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WOMEN AGENTS AND CULTURALLY DIVERSE CLIENTS

“As a female real estate agent, it seems that some men from certain cultures do not treat me with the same amount of respect I’m used to. They also don’t seem to treat their wives very sensitively and it really bothers me.” Anna S.

There’s good news and bad news when women agents attempt to work with culturally diverse clients. The bad news is that many multicultural men are not used to seeing women as breadwinners and this may make some of them uncomfortable. For instance, the machismo attitude found in the Hispanic culture implies that men are supposed to be the primary income earners. Also, some Japanese and Middle Eastern men feel they should financially support their families and the woman’s place is in the home.

The good news is that while females in some cultures may not receive the same level of equality as women in the United States, they are generally more trusted than men. It’s not uncommon in many countries for men to actively compete with and even cheat each other in business. Trust is why women salespeople are highly sought-after by male buyers from all cultures.

If you are a female agent who wants to be more successful with male multicultural buyers you may wish to consider the following:

•	If you are tall you may need to minimize your height around shorter men by wearing flat shoes. For a woman to tower over some multicultural men may make them uncomfortable.
•	Be extremely conservative in your dress as many cultures have religious and social proscriptions about modesty.
•	Be firm in your dealings so that men of all cultures respect your professionalism.
•	Try to show as much respect for the man as possible even though he may not reciprocate in a way that you’re familiar.

Above all, if the way some cultures treat their women compared to us in America makes you uncomfortable you’re probably better off not working with men from some groups. I think it’s obvious that a 15-minute lecture from you on gender equity will do little to impact the influence of thousands of years of culture. By the way, many multicultural men believe they treat their women with far more respect than we do here by not letting them wear skimpy clothing, drive themselves here and there or even work outside the home. Remember, these differences are not wrong… they’re just different.

About the Author: Michael “Soon” Lee, MBA, CRS, GRI, is a diversity expert and author who has been a real estate professional and broker since 1977. He has written OPENING DOORS: Selling To Multicultural Real Estate Clients (Oakhill Press, 1999), and speaks to real estate companies and conventions across the country. Michael has spoken about how to increase sales to multicultural home buyers to: National Association of Realtors®, Prudential, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, and hundreds of others. Michael is President of EthnoConnect™ the Multicultural Sales Solution and can be reached in the U.S. at (800) 41-SPEAK or by e-mail at:michael@seminarsunlimited.com

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