Embrace diversity

Learning about and respecting clients’ cultural differences is increasingly important in today’s diverse society.

by Scott Williams   Can you afford to ignore one-third of the people in your community? Unless you’ve taken steps to serve the increasingly diverse population around you, that scenario might not be far-fetched. And in the future, the number of potential clients you could lose to competitors who attract people from other cultures and ethnic groups will only increase, according to California REALTOR® Michael D. Lee.

Lee, author of Opening Doors: Selling to Multicultural Real Estate Clients, says minorities now comprise one-third of the U.S. population, and it’s estimated they will represent one-half of the U.S. population by 2050.

Not only do minorities and immigrants occupy an increasing presence in American communities, but Lee contends immigrants want to buy a house more than the average person. "HUD says immigrants who rent are three times more likely to have buying a home as their number-one priority," says Lee, who speaks on diversity issues to real estate professionals throughout the country. "They come from countries where homeownership is either difficult or near impossible. They come here and it’s the American dream times three."

If you ignore these potential clients, you’re going to risk losing a substantial amount of business to your competition. But even if you want to sell to people from other cultures, you may often unwittingly turn them away by committing some cultural faux pas that the customer finds either unsettling or downright insulting. So what can you do to respectfully address the increasingly diverse population? And how do you treat clients equally while remaining sensitive to diversity issues?

Know the differences

Lee and other diversity and real estate experts agree that educating real estate professionals and their clients goes a long way toward attracting, serving, and keeping customers from other cultures. In addition to magazine articles, books, videos, and the Internet, brokers and agents can turn to their associations for continuing-education classes that deal with diversity.

NAR offers a course entitled At Home with Diversity that is designed to teach REALTORS® how to serve people from other cultures. The goals of the course, which counts for eight hours of MCE (three hours legal), are to heighten awareness of and sensitivity to the values, customs, norms, real estate needs, and expectations of people from other cultures and to provide practical skills and tools to increase the REALTOR®’s effectiveness in serving all social groups.

REALTORS® who complete the course earn an At Home with Diversity certification (AHWD) showing they have been trained to work in today’s diverse real estate markets. Graduates also receive a certificate, logo slicks for advertising purposes, and a lapel pin.

Charles McMillan, director of realty relations and principal broker for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Dallas-Fort Worth, is a certified instructor of At Home with Diversity. This program, he asserts, is perfect for REALTORS® who want to learn more about dealing with clients in their communities who represent different cultures.

McMillan, who served in 1998 as TAR president, says one of the first things REALTORS® learn in the course is how diverse the marketplace really is. They’re often shocked to learn how many people in their area are immigrants and even ask such questions as "When did they get here?"

At Home with Diversity also dispels a common notion among REALTORS® that they should treat all clients the same. McMillan says that treating two consumers with different needs the same way can constitute unequal treatment in certain circumstances.

For example, handing a contract to a blind customer because you give all your potential clients a contract to read wouldn’t be fair. Although you would be treating the blind customer the same, you wouldn’t be treating him equally, unless you had someone read the contract to him or had it translated into Braille.

McMillan recommends advertising in newspapers and on radio stations that cater to immigrant or minority groups to show you welcome people of other cultures. When conducting homebuyer or new-agent seminars, invite title companies and others in the real estate business that have a culturally diverse workforce. Providing brochures and fliers in foreign languages will also make a favorable impression.

Represent the community

Adrian A. Arriaga, broker/owner of AAA Real Estate and Investments in McAllen, says in order to do business with people from other cultures it helps to understand a little of their language as well as their cultural idiosyncrasies.

"If you do not speak the language, it’s going to be a little bit more challenging, but not impossible," says Arriaga, who serves on NAR’s 2002 Equal Opportunity-Cultural Diversity Committee. "Different cultures really appreciate for the REALTOR® to speak or to make an effort to speak in their language, as difficult as it may be."

Arriaga recommends that individual brokers and agents pick a culture they’d like to work with and familiarize themselves with it. He also advises joining minority and immigrant organizations and becoming an active member. REALTORS® in a large real estate office might want to each specialize in a particular foreign culture so that someone in the office can address any individual who comes in.

"Knowledge in the real estate field is the key to success, and the more you know about that culture the easier it would be to create the confidence level that is necessary for the individual to buy something from you," Arriaga says.

McMillan agrees. "Having an agent base representative of the community at large around you would do a whole lot toward lending comfort to the people you’re doing business with." Increasing diversity among the REALTOR® population is a major NAR goal, according to McMillan, who says about 95% of NAR’s 800,000 members are white.

Talk the talk

Yvonne Dower, broker and manager of Prudential Texas Properties in Mesquite, is ahead of the curve when it comes to diversifying the workplace. Dower, a REALTOR® who has been in the real estate business since 1965, oversees an office of 57 agents from nine countries who are fluent in 25 languages, including American Sign Language.

