If you are moving to Orlando, FL, and speak English, Hindi, Urdu, Gujrati, Kutchi, Marathi or Katyawadi, I know a Realtor who can help you find a home, business, investment property or a source for discounted paper.

His name is Salman Hamirani. He is from Bombay, India, and is doing quite well, thanks in part "because I speak their language, literally."

How important is the 'language' factor? It depends, I suppose.

Question: If you were referring a prospect to Salman, or anyone else for that matter, who spoke one of the above languages (other than English) which of the following would be the most important?

Would you say his religion, race, sexual orientation, color, national origin, or the fact they speak the same language?

Salman says that based on his experience, his language skills are paying off the most, because "if they know I can speak these unusual languages, I am no doubt aware of their culture and how they do business.”

"Instead of focusing on zip codes, neighborhoods, and such, my coach advised me to focus on people from my country and people of my faith. While I get residential, business, and commercial opportunities, many times from one client, he advised me to try not to be all things to all people.

"My coach advised me to focus on who and what I know and to refer to those who can serve my client's needs better than I can.

"This proved to be an effective strategy for me. It helps me focus on the needs of the client instead of trying to keep as much commission as I can,” Salman said.

"Of course I will work with anyone, but I have more success working with people I understand and who understand me. A higher trust level is established faster, and that is critically important to any relationship,” Salman said.

Karim Poonawala agrees. He bought two condominiums through Salman. "using the Hindi language.” Although I speak English pretty well, I felt more secure speaking my own language to minimize any misunderstandings.

Salman said he has a big advantage when working with prospects from his country or part of the world moving to Central Florida, because they want to not only buy homes, they are looking for investment opportunities and many want to start their own businesses.

"This gives me the opportunity to refer business to attorneys and other professional services who in turn refer business to me,” Salman said.

"Some of my prospects would rather work outside of the culture, so that their business is kept private, but that is a personal preference. I am always happy to refer to another broker if requested.

"I don't get my feelings hurt if someone outside my circle of influence uses someone else, because I understand the reason for it,” Salman added, 'but I would rather have them as my client, of course.

Moral of this story: When you and your customer are on the same page, in the same language, chances for a happy ending are greatly increased, especially as Karim said, "if you are working with a broker who helps you buy what you need, not just what he has listed.” If you speak a second language, no matter what it is, leverage it. Make sure you are taking maximum prospecting advantage of this important communications skill. There are no doubt prospects in your market who speak it also and are looking for you as much as you are looking for them.

Published: February 11, 2010

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David Fletcher has been a Florida real estate condominium and new homes broker for 30 years with more than $3 billion in new construction sales. In 2008, Keller Williams Realty International named him a "Lifetime Achiever." Along the way he has chaired the Florida Homebuilders Associaiton Sales and Marketing Council, trained thousands of general agents and on-site agents to work together, and was a featured speaker at the National Association of Realtors. Recently he founded New Homes Niche, a builder-certified co-broker training system "to meet the growing trend we see in short sale buyers moving to new homes for a lot of reasons." Call David at 407 234 2349, , and visit his website.