I am currently looking for a new apartment in Manhattan—and anyone who has done the same knows how much of a nightmare it is. After six-plus years in my current space, I will be moving out and it’s an exciting but stressful process. I’ve spent hours upon hours searching a multitude of websites for apartments in my price range and that have all the amenities and services I need—it must be pet-friendly, the living room needs a large enough wall for my television and the kitchen needs to be big enough so that I can enjoy pretending to be a chef. It’s not a long list but it’s my list, nonetheless.
I’ve already seen at least a dozen units, most of them through a different broker or leasing office than the one before it. It’s an exhausting cycle. What makes the cycle even more cumbersome is when the real estate agent sees me as just another sales opportunity. They don’t often seem to have my best interest in mind, telling me the “very spacious” (small) apartment is priced well below market value (it’s not) or that the lack of one of the few items I required is made up for due to the apartment’s location (which also isn’t great). A lifelong New Yorker, I know the pros and cons of city living and I know what a reasonable apartment and rent looks like. To be told by a broker that the apartment I’m standing in is something it’s clearly not is flat-out wrong.
There have been, however, some brokers who have shown me apartments that were not the right fit, but they were still kind, helpful and were happy to hear out what I was looking for so that they could better assist me in finding my new home. Those brokers I’ve followed up with, hoping not only that they can find me a closer-to-ideal apartment, but that I can give them my business. I want them to make the sale, simply because they were caring.
While I am very likely not in the same tax bracket as many of the clients of the luxury travel advisors who read this magazine, that doesn’t mean I don’t require any less empathy and consideration when I’m being sold a high-price item. Your clients probably have some different concerns than I do, but they still have them—including when it comes to planning their vacations. Their time and money are precious commodities, and they want to ensure those resources are put into trusted hands.
Your clients might be a bit picky—their stateroom needs to be located on a certain point of the ship, or they only fly XYZ airline, or perhaps their hotel must be pet-friendly (see, we have something in common)—but it’s up to you to help guide them to all the right decisions. You need to have their best interest in mind—not what’s going to be the best sale on your end.
These clients may also be dealing with the stresses of their day-to-day lives and are coming to you to relieve the burden of planning the perfect vacation. Don’t add to that stress; instead, be the person they want to come and speak with exactly when they are feeling overwhelmed and in need of an escape.
Whether it’s an existing client or a new one, they each deserve to be treated with kindness, respect and attention to detail—and they need to feel that from you. If they sense that you’re only pitching them on a specific destination, hotel or supplier because it’s best for your bottom line, they will move on to someone who doesn’t make them feel that way. It’s been said time and again but it’s always worth repeating: This is first and foremost a relationships industry, so be kind and patient, and if you can be the stress reliever your client needs you to be, you will have a client for life.
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