Are You Telling It or Showing It?

We believe what we see, not what we hear. If you’re still talking a mile a minute, telling the sellers how wonderful you are, blah, blah, blah–just stop talking and start showing. Also,

We remember only 10% of what we  hear three days later! With visuals, retention goes to 65%.

5 Points to Include as You Create that Marketing Plan

            1. It’s an action plan—what you will do for the seller

            2. It’s specific—it has dates for what will be done and who does it

            3. It’s not about what the company will do—it’s about what you will do

           4. It is stated either as a checklist, as a calendar of events, and/or in visuals.

           5. It has a section on pricing, but the pricing, or market analysis, is only one part of the plan

Creating specific marketing plans for each individual will put you far ahead of most real estate practioners. Now, the next important action is to dutifully do the actions you promised and report back.

Complimentary Sales Webinar with International Speaker

Master Motivator Verl Workman helps you get your year started off right.

This action packed 1 hour webinar is like a private consulting session with one of the industry’s top coaches and mentors.

Verl will take you step by step through how to build your business plan and achieve your financial goals.  Using the 3 Ts:  Technology, Training, and Trade Secrets of the top performers in the world, Verl will show you how to make 2012 your best year ever in real estate.  Invite your friends, partners, teams and entire companies to this event. 

 6. Not focusing on service ‘wow’

Less than 25% of all agents send surveys after closing. According to customer satisfaction surveys today, consumers aren’t exactly thrilled with the level of service. Building a career based on delighted buyers, sellers, and other agents, assures you build a long-term career–at one quarter the marketing dollars expended!

Recommendation: Include a survey at closing with every ‘thank you’ letter and gift you deliver to buyers and sellers at closing.

Click here to download my ‘ After the Sale’ closing survey.

7. Listing properties that don’t sell

What’s wrong with that, you say? After all, you got a sign up. You got sign calls. You made money. But, what about the seller? Was he thrilled with your service? You can bet not. Without knowing it, an agent who lists a property that doesn’t sell provides more negative PR to himself, his company, and the industry than all other real estate behaviors combined.

Recommendation: In your business plan for next year, shoot for 85-90% of your listings selling within normal market time. It’s the way to build a great referral business at low cost.

8. Not qualifying buyers before putting them in your car

When I was a new agent, I put everybody and anybody in my car. My motto was, “Either they get tired and buy from me, or I get too tired to show them any more homes and they don’t buy.” Not exactly professional (and I corrected that habit). Yet, many agents are still putting too many “non-buyers” in their cars.

Recommendation: Use a comprehensive buyer information questionnaire, so you’re sure you’re meeting the needs of that buyer AND working with a bona fide buyer.

9. Not asking directly for loyalty

Recently, an agent told me that he doesn’t ask for loyalty. He thinks, by showing the buyers what a good job he’s doing, they’ll figure out they should be loyal. I’ve got a secret for you: Buyers don’t know that’s what they’re supposed to do–they don’t know the game. How do I know? I tried it that way, too.

Recommendation: Decide where, when, and how you’ll ask for loyalty. Practice your presentation until you’re sold, yourself, on your unique value as a selected ‘pro’. Go to your manager or coach and practice dialogue until you’re comfortable with it. Get feedback on what comes across as beneficial to the client, vs. what is perceived as self-serving.

10. Not building the value of working with you

Let’s get blunt: Why should I work with you? What’s so terrific and different about you and your service, that, out of the ten agents I’ll meet today as I look at open houses, I could spot you as exceptional in a minute? Because, you see, that’s about all it takes for a buyer or seller decide whether they want to entrust tens of thousands of their hard-earned dollars to us!

Recommendation: Write down at least ten talents, skills, and areas of knowledge you possess (not in real estate), that would be benefits to buyers and sellers. Now, attach benefits. Now, say them aloud. Last, create visuals to back up your claims.

Don’t forget: Click here to get my ‘ After the Sale’ closing survey.

Which of these recommendations can you implement to greatly improve your production and profits for next year?

Where can you get more information to get past those career barriers? My consultative resource, The On Track to Success in 30 Days System for the Experienced Agent, gives you dozens of tips on how to figure out what’s right and what’s holding you back in your business. Then, I provide recommendations in each chapter, plus a 30-day regeneration plan.  See more here.

 A Middle that Educates your ‘Audience’ to your Point of View

 In the middle of your presentation, add those stories, statistics, and visuals that support your point of view.  By the way, as you create that presentation, jot down your point of view. If you’re doing a presentation to sellers, one of the major objectives of your presentation is to persuade them to your listing price point of view.

The Power of the Visual

There are two reasons to use visuals in your presentation:

We believe what we see

We retain the information much longer

As you organize your presentation, ask yourself:

What are the main, and frequently, unspoken objections my ‘audience’ will have? How do I educate them to show them the reasoning behind my point of view?

