Tip: Arrive at showings 10 minutes early, and be prepared to answer questions about the area.
Anthony Testani has learned how to peg his customers. He knows how to identify the meek from the decisive. That skill helped the former stockbroker, now a salesperson with RE/MAX Millennium in Flushing, N.Y., increase his sales volume nearly 400 percent in one year, jumping from $2.8 million in 2000 to $13.5 million in 2001.
Testani credits his broker and mentor, Judy Markowitz, and Howard Brinton’s Star Power Systems with helping him learn how to service customers and clients as individuals with unique needs. Now, when he’s in the field with prospects or clients, he runs through a series of questions in his mind. “I can discover their motivations by asking myself such questions as, ‘Why are these people looking for a new home?’ ‘Do they like this home?’ and ‘Why do they like this home?’” Testani says.
He also comes to the point with waffling buyers. In the hot Flushing market, properties may have several offers in one day; salespeople who don’t prepare people will end up with disappointed buyers. “I train them from the start that they’ll have to make a decision on the spot,” he says. “It helps them be mentally prepared before they find a property they like. They appreciate that.”