I attended this webinar on June 27, 2024 and these are my notes:
The real estate industry is ever-evolving. It wasn’t too long ago that we were waiting by the fax machine for the latest listings.
Everything new, everything that changes, is to keep you in the industry at a higher level with what the consumer and the market requires. Don’t let changes scare you into leaving the industry. Be aware of what is going on, look at it as an opportunity and not something to be fearful of.
Just focus on doing the next right thing right. The only thing you can control is getting better every day and make sure that you are always coming from a place of contribution.
Are you showing up like a pro to your buyer meetings? You should show up to a buyer meeting just like a listing meeting.
This is going to be an environment where if you don’t own your professionalism and own your work, you are setting yourself up to fail.
How can I make my agents feel confident in presenting themselves as buyer agents?
If you are confident in what you are doing, you are set up much more likely to succeed.
Make efforts to understand the mind of the consumer and map out a path for your agents so that you are setting them up to be as confident as possible in their unique selling proposition. What makes you be you?
Can you share your unique value proposition in your sleep? Does it roll off your tongue?
Create a roadmap for your agents to lead them down a favorable thought pattern. The anxiousness and nervousness of what is “about to happen” is worse than actually doing it. Start practicing and acting as though the deadlines are already in place for your area.
Five steps to lock down every buyer agreement:
Have a unique selling proposition. Create this and practice your elevator pitch. Everyone on your team will do this differently and that’s good!
Master the materials within your buyer presentation. Put together a powerful presentation, much like you would with a listing presentation in order to confidently educate your potential buyers so that they feel comfortable and confident in you to represent them.
Have something to show your clients. Give them value and a resource and it will be easier to ask for a commitment from your prospective clients.
They turned their four page presentation into a 26-page bound buyer book. They added pages that talk about real estate fees, competing with multiple offers, reviews and endorsements.
They also have a workbook that they bring to the buyer presentation that they give to the buyer that helps them walk through the process and helps them really nail down their goals and what they want to achieve in buying a home.
Make sure you’re taking notes during the meeting. Make a checklist of what your next steps are. Taking notes also shows them that you are invested and paying attention to their detailed needs.
They’ve also created a digital version of their buyer presentation to show on an iPad.
The goal is to have your agents feel confident that they can comfortably represent anyone and handle any situation.
Examples of the buyer guide:
They added pictures of each agent, information about them personally – their likes, interests, pets, hobbies, etc. so these are really personal and helps them to know like and trust the agent.
Even if you’re a solo agent, talk about the people who help you and are part of your team.
Discuss competition openly as well as fees.
Discuss risk management as part of why you need to use an agent. Most people don’t know what to look out for when purchasing a home. The biggest piece of the puzzle that brings value to a client is not open a door or sending e-alerts. The biggest value is helping them to find a property AND get them to the closing table.
When you talk about risk management, it immediately elevates your position.
Each page should be its own resource and you can hit the pages that make sense for the type of buyer you are working with. Merely having a tool like this elevates your position with the potential client.
Add pictures of specific clients with reviews that are tailored to the agent using the buyer presentation. Use the ones that refer to you by name. Show all reviews – especially ones where you solve a problem within a transaction, not just the fluffy ones.
Don’t let the technology scale you out of the relationship part of this business. Work hard on building relationships so that they remember exactly who you are, how to reach you, and how to find you for their next transaction. You want to work with people for their lifetime.
Here’s the workbook preview:
This helps to set expectations and help the client avoid pitfalls up front. This will work for first-time buyers or experienced investors.
Lenders are going to play a big role in moving forward. Ensure that you are setting the stage for everyone to communicate and work together early on in the process: during the buyer presentation.
Go meet with your lender partner and bring your buyers in so you can solidify that you work as a team. Discuss with your lender how to navigate the new landscape of buyer agency so that you are speaking the same language.