Retention is Key

Have you ever met with sellers or buyers, given them lots of information—and then had them question you about it a few days later—as if they never heard you—or heard you backwards? That’s because people don’t hear and retain very well. Look at the statistics:

Three days later:

We retain 10% of the information when we hear it

We retain 65% of the information when we hear and see it

So, use visuals to prove your points, not to merely show pretty pictures of houses (or whatever your topic is).

The Ending: Take your Audience Back to the Beginning

Have you thought about your wrap-up? Or, like many presenters, does your ending sound like this?

Well, that’s all. What do you think?

We’re out of time. Thank you. I hope you’ll list with me

I don’t have time to close.

I couldn’t get to much of the material, but you can read it

 In fact, even the most professional presenters frequently have trouble with their endings. One of the main reasons is that they run out of time. Another is that they haven’t thought the ending through.

How to Do a Stunning Ending

Crafting an effecting ending is the second most important part of your presentation. (The first is the opening). To craft a great ending,

            Go back to your beginning opening theme

            Summarize the benefits of going ahead with you/take action

            Motivate your ‘audience’ to take action

 A Great Presentation is Crafted like a Pop Song

As a musician, I know that all pop tunes are constructed with this format:

 theme—variation—theme

This is known in the music business as the ABA format. Think of your favorite pop tune: Hum the beginning. Think of the end. They’re alike, right? It’s the middle—known as the ‘bridge’—that is the humdinger. It wanders all around. Your persuasive presentation should be crafted like that pop tune:

A         A compelling start (think Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, etc.)

B         An interesting, developed middle, with stories, statistics

A         Back to that theme, with a motivating ending

Now, you’re all set to craft a great listing or buyer presentation, great recruiting meeting or sales meeting, or awesome product/service presentation to any audience.

P. S. Practice, practice, practice!

Many more tips on presentations and presentation skills are in my new resource, Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make your Best Presentation Ever.  Whether you’re doing listing and buyer presentations, or sales meetings, or 3-minute ‘get in front of them to sell your services’, you’ll love this resource.

In my new resource, Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make Your Best Presentation Ever, I show a simple three-step format to create your persuasive presentation. No matter why you’re in front of people, we need to be

                                                                   persuasive

Think about it. Real estate salespeople: When you’re doing a listing presentation, what do you want to happen? You want them to sign the listing agreement when you’re done. So, it’s extremely important that you organize your listing presentation using a persuasive format, not just an information-heavy dialogue flow.

In this blog, we’ll discuss great openings–one of the 2 most important parts of any presentation.

 Grab Their Attention in the Opening

 Have you thought about your opening? Or, are you nervously standing at the sellers’ door, worried about what you’re going to say? Are you hiding in your office because you dread doing that sales meeting? When we haven’t organized our presentation, we come up with some really boring, off-putting openings, like:

 I won’t take much of your time, but

We have a lot to cover today (boy, that sounds exciting and motivating, doesn’t it?)

We won’t get through the outline/presentation (then, why do we have that outline?)

I know you don’t want to listen, but

I’m not really prepared (this happens in many presentations in front of 2 or 2000!)

You just open your presentation book, point to the pretty pages, and say, “here’s a keybox”  (I’m not kidding. I’ve seen it….)

Great openings, yes? Yet, we’ve heard them dozens of times. You don’t have to settle for whatever comes ‘naturally’. Instead, make your openings

             Provocative

            Interesting

            Different

            Engaging

  Motivating

The First Two Minutes are Critical

I just attended a Train the Trainer’ session (yes, I still learn great stuff every day!), where the trainer said it was important to engage the audience in a meaningful way in the first two minutes of your presentation. I think that’s a great rule to follow today, because people’s attention spans are the length of a gnat’s eyebrow. So, the next time you attend a presentation, see how much time elapses before the speaker/presenter/trainer gets the audience into meaningful action. I don’t mean to ask a rhetorical question, either!

Want many more presentation tips for your next meeting, listing or buyer presentation, or sales presentation? Check out Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make your Best Presentation Ever.

In the next blog, we’ll talk about the other 2 parts of the presentation, and how to make them sizzle, too.

What mistakes have you seen presenters make in their openings? Let me know. Also–what do you do to grab their attention and interest in the first two minutes?

 We’re All Presenters 

Everyone in the real estate business presents: Agents present, when they are doing listing or buyer presentations. Managers present when they are recruiting, or doing their office meetings. Mortgage and title reps present when they are in front of a group of agents in an office, talking about their services. So, doesn’t it make sense to become ‘killer’ at those presentations? You’ll double your money and halve your time. 

