When the kids move out and mom and dad retire, the expense of that big house and all that property maintenance can start to feel like an expense they don’t really need. This is the mindset driving downsizing for many Baby Boomers. As an experienced broker with deep knowledge of your local market, you and your team are uniquely qualified to help them with this transition. And make no mistake, this is a transition, not just a buying or selling of a home for most Boomers. It represents a change of life, finishing one chapter and opening a chapter on the next part of their story. Your ability to facilitate an empathetic and informed approach to this market can be a highly rewarding and mutually beneficial endeavor.
Put Yourself in Their Shoes
Whether you are a Boomer yourself, or a young broker/agent working with older clients, the first step to winning over the Boomer business is to put yourself in their shoes. Even more so than working with Millennials, Boomers have a story, a well-developed one, and your ability to relate to it in a real way is what they need to see before they will trust you with their business. Treat their home with great respect be it big or small. It is the place where their memories were carved. Let them tell you their story and if you win their business, remember it as you show them homes. Find common points of reference, but emphasize the excitement of the new. For Boomers, turning the page may be tinged with sadness, but your ability to be empathetic while emphasizing the positives of change, will make their transition much easier and leave you feeling good long after the deal is closed. Do this right and they will also become a great source of referrals for other Boomers in the same situation.
Play Matchmaker with Your Boomer Leads
Being the responsible broker that you are, you know it is important to take careful control of your inbound leads and care for them accordingly. As such you may want to consider that a lead opportunity with a Boomer, may merit some special considerations. For instance, Boomers who are downsizing often feel more comfortable working with agents who have similar interests. Pay careful consideration to match all of your Boomer leads with the type of agent that is best suited for their needs, best matches their life experience, or has a particularly positive personality.
You Have to Be Where the Boomers Are
One of the best ways to scale your business as a real estate broker is to network strategically and build meaningful relationships with referral partners. If you are striving to attract Baby Boomers, you would be wise to seek out valuable connections with other professionals that frequently work with this group. Home care providers, assisted living facility managers, estate planners, estate attorney’s and those working in finance are all excellent connections that could help to build your referral business. LinkedIn is great for forming these relationships, just as joining local networking groups like BNI or the chamber of commerce.
Since you already have your thumb on the pulse of buyers and sellers, you know very well that they all want relationships with people they trust. When it comes to attracting downsizing Baby Boomers, credibility, trust and empathy will go a long way.
Winning with Boomers Requires the Right Philosophy
When Jim Weichert said, “People buy people before they buy your product or service,” he was describing all real estate business relationships, but this is even more true for today’s Baby Boomer generation. It’s this philosophy that drives all our processes and systems and is fundamental to success.
Authenticity breeds success, that’s the Weichert way. If you are looking for solutions to get your brokerage on the path to growth, contact us to see how we can help. Go to https://www.weichert.com/ or call 877-567-3350.