Final three steps to lock down every buyer agreement:
You can really show your value by the way you handle the objections that are sent your way. If you are representing someone and there’s an objection, be thankful for it so you can address it now and get everyone back on the same page. “That’s a fair question, I totally understand how you feel. Thank you for bringing that up, do you feel like I’ve answered this well for you?”
Don’t practice on the consumer. Practice with your colleagues, friends, your dog, whoever. Don’t practice live with the consumer. It’s good to get perspective outside of the industry and practice with someone who isn’t in the business.
Accountability. Set up accountability checks and meetings with your teams.
Morning huddles, accountability partners, etc.
Get started NOW. Don’t wait for the deadline to come for you and your area. Start now, practice now, and start using this with your clients now. Waiting until the deadline starts will not be what sets you up for success.
It’s never been a bigger deal for you to know your industry, know your facts, so that you can be the advocate and lighthouse for your clients and community to buy and sell real estate.
Here’s the link if you want to buy the template for these presentations and workbooks, otherwise use them as inspiration to create something similar to wow your new clients! https://www.lockdownbuyers.com/buyeragentpropackage–538ba
From client meetings and property tours to strategy sessions and team management, leading in the real estate industry requires you to wear a lot of hats and use a lot of energy each and every day. The instinct might be to cram every minute of your calendar with activities, believing that a fuller schedule equates to higher productivity. But what if I told you that scheduling less could make you more productive?
Consider the concept of “time blocking” – while it’s effective to a point, overusing it can lead to burnout and reduced efficiency. The key is not just to manage time but to manage energy and focus. By reducing the number of scheduled tasks, you allow yourself more mental space to tackle unexpected issues and capitalize on new opportunities.
Research shows that our brains need downtime to function optimally. Studies have found that periods of rest are crucial for memory consolidation and creative thinking. For real estate leaders, creativity is essential, whether it’s in negotiating deals, designing marketing strategies, or solving complex client problems.
By scheduling less and allowing for breaks, you give your brain the necessary space to process information and generate innovative ideas. This “mental whitespace” can lead to better decision-making and problem-solving abilities.
In real estate, the quality of interactions often trumps quantity. Instead of trying to meet with as many clients as possible in a day, focus on deepening relationships with a few key clients. This approach builds stronger, more meaningful connections, but also leads to higher client satisfaction and loyalty.
When you schedule fewer, more intentional meetings, you’re able to prepare thoroughly and engage more effectively. This leads to more productive conversations and better outcomes for your business.
When you’re constantly moving from one meeting to the next, it’s challenging to maintain focus and productivity. Multitasking can lead to errors and omissions, which are costly in real estate. By scheduling less, you reduce the need to multitask and can dedicate your full attention to each task at hand.
Consider adopting the “80/20 rule,” or Pareto Principle, which suggests that 80% of results come from 20% of activities. Identify the tasks and meetings that truly drive your business forward and prioritize them. Eliminate or delegate non-essential activities to free up your schedule and enhance your productivity.
Working long hours and sacrificing personal time for professional obligations is an unfortunate habit many of us have fallen into in an effort to build our businesses and show our potential clients what great service we can provide. However, a well-balanced life is crucial for sustained productivity and well-being. By scheduling less, you create more opportunities for personal activities and self-care, which in turn improves your overall performance.
Remember that your health and happiness directly impact your effectiveness as a leader. Taking time for yourself can lead to increased motivation, better work-life balance, and a more positive outlook.
When you’re ready to start scheduling less and boosting your productivity, here’s how you start:
Evaluate Your Current Schedule: Review your calendar and identify non-essential meetings and tasks that can be eliminated or delegated.
Prioritize High-Impact Activities: Focus on the tasks that contribute most to your business goals. Schedule fewer, but more significant, activities.
Incorporate Buffer Time: Allow for buffer periods between meetings to handle unexpected issues and recharge.
Schedule Downtime: Intentionally block out time for rest, reflection, and personal activities.
Embrace Flexibility: Be open to adjusting your schedule as needed to accommodate new opportunities and challenges.
