Do you feel like you’re losing the listing more often than not? Do you find the sellers in a sellers’ market are interviewing more than one agent now to see what really is the highest price? Here’s what I tell all of my coaching members … whether or not you win the listing is based on ONE main factor… Your listing presentation. Mess up the presentation, and say good-bye to the listing. Rock your listing presentation, and say HELLO to a new listing! Some of you are saying right now… “a listing presentation”? Wade the 80’s called and they want their listing presentation back. Yes! A listing presentation. Every time you don’t do one you rob yourself of the greatest gift in real estate and that is the client after seeing what it is you do can now advocate and share with other people what it is you do and what makes you so different from the rest of them! How important is that?!
So today I thought I’d share some of my best tips to improve your listing presentation so you can finallyWIN the LISTING. Beat the competition. Have them tell your story and what makes You different from the rest.
Pre Listing Appointment #1.Practice!! Spend some serious time on what you will say and how you say it. Be planned and prepared and not overwhelmed and ineffective. Don’t practice on the client!
#2.Send a short video letting them know how excited you are to work and meet with them.
#3. Deliver a pre listing appointment package to their home before you meet. (Your bio, team members, steps to selling, marketing, testimonials, your personal stats, how you find buyers, personal guarantee)
#4. Pre appointment listing questionnaire call. (what price are they thinking, who else are they interviewing, expectations, past experiences, confirm the appointment and time, recent improvements, current mortgage)
Appointment #1. Know your customer – research them before you meet them. Google them or check for them on Facebook. Connect with them quickly and get them to like and trust you more by knowing a bit about them when you meet for the first time.
#2. Know the market, neighborhood, culture, and community. Have a really good idea of all the things the neighborhood offers, drive by the home before the appointment and find out all you can about their market area.
#3. Make sure you are in the right mindset– visualize speaking with your customers before meeting them. Get prepared and get ready to bring passion, energy and enthusiasm to the meeting and presentation.
#4. Tell the story– “I’ve been on 62 appointments and 58 people chose to work with me.” Share what others have felt when first meeting you and what they found it was like working with you after the process. Share examples of how you’ve helped customers in similar situations.
#5. You only have 22 minutes (attention span of average adult) to answer the questions… Why you? Why your firm? Why now?
#6. Don’t tell me… Show and sell me.Visuals and presentations have a far greater impact than just words!
#7. Close 3 times! One of my mentors Floyd Wickman said ask for the order not once, not twice but three times and increase your odds of getting the business every time.
#8. Don’t sell the steak but sell the sizzle. Every time you present always explain the benefits to them and not just the features. We buy the sizzle and not the steak!
#9. Explain to them the benefits to them of your listing presentation before getting started.“Mr. and Mrs. Seller let me take a few minutes to show you how I work There is a myth out there that all agents and all firms pretty much do the same thing and that is the furthest thing from the truth! When you see what it is I do, you then are able to hold me more accountable to the marketing of your home and be able to call me on anything you see that hasn’t been done or done to your satisfaction. How does that sound to you folks?”
#10. It’s Show time!You only get one chance. Make it your best presentation you can every time and don’t risk your fate and lose the business.
Bonus Tip…. “Seller wants to try it at their price.” Mr. and Mrs. Seller the issue of stigmatization with your home is something we need to avoid. When a buyer notices the first reduction then they just wait for the rest of the reductions. When the seller sees the listing has been on the market for more than average days then they wonder what is wrong. To avoid this we will place the home on the market for the first 3 weeks exclusively and we will market direct to the local agents and all their buyers to see the response. Then we will meet and review the response we get in the first 3 weeks to decide where we will come out to market on MLS in week 4. How does this sound to you?
There you have some tips and effective strategies on how to win listings in today’s market place and how to compete on a higher level and win the listing every time. Take time to share in the comments one thing you do that really helps get the listing every time!
We are experiencing low inventory levels across most of North America. Sellers don’t know here they are going next and worried that they would list and sell and then be without a home or the financing is difficult or payments too high now. So, ask yourself what’s your goal in 2023? More buyer leads, more listing appointments, better brand recognition and market share? No matter which of these you’ve set your sights on, there’s one sure-fire way to help with each of these: listings. In addition to generating new real estate buyer and seller leads, listings also offer the opportunity to showcase your brand and expertise with valuable, relevant content. So, if you believe that More Listings = More Leads and you want more of both, you’re in the right place. Read on for 20 strategies to generate listings from your past clients, sphere of influence, cold leads, and more.