Along with such well-known languages as Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese, Dower’s agents speak Ibo (Nigeria), Tagalog (Philippines), Amharic (Ethiopia), and several other languages and dialects.

Dower began to diversify her company’s makeup in 1997, when she hired a Nigerian woman. Dower worked to make the woman feel welcome and believes the staff’s acceptance of her encouraged real estate agents of other ethnicities to apply for jobs. Dower says in order to make someone from another culture feel welcome, a person must be willing to understand that individual and remove any barriers she might have regarding language, color, creed, or religion.

"To keep an office of diversity, you also have to spread and teach that culture of accepting them," Dower says. Once the word gets out that you are willing to accept people, it’s not hard to find agents from other cultures. To increase the number of culturally diverse staff members, Dower searched for agents through advertisements in minority and immigrant publications and by contacting foreign embassies with offices in Texas.

Immigrants make up 30% of Prudential Texas Properties’ Mesquite business, and that percentage continues to rise each year. In the past three years, Dower’s top producers have all been foreign-born.

Although most of the company’s clients speak and understand English to some degree, Dower says they don’t usually have a vast real estate vocabulary and appreciate having things explained to them in their own language. Agents also understand their clients’ customs, mannerisms, and colloquialisms, which keeps them from making a mistake that might kill a potential sale.

"Determine what is comfortable for them"

Creating a comfortable environment for potential clients goes a long way toward establishing a business relationship with them. Familiarize yourself with your consumers’ cultures to avoid mistakes that lead to misunderstandings or unintended insults. These mistakes can occur the first time you encounter a potential client, Lee says, such as during a simple greeting.

For example, when meeting a couple for the first time, an agent will usually shake hands with both the husband and wife. But if you’re meeting a Middle Eastern couple, that common practice could be considered a grave insult. In many Middle Eastern cultures, a woman never touches a man who is not her husband; even a handshake is considered offensive.

Lee claims that even if the couple understands the agent didn’t intentionally insult them, the agent’s ignorance sends a message: He doesn’t respect the couple enough to learn the basics about their culture.

Another common problem agents experience has to do with personal space. Most Americans feel comfortable maintaining about three feet of space between themselves and an acquaintance. Japanese culture calls for more personal space, Lee says. Japanese often shake hands or bow and then step back in order to feel comfortable.

A salesperson who doesn’t realize this cultural difference when dealing with a Japanese client may feel that he and his client are too far apart and will move closer to feel comfortable. This makes the client feel as though his personal space is being violated, and the client moves away to secure his personal space.

"What happens is essentially the agent will chase the client all over the office," Lee says. "What we’ve got to do is let them, the client, determine what is comfortable for them, whether it’s shaking hands or eye contact."

According to Lee, asking a potential client about his culture and language is a good way for a real estate professional to break the ice and keep that customer comfortable. It also helps the business relationship begin on a positive note. But many agents fear that asking these types of questions will offend. Lee says the reaction is generally quite the opposite.

"People want to talk about their culture because they want us to understand them as people, and they know that culture can get in the way of that." Avoiding discussions with a client about cultural differences results in a distraction Lee calls "cultural noise." This noise fills the agent’s head and makes him wonder about things like whether his client wears his turban to bed rather than focus on what attributes he wants in a house.

"Once Americans get past those differences, they can begin to see these folks as human beings rather than stereotypes and can listen more intently and clearly to what their needs are when it comes to buying a home." And buying a home, of course, is the ultimate goal of this relationship, and the sales process serves as a good indication of how the relationship is working.

"You have to be colorblind"

Gloria Gonzales Roemer, a REALTOR® with Sandra Gunn Properties in Houston, says despite the wide array of cultures represented by clients who visit her office, it’s easy to see that we have more in common with one another than we might think. Everyone, she asserts, wants a nice home at a fair price located in a good neighborhood with good schools.

Gonzales Roemer hasn’t taken any diversity courses, but claims the real estate schools in Houston are cognizant that the marketplace is composed of people from many cultures. "They stress the fact that as REALTORS® you have to be colorblind and that you treat everybody the same."

She advises agents just beginning to work with people from other cultures to leave their preconceived notions at home. "In this business, we are all created equal and we’d better treat all of our customers and clients as equals. We’re here to service them and satisfy and fulfill their housing needs."

Gonzales Roemer says that, despite what some may think, people from other cultures aren’t any more trouble than anyone else and can be among the most interesting people you’ll ever deal with.

"So many times they are so happy … that they are buying a home in America and becoming a part of the American culture."

Scott Williams is a freelance writer in Corpus Christi.

Photo © Imagestate.

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