Scheduling less isn’t about doing less—it’s about doing more of what truly matters. By focusing on high-impact activities, allowing for downtime, and maintaining a balanced life, you can enhance your productivity and effectiveness as a leader in real estate. Embrace the power of less, and watch your success grow.
A strong listing program has always been key to a successful real estate business. Now more than ever it’s crucial to give this important topic your attention so that you can support and develop your team. We are hearing a lot about how to market for more listings, but we also need to invest time and effort into coaching our agents so they can be more confident and knowledgeable to get more signs in the ground.
Use these strategies to guide your team to grow their skills and their book of business!
📝 Hold dedicated listing meetings. Setting aside time solely for listings will force you and your team to invest time and energy into this part of your business. It’s best to do this monthly and separately from your sales meetings. Discuss existing listings and brainstorm ways to update pricing, navigating challenging conversations, marketing, and MLS listing strategies to get movement. We used to call reviewing the MLS listings “Roast My Listing”. You can also role-play, review any current marketing, and market conditions, and work on strategies to grow your listing presence in your market.
🍽️ Set up a mock kitchen table to practice role-playing listing appointments. Grab a little bistro table and two chairs, throw a tablecloth on it, and ask your agents to role-play different parts of their listing presentations. During your listing meetings if someone mentions that they struggled during a recent appointment with a topic or conversation, ask them to come to the front to re-enact it and have others come up and role-play what they would have said in the same scenario. I know everyone hates role play, but this exercise not only boosts the skills of the person who raised the challenge but the entire team watching. If you want to get better, you have to do the uncomfortable things too!
👩🏫 Ask your top listing agents to mentor and share. Encourage a culture of education and growth from all parts of your organization. You may be the leader, but allowing your agents to share what is currently working for them will help your team to hear different points of view and discover new skills and strategies that they can make their own. This also helps to develop leadership amongst your ranks by allowing them to lead portions of meetings, speak publicly, and mentor others.
📑 Review and update your listing presentation for today’s market. Have a professional listing presentation and review it annually. Go through each page and brainstorm with others on ways to make it more clear, what you should remove, and what new information should be featured that will help educate sellers for today’s conditions. And for goodness sake, if you don’t have a listing presentation stop reading this right now and get started on making one.
🪧 Make sure your team understands your marketing. Guaranteed sold! I’ll buy it if it doesn’t sell! Use my moving truck if you list with me! Your marketing doesn’t work if your agents don’t know how to talk about it. They are the ones answering the phones and incoming messages in response to it, so ensure that they know what your current marketing is, how it works, and provide them with suggested language to use when someone calls so that they can speak to it with confidence and book that appointment.
🏋️♀️ Ongoing listing training. Yes, this would also be in addition to your monthly listing meeting! Set up a training to cover the listing process from soup to nuts. This will help you to develop an army of listing agents and allow those who have started listing but don’t feel like they have mastered it to take your training again and again until they feel confident. Every six months or quarterly would be a good cadence for this. Create a syllabus and adjust it over time so that you’re not recreating the wheel every time the class is held.
📈 Make sure your team understands market statistics and how to run a true full CMA. Being able to nail your listing appointment is one thing, but if your agents don’t understand the market or how to properly price a house, they’ll fumble the ball after the paperwork is signed. Have a concentration on this during your listing meetings and training sessions so that your agents are incredibly confident and capable in this area to serve your clients well.
🤝 Practice tough conversations with the seller about price. This is the other component of nailing your CMA and explaining the market well. Role-playing conversations with sellers who are dead-set on a certain, sometimes unreasonable, price will allow your agents to calmly and successfully navigate these challenging scenarios so that the seller feels educated, supported, and that your agents are acting in their best interest of their bottom line.
