Image is so important. I see a lot of Realtors who are dressed for success and whose cars always seem spotless. My first sales manager told me to always be dressed right when I went out as everyone out there was my prospect.
I do like to try and appear neat and clean for my clients but I am afraid I am very hard to dress up. I have 4 kids 10 or less and my car reflects that fact. Yes I do try and get the worst of the fast food out of the back seat before my clients see it, but even a high end car wash that I cannot afford every other day cannot hide the facts. Somehow my ties always end up with spots on them, so I try to by ties that have a pattern that will hide food stains. I have taken clients through 20 or more homes in a day. To heck with nice shoes, go for comfortable ones that slip on and off easy. When I run over to the video store for a movie I like to wear my broken-in rugby shirt my wife wants me to throw away. It has taken 7 years to break in, it is comfortable, and hides my executive size. If a client sees me they will know that I am human.
Now when talking to people, so many realtors have just the right words to reassure buyers and push the hot buttons to buy. There is a lot of research and training in this area. Our lives depend on being able to get people to buy and sell. Unfortunately I am not the smooth talker. Just ask my wife or all the women I could not get dates with when I was single. I just blurt out the truth. Do I try to be tactful with it? Yes! I have also come to learn people do not buy what they told you they wanted. So why bother to point that fact out to them.
In general I always feel a little awkward when talking to new prospects at first. But once the ice is broken and I get past the initial get to know you phase I find my clients like me and my candor. I remember the night I spent 2 hours talking a prospect out of selling or refinancing their home. It would have been an economic disaster for him. He was in a bad loan and just needed to ride out the pre-pay period. The nice thing is he does refer his friends to me and he is going to have me refinance his home this spring, he is not even talking to anyone else.
My dad told me you can spend a life earning a good reputation and blow it in just a few minutes. I think I will continue telling people the truth. I would like the car to be clean; maybe I can get the kids to wash it. Now if I can only find where my wife hid the Rugby shirt I might wear it for a client.