1. Call your past clients and sphere to share some good news. – Let’s start with a big one: this tip can help you with every single person in your database (and ones who aren’t even in there yet). Bring value to the table right away with an interesting stat about the housing market. Here’s a great one to start, with a great angle built into it: The value of real estate in the last 3-5 years is still way up! Want to know how much your house’s value went up as part of it? You know your market better than we do, so if you’ve got a more interesting or relevant stat about your area, lead with that. Regardless, find an appropriate angle to pair with your stat and you’ll start having better conversations that lead to more listings.
2. Send this email. – Here’s another stat for you to share with your past clients, sphere, and seller leads, and it’s a doozy and has generated a ton of interested replies and appointments. For the subject line: Zillow was WAY off! Or The Assessment Authority was WAY off!!! Here’s the message we wrote: Did you know that the CEO of Zillow sold his home for 40% less than the I? They actually have a disclaimer on their website where you can see exactly how INACCURATE they are. They just make it hard to find. With that in mind, if you are considering the sale of your home, (or the address of a home you want to buy), reply to this email right now with your home’s address and I would be happy to send you a “Zactimate.”
3. Post an Instagram Story poll. – This might be the easiest tip to act on – you can open your phone and do it right now. Add to your Instagram Story with a poll asking: “Are you planning on selling your home this year?” Obviously, you’ll get more “No’s than “Yes”es but any Yes or more in-depth answer provides an easy opportunity to follow up via DM.
4. Go live on Facebook from a neighborhood entrance.– You’ve probably heard you should be investing in video. If you’re ready to take the plunge but haven’t figured out what to film, here’s a tried-and-true way to get yourself out there: Head to a local landmark or the entrance of a neighborhood in your area. Give the details about two properties that recently sold nearby. Add a CTA that lets your viewers know they can email or DM you to inquire about other sold homes or check their own home’s value. That’s it!
5. Start each day prospecting for sellers. – Generate more appointments and contracts with the 5-5-4 routine and it’s easy to duplicate. Every day, you should have:
5 conversations with people you don’t know, new potential prospects.
5 conversations with your hottest prospects.
4 conversations with your sphere of influence.
What do you say on the phone with your sphere? Try “Have you had any thoughts of selling?”and “Do you know anybody that’s had thoughts of selling?” Tim’s sphere is so used to answering that now they start thinking about who might be selling any time Tim pauses in the conversation.
6. Search Zillow’s “Make Me Move” listings (and FSBOs) Here’s a strategy to help prospect seller leads that you can be sure want to sell their home. In fact, they’re already on Zillow. Head to Zillow.com and search for homes for sale in your area. Clear the “Listing Type” menu and only keep “Make Me Move” selected – now you have a list of seriously interested sellers to start some conversations with. Once you have the filters selected, not only will you see the current Make Me Moves but you can ALSO subscribe via email to get alerts any time more are added!
7. Use Realtor.com (or your MLS) to find upcoming expired listings. Just like the tip about Zillow above, this technique is available to anyone thanks to technology and public records. Use Realtor.com’s home search and sort by “Newest Listings.” But you’re not here for the most recent listings on the market, so scroll down and click on the last page of search results. Take a screengrab of the listings with a low photo count and a high number of days on the market – you can show the seller the difference between how their home was marketed before it expired and how you can help show it off now. Now you’ve got a list of some upcoming expired and can start your prep work on how you’ll approach them.
8. Take advantage of the “instant offer” trend.– Instant Offers have, understandably, made some real estate agents worried. Open Door and Zillow Offers make a compelling argument to consumers who are motivated by convenience. But that’s not their only motivation… Instant Offers are all but guaranteed to be low-ball offers. If you’re in a market where homes are moving fast, you can turn an “Instant Offer” into a seller looking for a home value report. How? We like what the Wertz Group does by asking“Does your home qualify for an ‘instant’ offer?”Be prepared to respond quickly: many sellers want the most money they can get, but these companies are proving there is still a huge market for people who value speed.