🔎 Track and report on met listing appointments. It’s never fun to tell someone that you went on a listing appointment and didn’t get it, but by tracking and reporting on the appointments you create opportunities for conversations and coaching so that you can conduct a post-mortem on what happened and develop skills so that it doesn’t happen again. Also, chances are, someone else has had an appointment in the same area recently and they can share what worked or didn’t work for them before the agent goes to the meeting. Don’t keep your appointments a secret!
I’d be insane to think that you don’t understand the importance of time management, but there is an aspect that is important for us to consider this week that we don’t normally talk about. The importance of practicing what we preach. Our staff, our agents, and any other professional that comes into our orbit learn so much more from observing what we do and how we do it than what we tell them to do. So if we, ourselves, aren’t masters of time management, how can we expect those we coach and lead to be?
The subject of practicing what you preach always makes me think of my Dad. He never talked to me about the importance of showing up, but this is something that has served me well both personally and professionally and I learned it from watching him. Yes, we stayed home if we were truly sick, but observing him never missing a piano recital, a sporting event, a Girl Scout meeting, or work – even when he was going through chemotherapy – taught me infinitely more than what he could ever say to me on the subject. I learned that the act of showing up is important. It builds and strengthens relationships, develops you as a leader, and helps you to get that promotion or land that big client.
So using this same theory here – what are we indirectly saying to the people we lead and influence? Are we telling them that we cannot manage our time and our work during the 40ish hours allotted for it during the week? Do they see us burning the midnight oil, choosing work over our friends and family on weekends? Are we telling them that the expectation is for them to be overwhelmed and reactive with their responsibilities? You may be able to say, “Well, I never TOLD them they had to work nights and weekends!” but the indirect implication that this is expected or encouraged can lead your team toward a path of burnout, careless mistakes, and poor customer service.
Happy staff and agents = happy clients. By modeling amazing time management, you will help them to excel in their responsibilities and achieve that highly coveted work-life balance so that they can feel great about their career and stay with you for many years to come.
Do some self-reflection and try out some of these tips. If this is something that your organization struggles with, you have the power to change it!
💰Understand Your High-Value Activities. High-value client interactions, strategic planning sessions, networking with potential partners. Prioritize the tasks that strengthen and grow your business the most to ensure you’re focusing your time and energy where it matters.
⚖️ Use the Eisenhower Matrix to help you categorize your responsibilities. Draw four boxes and enter your items accordingly:
Urgent and Important: Complete these immediately
Important but Not Urgent: Schedule these on their appropriate dates
Urgent but Not Important: Delegate these to someone else
Not Urgent and Not Important: Don’t waste your time or anyone else’s on these
🗣️ Delegate to Empower Your Team. Delegating not only frees up your time, but it builds trust and fosters a sense of ownership, which boosts overall productivity. It also helps your organization to grow. If you are the lone person within an organization that can do something, they will be completely handicapped if you need to take leave, get sick or injured, or God forbid, go on vacation. Be sure when you are delegating that you give clear instructions and deadlines and be flexible on HOW these items are done. Your way may not be the best way. Replace yourself and watch your business grow!
💻 Leverage Technology. Tools like Asana, Trelly, or Monday.com can help you organize tasks, set deadlines, and track progress. They facilitate collaboration and keep everyone on the same page, reducing the time spent on meetings and following up.
🚀 Automate Routine Tasks. Use tools to automate repetitive tasks and create slides instead of stairs for things like routine email responses, appointment scheduling, and data entry.
🏗️ Have a Structured Schedule. One strategy here is to dedicate mornings to strategic planning and afternoons to client or staff meetings. Blocking your time helps you to maintain focus, minimizes distractions, and allows you to schedule work according to when you can perform your best. If you like to crush it in the mornings, keep your strategic work and big-thinking items early in the day. If you need a while to warm up and rock the afternoons, flip it around. Bear in mind, though, that this strategy only works if you protect your time blocks. If you are regularly breaking your own rules, you’ll soon be back into chaos. Find something that works and commit to it.
