7 Secret Ways Agents Can Connect With People

When it comes down to it, real estate agents aren't really in the real estate business – just as restaurant owners aren't really in the food service business and roofers aren't in the roofing business.

Sure, houses, land, apartments and storefronts are the commodities you help people buy and sell – but you're still not in the real estate business. You're in the people business. And, assuming you make a reasonable effort at mastering the real estate trade and the basics of managing your practice, if you are excellent at connecting with people, you cannot fail.

So, what are the secrets of the masters when it comes to connecting with people? A thousand books could not hold them all, but here are some great ones.

1. Do Not Forget Anybody

Some years back, I had an insurance agent named Larry Mervis. Larry was a WWII veteran – a captain and military intelligence officer who landed on Normandy Beach and served in the U.S. Army across Europe, all the way to Germany. Prior to D-Day, he actually met then-General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was deep in the planning phases of the Normandy invasion. Ike asked about Larry's family, and Larry told Ike he was worried about his father, a doctor in Chicago who was in ill health.

They didn't meet again for over a year and a half. Then in Germany, shortly before the end of the war, their paths crossed again. "Larry! Larry Mervis!" exclaimed Eisenhower. "Good to see you! You told me back in England that your dad was falling ill. How's he doing?"

Eisenhower was at the vortex of one of the most seminal events in history – with the fate of millions under his responsibility – and he still remembered a lowly captain by name, and his sick father back home. Larry was a loyal and devoted Eisenhower supporter for the rest of his life. Eisenhower was an ace at connecting with people – of all ranks.