9. Refresh your listing presentation and process. Focus on current marketing strategies in today’s economy and offer the solutions to the challenges of the sellers. Add pre-emptive offers, multiple offers and coming soon strategies and information that we never had to have before.
10. Sell your services. – If you ask the average real estate agent what’s more important between buyers and sellers, they’ll typically say sellers. But when you look at their websites, the first thing highlighted is a home search. Stop sending the wrong signal, start selling your services. Every real estate website should have a page that sells its services to potential home sellers. Selling your home is a daunting process, so give your prospective clients the peace of mind that you have a tried-and-true plan to list, market, and sell their home.
11. Establish a Seller Success Series. – When you’ve used all the tips on this list, you’re going to have a lot of happy sellers. You can turn those into even more listings, by turning the corner on a common business practice and making something truly compelling. He’s leveled up his reviews by turning his wildly positive customer experiences into evergreen content that sells every new person who comes to his website. The stories are interesting, unique and are an authentic representation of his brand. The best part? People help support what they create. Feature your clients in a positive light and turn them into your brand ambassadors! We believe that if you tell more stories, you’ll sell more homes.
12. Find hidden sellers. – It’s no secret that generating buyer leads is much easier than attracting the ever-elusive seller lead. The common mistake we see many savvy real estate agents miss is they forgot to ask their buyer leads one very simple question. “Do you need to sell your home before you buy a new one?” Buried in your database of thousands of buyer leads are hundreds of sellers. These homeowners need to sell their home before they buy a new one, they are just waiting for you ask the right question! Here’s the tip: Update your automated action plans that go out to include a question about their current living situation. “Do you own a home, and do you need to sell it before you buy a new one?”You can tweak this script to your liking but whatever you do, don’t forget to ask!
13. Update your referral network. – This is actually a two-step tip: first up, it’s time to update your list of approved and recommended vendors. Finding reputable people that you trust is the hard part, so take this question to your email database and your followers on Facebook. “We’re updating our list of approved vendors. Who do you love and recommend?” Be sure to let them know you’ll be publishing your list publicly.
14. Re-earn their business. – One of the biggest mistakes we see people make is mistaking delivering a great experience for earning a customer’s business for life. For some, sure, a job well done means you’ll go back to the same agent the next time you have a real estate need. But some consumers treat transactions like exactly that: You do a service for them, they pay you for that service, end of transaction. That’s why it’s important to stay on your past clients’ minds, but not be intrusive or obnoxious about it. We’ve crafted an email for you to send that can help achieve both.
Subject Line: What’s your plan?
Here’s the message we wrote: Hi [name], It’s sometimes hard to imagine a day when you’re going to want to sell your home, but that day eventually comes. 1 year, 3 years, 5 years? It’s hard to say because life has a way about being unpredictable.
I wanted to make sure you knew I was here for you when that moment came. My job is to help develop a plan: There are things we can be doing now and, in the future, to help maximize your profit when you sell. This includes your mortgage payment schedule, what home improvements to make or avoid, and, of course, timing. All of these factors (and many more) have a dramatic impact on what you should do between now and when the time comes to sell.
15. Incentivize loyalty. – You’re probably familiar with loyalty cards and VIP programs. You probably even do some form of one, with the occasional gift and past client appreciation events. VIP experience enhances the whole process. Make past clients and referrers feel special with one-time perks like free movie tickets and dinner at local restaurants, but she also formalizes it with quarterly gifts, recurring coffee and tea, and more.
16. Speak to their pain points. – People have a hard time believing you can solve their problems if you haven’t made it clear you understand what those problems are. Many avoid writing discussing the potential pitfalls, not wanting to appear to be a fearmonger. But there’s a lot of space between “everything is awesome” and being a Negative Nelly – space that real people occupy and need guidance through. So don’t be afraid to acknowledge those pain points in your ads and emails. Speak to issues like not knowing whether it’s the right time to list, whether they’ll be able to afford a new home, the complications of the home selling process, and more. Then point them to the Seller Services page we recommended you build back in Tip #10 and stake your claim as the expert who can help through all the challenges.