🤝 Optimize Your Meetings. Every meeting needs a clear purpose, an agenda, and a strict time limit. Similar to our item above, you have to stick to the agenda once established to avoid wasting valuable time. If you can’t build an agenda, cancel the meeting and actively practice not running over on time. A meeting that runs late sends everyone into reactive mode for the next day and a half and can easily be avoided by sticking to the planned agenda.
🧘♀️ Practice Self-Care and Work-Life Balance. Incorporate short breaks. Drink water. Eat lunch. Regular breaks and taking care of yourself boosts your overall productivity and mental well-being. Be sure to set boundaries between work and personal time. If you’re taking time off to relax and rejuvenate, you will prevent your own burnout and maintain that crusher level status you have for a long time. Modeling this for others will help the overall organization to achieve it as well.
👂 Ask for Feedback and Adjust. It’s easy to get into patterns and habits, regularly review your time management strategies and their effectiveness, and ask for feedback on ways both you and the overall organization can improve. Your team will offer valuable insights from their own experience on how to streamline your processes.
Staying organized and efficient is crucial to your success and there’s no better tool to achieve this than a solid CRM system. We install Ferrari engines into Follow Up Boss Accounts every single day, but our efforts would be lost if the agents fail to understand how to use the system that we installed.
One way we combat this is by building a manual for the team to unite behind, and we’re here to show you how to build a similar one for your team!
Understanding why you need a handbook for your CRM will assist you in creating one. It will ensure that everyone, from new hires to seasoned veterans, is using the same definitions for stages and tags and managing the database of leads in the same way.
Having this also streamlines your operations, reducing the risk of errors and missed opportunities. It also helps your team have the knowledge and confidence to work independently and excel in their roles. If they have a reference point for troubleshooting, they will experiment more with advanced features which fosters a culture of continuous learning and innovation.
Work to clearly show all processes, best practices, and tips so that your team is harnessing the full power of your CRM. Cover how you want your leads managed, follow-up protocols, and client communication strategies so that you can feel confident that no matter which member of your team receives a lead, they will know exactly what to do with it.
Do not assume that everyone will understand a basic description. Go into as much detail as you can, likely more than you think is necessary, and be sure to use screenshots and links to a quick video tutorial wherever possible.
Approach this project as something ongoing, it’s definitely not a set-it-and-forget-it scenario. With every change, new lead source, and tool you integrate you will need to go back to update the document and re-circulate it for your team. Best practice here is to update one live document and ask your team to bookmark it rather than having to circulate updated .pdfs over and over again. This will ensure that they are always viewing the most up-to-date information.
Effective leadership isn’t just about making decisions; it’s about fostering an environment where problem-solving thrives. Whether you’re managing a small team of agents or overseeing a brokerage, giving your people strategies they can use to brainstorm creative solutions and solve problems independently will enhance productivity, collaboration, and the success of the business. One technique to offer them is the 1-3-1 problem-solving approach.
Here’s how it works:
Identify the Problem: Clearly define the issue at hand. Whether it’s a lagging sales strategy, client communication is in the dumpster, or your operations staff needs to get organized, pinpointing the problem is the crucial first step.
Generate Three Potential Solutions: Brainstorm to generate a variety of potential solutions to the problem. Emphasize creativity and diversity in ideas to explore different perspectives and approaches. You’re going to be pleasantly surprised with what your team comes up with!
Select the Best Solution: After evaluating the pros and cons of each proposed solution, choose the one that aligns best with your objectives, resources, and values. Consider the feasibility, impact, and long-term implications of each option.
Easy enough, right? Encouraging and employing this strategy will do so much more for you and your business than just taking things off your plate.
🤔 Promotes Strategic Thinking: Rather than reacting hastily, individuals are prompted to analyze the root causes of problems and devise thoughtful solutions.
👯 Fosters Collaboration: Each team member contributes unique insights and expertise, leading to more robust solutions.
📈 Boosts Accountability: By actively participating in generating and evaluating potential solutions, individuals feel a sense of ownership and accountability for the outcomes. This fosters a culture of empowerment and initiative within the organization.
