better or differently to earn your trust.
Send the form in a simple and short email after a day or two of getting a refusal. There's never harm in asking and you have nothing to lose.
If you receive constructive (positive or negative) feedback, always say thank you and get to work.
Never continue the conversation if you receive a negative or unpleasant personal attack, as it will only worsen. It has nothing to do with you (if nothing happened), and you are lucky that this person is someone else's concern now.
Get honest, professional feedback on your business appearance
Instead of spending days assessing your business and going through an emotional breakdown, leave that to us.
At Realty Kiosk, we are dedicated to developing high-end brands for realtors. We will provide a complete list of possible improvements with the best solutions. The best way to contact us is by submitting your Project Inquiry HERE so we can discuss your needs and see if we are a great fit.
If you prefer to spend days assessing your business and missing out on some critical details that could help your competitor win your potential clients, join our private group for realtors and download our 35 Client Experience Red Flags Checklist for free HERE.