17. Level up your just sold posts and home value ads. – There was a time when simply publishing a good looking Just Sold post on Facebook was enough to be a differentiator. That time has passed. It’s time to get back ahead of the curve. Everyone’s doing them now. So how do you make yours stand out? This data can be presented as the dry, public record that it is, or you can make it connect with your audience by framing it in a specific, timely way. Which of these are you more likely to click?
Just Sold ABOVE Listing Price: 2 bed, 2 bath condo in the North End or Another North End Condo Sells ABOVE Asking Price: Find out how this impacts your home’s value
The best opportunity you have now is to turn these “Just Sold” moments from general awareness campaigns that showcase your overall prowess into direct opportunities to help individuals who will do business with you.
18. Give away your secret sauce. There is a general fear in real estate that if we give away our information, our competition will steal our ideas, or our consumers will realize that they don’t need us. But the truth is this: Consumers have proven time and time again they are willing to pay for convenience. Instacart, Dollar Shave Club, Quip Toothbrush — all charge a premium to remove the hassle from the process of buying or using the product. By giving away your trade secrets, you elevate your brand and become the authority. It’s counterintuitive but it’s true. Creating a well-designed, comprehensive, useful piece like “40 Top Tips for Selling Your Home is a big step in earning the trust of the consumer.”
19. Use your current bona fide buyers. – Ask for help and humanize the message by sharing first names of buyers and what they want to buy and spread the word. Email your database or post on your social media channels who is looking and what they need. If safe you can door knock or leave a door hanger, mail a flyer or postcard, or just post a video asking for help for you buyers and see if that triggers a listing appointment response.
20. Mail or drop off unsolicited CMA packages to all your past clients. Just put together all the listings and sales in the last 6 months that are relative them and their home. Don’t give them your opinion of value and call them a few days later asking them if they got it? Any questions? See if this will trigger a listing appointment response for you as well.
So, there you have some more creative of ways to be proactively generating appointments for listing opportunities in a market that we all need to be proactive versus reactive to get that product and inventory back up again. Feel free to reach out and share any other great listing appointment generators you may be having success with today!
We all need to be reminded about the gift of our 4 T’s (Time, Touch, Talent, Treasures) from the book “The Generosity Factor” by Ken Blanchard this time of year. We are approaching the single most important time of year as it has been for each of my 29 years in the real estate business. As the listings and sales season start to temper we have the tendency to want to take it easy and relax but I am here to say… NOT JUST YET!!! This was the time of year where I took full advantage of my time and made the most of the market season. This time of year can be for some a difficult time in real estate or a time where the market gives you the greatest gift which is TIME. The time for you to do the things you know are important but the year has just been too busy to do those really important activities. One of my most impactful and meaningful activities for my business is what I called my “Holiday 100” My holiday hundred is my goal to personally visit 100 of my best clients and see them during the holiday season. 3 clients a day for 33 days.
Christmas Holiday Visit Plan Checklist – Nov 23 – Dec 23, 2020
Create the client visit list (anyone who bought, sold, asked for help in 2020, service providers, A clients )
Gift – baking, wine, coffee mug, turkey, gift wrap, chocolate, etc. $15 budget
Calendar or Day Planner or Christmas Card
Year in review letter on holiday letterhead ( photo of the year on letter )
Call in advance and book 45 minute visits. ( Max 4 visits a day )
Rest of database just gets letter and Christmas card in mail
So in November, I would sit down and write out my year in review letter. I made a list of all the events and activities personally and professionally that happened to me and my family. I would write about my hobbies, my travels, my children and their activities, my wife and her year and all our successes and challenges in the past year. Find a favorite photo and place the photo and letter on holiday letterhead for my upcoming visits.
Think about it, we are in the relationship business and this letter invited my clients in to my personal and professional life. This helped deepen our relationship and find more items we have in common. They loved to read the letter every year. The next item was to have all my calendars delivered into the office by the middle of November to put my holiday letter and a calendar into large white envelopes. Then I would take my database and make a list of names and phone numbers of all my A and B clients. These are the people I would want to personally see from Mid-November until Mid-December… this was usually about 100 clients. Print their address labels out and place them on the envelopes with the holiday letter and their calendar.