🛸 Encourages Innovation: By empowering team members to think outside the box, you can drive continuous improvement and adaptability.
💡 Streamlines Decision-Making: By weighing the pros and cons of each option, you can make informed decisions with confidence.
Give it a shot and see what it does for your to-do list and your team as a whole!
Seller Processes & Contracts with Emily Kettenburg
I attended this webinar on May 8, 2024. Here are my notes, enjoy!
Also on the panel: Sandra Hendrix, Carolyn Augur, Tausha Fournier, and Stephanie Younger
This is the halfway point through the NAR Effect Webinar Series.
The ability to balance your business as both a buyer agent and listing agent is the key to growth in your business.
Forms and processes are the only things that are changing, there’s no reason to have your hair on fire.
Lean into your state and brokerage-specific forms. Each state is reviewing their forms and are making the necessary adjustments. Each state will be a bit different, so be sure you are paying attention.
Five-Part Listing Process:
Prelisting consult and fact-finding
Knock knock and walkaround
Sit down – why us and exposure
Pricing presentation
Signature
Real estate is a relationship business built on trust, the commodity is the house. We are in the trust business.
Step 1: Prelist and homework.
This is a fact-finding mission. Do your homework and ask questions in advance to prepare for the in-person meeting.
Step 2: Knock Knock and Walkaround
Thanking the client for choosing us, gaining trust and showing professionalism. Show them you appreciate them spending their time and that they’ve chosen you to come talk to them today.
When you tour the home you take notes so they know you are actively listening. Even if you don’t need to, take the notes to show them how committed you are to the details.
Step 3: Sit down
Unique value proposition. This is about creating the value for them. Explain how you are going to share their home with the market.
Step 4: Pricing Presentation
Make sure the seller understands the difference between fair market value, vs perceived value.
Fair market – highest and best price that someone will pay without any undue stress to the buyer or seller.
Explaining agency and how commission works/how everyone gets paid.
Explain how agency works in your state. Be sure to bring a buyer agency agreement with you to the listing appointment so they can see what the buyers are signing before they view the home.
Step 5: Signature
You’re asking for the job of marketing and selling their home.
Each part of your process is a conversation that takes your seller one step closer in their decision forward to hire you. Each of these steps is your interview. They aren’t your client until you have a signed agreement with them and they have a copy of that signed agreement.
Don’t underestimate the value of a true client for life. Your goal is to represent them forever.
Today’s consumers want to be served vs hard sold. They need and deserve a clear understanding of how we work for them and how we represent them.
The biggest complaint of real estate consumers is communication. It’s been #1 on the list for the last 20 years.
What is working for Step 1: Pre-List and Information Gathering
Break it down into 3 basic objectives that you want to happen during this step:
Establish or re-establish rapport
We are solution oriented people, we sometimes need to slow down and connect with the person that is the client. Don’t go straight to the sale. When you are connected, you work together as a team. Rapport is often skipped or rushed, but this is the foundational piece of the relationship. This helps you to have hard conversations down the line.
Situational details. What are the details of the situation that you need to know.
Why. When. What has to happen in order for this move to be successful. What timelines do we need to be aware of? What other things have to happen prior to us hitting the market.
Property details. What has changed since you last saw the house?
What changes have been made? Upgrades or updates? Ask them what they think it’s worth.
The agents who have these three steps down, are consistently bringing in more listings. This helps the potential client to see what it’s like to work with you. They can relax into the process and trust that you’ve got it.
Most people think they win or lose their presentation on price. Not true. You most often lose on step 1 or two.
Step 2: Knock Knock and Walkaround Strategy
Is there a way to turn one listing into multiples? This is also known as a viral listing strategy. This is the part where you establish the expectations. Expectations can only be met when they are understood.
