Waterfront Property in the Bahamas & Real Estate Expertise

How well do you listen to what other people have to say? Do you think you are a good listener? When I was asked this question recently my immediate reaction was… are you kidding? I’m a great listener, or so I thought until I attended an interesting and enlightening presentation by Matt Smith at the recent Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate conference at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Bachelor Gulch, Colorado. When Matt Smith was introduced to our group of luxury real estate professionals I had an immediate sense of “where do I know this man from,” but I couldn’t place him. That is until I read his bio and saw that not only is he a lecturer, auctioneer, keynote speaker, but he is also an accomplished actor. I read where he had played the part of the “prick boss” in a delightful movie called “Outsourced” a romantic feel good movie similar to “Love Actually” or “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”… my type of movie. Ah ha! That was it. If you haven’t seen it do yourself a favour and rent it, buy it or do whatever you have to do to watch it. You will not be disappointed.

Matt is quite a raconteur and gave a fast-paced presentation with full audience participation on the art of listening. Have you ever been in a conversation where within moments of the other person starting to talk you already know what you want to say and you can’t wait for them to stop talking or you interrupt them? Sound familiar? Most of us do it all of the time. We are so engrossed in our own point of view that we don’t listen to what others have to say. The next time you are in a conversation force yourself to listen and wait until the other person has finished speaking before you respond. And don’t respond with what you thought of while they were speaking. Respond with what comes into your mind as they finish. It’s not easy. You will be amazed how the conversation will move in a different direction. I have to caution you, however, you can’t try this when speaking to more than one person in a small group. If you do you will never have the opportunity to talk because everyone else will be interrupting the one who is speaking in order to get his or her two cents in.

This philosophy certainly applies to us in the real estate profession. How often do we think we are listening to our client when actually we are so intent on pointing out the special features of the fabulous home that we are showing that we miss important details such as, a young couple starting a family not wanting the master bedroom at one end of the house and the other bedrooms at the other, or a retired couple not wanting to have to negotiate stairs or have a large property to maintain. These are simple, but important details that may have more relevance to the buyer than the granite counter tops or Wolf cook top that we are so anxious to point out. When you truly listen, listening takes on a whole new meaning.

Posted By: Larry Roberts