What kind of client relationships do you have?

Some years ago I spent a week at a health retreat with two girlfriends. The three of us stayed in exactly the same accommodation, ate the same meals and had the same opportunities in terms of what fitness experiences or treatments we chose to partake in. And yet, each of us had a completely different week.

One friend, heavily pregnant at the time, took the week to relax and rest, indulging in morning Tai Chi, long naps and hours spent recharging. The other friend had a very emotionally introspective week with treatments and other reflective sessions. I spent the week working out until I nearly passed out, reading heaps of books and forming a growing obsession with the customer service flaws in the retreat.

Same opportunities, completely different experience, because of where we each were in our lives at that time.

This week I read some feedback about a real estate agency that has now closed down stating “XXX Real Estate were the best agency I ever dealt with and it’s a shame they’re no longer in business”. Yet, I’ve had other people tell me how furious they are at this company.

Same company, two different experiences. So who’s right about what it was like to deal with that company?

Probably both parties. It may have been the different person they dealt with, but I also think it could also have been what they brought to the experience.

A person with an investment property who has had a terrible experience with a previous property manager is very likely to form a different kind of relationship with their new real estate agent (one that is less trusting, more jaded, more suspicious) than an investor who has had good previous dealings or has been referred to that agency by a fan.

A divorcing couple in the middle of a nasty break up are likely going to have a different relationship with their sales agent than a couple looking to upgrade to start a family.

What are your clients bringing to the relationship before you even have a chance to impact on them? How can you work to form relationships with them even in the most trying of situations?

Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I Can do it Anyone Can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started her first business at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Now Kirsty does lots of fun things which you can read about here. Her favourite current projects are Elephant Property, a boutique property management agency, Baby Teresa, a baby clothing line that donates an outfit to a baby in need for each one they sell and ReallySold, which helps real estate agents stop writing boring, uninteresting ads.