ListingLeads.com – you can find a ton of scripts here from Tom Ferry and Jimmy Mackin
Viral Listing Strategy: Before we even go to the appointment we are going to send an email to our database that says that I’m going on a listing appointment! I can’t share too much about the house, but I’m about to meet a potential seller who is thinking their home. I can tell you that homes of this size/neighborhood/etc. Typically sell at _____ price. If you’d like more details, reply back and I’ll send them to you.
You can also turn this into an Instagram story with a poll to generate interest in the potential listing as well.
When you get to the appointment, you can show the results of these two+ efforts to the potential client. This shows the potential interest in the market about their home and will also show the potential client you are already making efforts to sell their home.
When walking around, keep the focus on the client. The walkthrough is the most important part – you are getting to know the house so you can market the message. What’s the story of the home, what did the seller enjoy most. Ask about renovations, ask about any known repairs that need to be made. Why are you moving? Where are you moving to? What’s important to you? What do you want out of this transaction? This is the time to build trust by being a great listener.
Is there anyone else that needs to be involved with the decision-making?
What are your communication preferences?
Tell me about your financial situation. This is an enormous financial decision – treat it with respect.
You need to understand the market financially and be able to explain it to them.
Ensure that you are using “we” in conversation.
Frame your expectations: you expect them to sign with you and for you to sell the house in terms that suit them best.
Marketing and messaging is important and you collect most of this information during this part of the process.
This is a great opportunity to build trust and rapport. We are giving them all of our attention and showing that we are working together to sell this home.
Also by asking these questions you can kind of figure out their social style or DISC profile to help you during the sit-down portion so you know what to focus on that will be much more important to them.
Numbers people?
Emotions/Feel people?
Marketers need to know their audience – the seller is your audience for this presentation.
A small gift/gesture also helps during the initial meeting.
Role play these conversations so you are really comfortable and know how to cover all the questions you need to ask.
Step 3: The Sit Down
Your Unique Value Proposition and your unique marketing is presented during this time.
Most sellers want to know that you have a social media strategy to market their property. You will need to be able to illustrate what you will do and how you are different than others in the area. We are in a sea of sameness – this is your opportunity to really stand out and highlight what you’re doing from a marketing position that will solve problems for them in this process.
What are your favorite things to do? What can you do to give additional exposure to their listing?
Go through your entire presentation. Are you highlighting everything that you do that solves problems and creates add’l exposure? Or are you just highlighting the things you like the most? You may be excited the consumer needs to know how this will benefit them and the results that you get from those activities.
Show your efforts before, during, and after the sale to generate interest.
If you show your social media post and email that you sent out prior to the meeting and the results, it shows that you are willing to do the job before you even get the job. You’re already working for them and they didn’t even ask!
Your value is the problems that you solve for the seller and exposing the property to the largest amount of people possible. Illustrate how you do this for them
Step 4: Pricing Presentation
Reconfirm why they are moving, what their financial situation and goals are, and figure out their communication style.
The analytical will want more information and specifics. Know who you are presenting to
Four pricing strategies you need to know for each of your listings
Value market pricing. Creating a CMA and pricing accordingly to that. You’ll use this strategy in a buyer’s market.
Price Banding. When you separate your listing price from the bulk. Most listing you are looking at in this area. Let’s price it a little bit out of the group to draw more attention. If all the homes are between 300-320k, list yours at 299k. Don’t have your listing bunched up with other listings, separate it a little bit lower from the group so it gets more views.
Price High and test the market. You can only do this if the home has something unique. Use only in a seller’s market.
Psychological Pricing. Set your price apart so the buyer feels as though they are getting a deal. $299k vs $300k
Agency in your state – understand both buyer and seller agency and how they work. Be able to explain these to the client.
Bringing a buyer agency contract and explaining it to your seller during the meeting
Most of us don’t give the whole picture of the transaction. Especially with the upcoming changes, it’s especially important to illustrate what the buyers are doing and how they work.
Step 5: Getting the signature
The hardest part of getting the listing is getting the lead in the first place. The more opportunities you have to get in front of sellers, the better your listing strategy will be. Prospecting more and talking to more people is key to building the listing side of your business.