If you prefer it also works well to write a Christmas Card or order a Day timer instead of a calendar with your year in review letter. Keep in mind the calendar is not the secret weapon to my success. Feel free to be creative too… it’s all about the relational contact and something to put in their hands to be Top of Mind. The final item was to find and purchase a hundred small holiday gifts. I chose Poinsettia flowers or homemade spiced apple cider mix, scented candle, bottle of mini bailey’s, holiday scratch and win ticket, homemade peanut brittle or Purdy’s chocolates… I tried to maintain about a $15 item budget. Now I have my Santa client pack ready and then came the most important part of all…
…Booking the appointments.
I would then take the time to personally call and set up a “pop by” holiday visit to their home in hour segments and I would stay for 45 minutes per client. I would let them know when I arrived that I had another visit within an hour so couldn’t stay too long. TIP – when booking appointments let them know why you are coming. If I called and left a message they wouldn’t call back?! When I called again I said I had a little something for them for the holiday season and they would say “oh, we thought you wanted to sell our house and were not interested so didn’t call you back”
The 33 day festive client visits were amazing. Clients were so surprised and would tell me they never thought they would see me again after our last real estate transaction. They were so pleased with the letter, calendar and small gift but most important was the gift of my time!! Ken Blanchard wrote in the book “The Generosity Factor” that we all have gifts to give. Our Time, Touch, Talents and Treasures. Never underestimate your greatest gift of “TIME”… your most precious commodity. Don’t just swing by and drop the items off. Stop and give the client your gift of time. This activity alone would set me up for a good month.
If you don’t think it’s worth the bother consider my February with 27 deals in 28 days and all of it from these appointments, leads and referrals for real estate from taking the time to share with my clients prior to the holiday season. I can’t tell you enough what this will do for your waist line, all those treats …..I mean you and your business but most important your relationship with your clients.
How Learning Versatility as a REALTOR Leads to Greater Success
I am sure everyone is familiar with the four personality types. We all fall under one of these styles and another one of the styles when under stress.
Let’s quickly review the four personality types or natural styles…
First we have the Analytical style. This is the person who just wants the facts, figures, ask the questions and the type of person who is slow to make decisions.
Then we have the Expressive style, which is the person who is highly emotional, excited and just loves to have fun all the times
The third personality is the Amiable style who love to be a part of something bigger than themselves. They just want to save the world and avoid confrontation at all costs.
The final personality type is the Drive style who love to be in control, impatient and make very quick decisions about everything.
Now that we know the styles, ask yourself which one are you?
Can you recognize quickly which personality style are your customers?
Hint: We tend to marry our opposite style and they tend to attract one another.
My natural style is Expressive but ironically I tend to be under stress more of a Driver style and need to be careful who I am around when under stress, if you know what I mean.
So you are probably wondering… “Wade this is your secret to more real estate listings and sales? The four personality types in the world and knowing your own natural style?”
No, the secret to more listings and sales is your ability to be versatile with any one of these natural styles when dealing with your clients that are buying and selling homes with you. The dictionary definition says.
1. Capable of doing many things competently. 2. Having varied uses or serving many functions. 3. Variable or changeable.
In the workplace today, technology and the pace of business have increased the number of people who we interact with and shortened the time we have to build relationships and increased the need to interact effectively. Your ability to adapt and mirror to a variety of people and so many different situations in this business is so important and can improve your interactions with others by 75%.
Having the skills to deal with them all in a variety of different ways is key to agents getting more listings and sales in real estate.
Your ability to have a seller want to sell their home and at the price you suggest or buyers to buy from you in a shorter period of time simply comes from your versatility.
The agent who can move quickly and cut to the chase for the Driver style or asks the Amiable style how they are feeling or gets excited and emotional with the Expressive style and asks lots of questions and provides a ton of data for the Analytical will win the more listings and sales every time.
I know that when an agent does not care to be right all the time, is willing to check their ego at the door, can put themselves in uncomfortable positions, can get outside their own comfort zone and willing to try new things I guarantee that agent will see a dramatic increase in their listing and sales success in the business.
I hope this post will help you to explore your own versatility and open the flood gates with your own business and begin to see more listings and sales as a REALTOR in 2015.
Strength and Courage,
Wade
Please share this post with someone who needs to be more flexible 🙂
Want to know how to win the listing every time?
I am sure everyone is familiar with the four personality types. We all fall under one of these styles and another one of the styles when under stress.