Stephanie made a commitment to go on 200 listing appointments in one year. She signed 72 that year. Her conversion wasn’t great out of the gate, but it takes time and practice by going on tons of appointments to improve.
The power of closing is more of a mindset than specific words. In their listing process they have a seller intake call that takes roughly 30 minutes. A walk through that’s 30-45 mins (they say it takes 15 minutes). Their presentation is about an hour and a half or longer. She gets a lot of criticism that this is a long time, but it’s worth the investment of preparation and time with the client. You are interviewing for a job that pays a lot, it should be taken seriously. The likelihood of you getting the listing is better the longer you are taking with the client.
Their strategy is asking lots and lots and lots of questions. One of those is “what price are you hoping to get for the home?”
Practice the art of asking more questions. Your goal should be to listen more than you talk.
There are six types of closes. You’ll want to change your strategy depending on who you are talking to. You can use them situationally and together.
Have a well practiced and well researched presentation. If you don’t have this, there’s no closing trick that will help you secure that listing. You must have a listing presentation.
A, B, C. Always be closing. This is closing the client throughout the entire presentation. Try to get agreement throughout the conversation. “Because you said yes to this….” You can use a summary close at the end to review.
Read: Never split the difference by Chris Voss – use a late night FM radio DJ voice a bit to create a calm conversation.
In her listing presentation, she practices the art of being slow and even, curious and clear, and controlling her facial reaction or flushing reactions. A professional expects objections and questions. Don’t let your tone and face show that you are uncomfortable about commission or any other matter.
You will be improving all the time. Even with 20+ years of practice there are always ways to improve and do better.
Learn to keep track and re-state what they said was important to them. This shows that you are listening. She likes to use summary close paired with an assumptive close:
Because you said this was important to you…and this and this…and I love this house and would be honored to sell it, I would love to list this house with you. Or it sounds like we are ready to work together (if you are feeling super confident).
I’ll get the paperwork sent over to you to sign/I have the paperwork right here for us to sign.
Don’t oversell it. Summarize what is important to them that you can deliver to them, say that you would be honored to sell the house, and then ask them to sign the paperwork.
If you don’t have a well-practiced process and presentation, you probably aren’t going to get the listing anyway. You can practice and you can get better.
Ask the potential client if they have heard about the NAR changes and walk them through the facts regardless of their answer.
A conversation is a frame. Start with curiosity, move into empathy, and then move into a close. Don’t skip steps or they won’t be comfortable.
Building trust happens in all 5 of the steps.
You are closing throughout the process, just don’t forget to ask for their signature before you leave.
It’s not anything other than forms and processes. Don’t be intimidated by big NAR changes here. If you can clearly convey options the seller has, how everyone gets paid, this process will be easy.
Know your forms and rules inside and out.
Be able to convey your value.
Bringing a buyer agency agreement with you to the appointment so that the seller understands what buyers are going to be seeing before they view their home. This also helps them to understand how the commission works on the buy side.
If the seller is also potentially a buyer, you are getting a step ahead there as well.
We practice our phone conversations. We practice our listing and buyer presentations. We practice overcoming objections and challenges throughout the transaction. One of the most overlooked areas that we could be practicing is with our CRM.
No, it’s not as exciting as pretending to be a frustrated house-seeker on the phone, but ensuring that your team knows how to effectively use the database will accomplish a lot. It will help you keep your data integrity high so that everyone can know exactly where each lead is in the process. It will prevent leads from falling through the cracks. It will help you identify areas for improvement so that you can better coach and inspire your people to achieve their goals.
By keeping the basics in front of your team regularly, it allows them to have short reminders of what they should be doing and avoid a major overhaul by letting things go for so long that no one is rowing the boat in the same direction anymore.
Use our curated playlist to help you cover these basics with your team by reserving a spot on your sales meeting agenda for training and watching one of these videos together as a group!