Bug Off: I Do Okay Just Like I Am 

Yeah. I know. As a musician, I’ve worked with literally hundreds of people who thought they ‘played good enough’. Some people just get to a certain performance level and leave it there. Have you ever thought that, often, our presentation strategies (or lack of) 

work in spite of us, not because of us?   

As a musician, I know the thrill of performing at high levels. So, open your mind and consider stepping up to a higher presentation level. Not only will you have personal satisfaction, you’ll make more money!

Right now, I’m doing a leadership series called 365 Leadership. I just did a session on creating a listing presentation play-off. This is an awesome leadership action–a way to  help agents get exceptional presentation skills, have fun, and create teamwork. You can see more about 365 Leadership here.  The next full series starts January 2012.

In the next blog, I’ll give you 3 specific methods to increase your presentation skills.

How do you set the stage for a professional relationship with a seller?  How do you list properties that sell? Most likely you’ll have a phone conversation with the seller before you do anything else.  This is where many agents waste time and energy.  They hear the seller say, “I want you to come over and tell me what my house is worth”, so they run over.  Then, they find out the seller is listing with another agent, wants the evaluation for insurance purposes, or wants to move in one year, etc. Even worse, the seller says, “Just drop a competitive market analysis (CMA) on my doorstep. I’ll let you know if I want you to list the property.” The agent dutifully completes a CMA, drops it on the doorstep, and finds out another agent has listed the property!

 Five Questions to Answer to Set Your Professional Standards 

Avoid wasting your time and being disappointed. Here are five important considerations to answer for yourself to see if your “pre-first visit” system is up to standard: 

1. Would you go to a seller’s home just because he asked you to come over? If not, what are your standards? 

2. Would you give the seller a price opinion without a thorough analysis of the market trends and of the property? 

3. Would you go to the seller’s home without knowing why he is moving? 

4. Would you go if the seller wouldn’t let you explain how you work? 

5. Would you go to the seller’s home of all sellers were not present? 

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you probably are doing too much work listing properties for not enough income! Establishing standards to meet for first visits to sellers, along with a pre-first visit questionnaire, will assure you use your time wisely.

Want much more help in screening sellers AND convincing them to list at the right price? Take a look at Your Client-Based Marketing System. Powerpoint presentation, plus dozens of tips on presenting professionally. Take charge of your listing process now!

Choose or create systems—then harness technology. First, create your systems. Then, choose the technology to run those systems. You’ll spend less money and utilize your technological investments better if you’ve organized your business systematically first. Then, you’ll know exactly what systems you want to automate.

Five Steps to Systematize Your Business                                                                 

1. First, itemize the tasks you do each day.
2. Prioritize your tasks as they relate to accomplishing your main objectives.

What are the most important tasks you do to assure you make money consistently? 

Want some expert guidance in prioritizing these tasks? Take a look at Up and Running in 30 Days. That’s one of the strongest points of this resource–it helps you put all the things you do in perspective.   

       3  .Organize your high-priority tasks into systems–or purchase systems.

Should you create your own system, or buy one? Smart agents buy systems, if they’re available. An example is a listing presentation. Even though an agent could create a system, time spent on creation isn’t worth the price paid in ‘down sales time’ profitability. Don’t be a creator unless you just can’t find a good system.

            4. Choose your technology to support the systems you already have in  place. Let’s say you now how a manually-created listing system. You’ve decided who you will involve in the plan; you’ve decided which tasks you can delegate. Now, you’re ready to choose technology to automate your system. Because you know what you want this technology to accomplish, you can make a good choice. You can easily customize the software to meet your needs–because you already have a system in place.

            5. Package your systems so you can promote your exceptional business organization to buyers and sellers. For example: If you’ve never worked with a particular buyer or seller before, that buyer can’t know if you’ll communicate regularly. Show the buyer your process/system for communicating regularly, so he can start trusting you as the professional you know you are. Remember, we believe what we see, not what we hear. (For buyer and and seller systems, see Your Client-Based Marketing System and The Complete Buyer’s Agent Toolkit.)

Taking these steps to systematize your business allows you to not only grow your business—it gives you a saleable asset.

P. S. Thinking of hiring an assistant? Get your systems in place FIRST.

The listing sold quickly

The listing sold for close to full price

 The Agent-Centered Process

You can guess what that is: The agent creates dialogue to get the seller to list with him/her at any price–so the agent will have a listing he/she can market to snag buyers.

The Cient-Centered Approach Gets You Referrals

If what the client wants from us is a “sold” sign on the property, and that’s the only way they rate us highly–and give us referrals, then, it makes sense to do a  listing and marketing process that creates the higher levels of customer satisfaction. By the “client-centered” approach, I mean to keep the client’s best interest first at heart—not the agent’s!

Five Questions to Ask Yourself

Here are five questions to ask yourself, to see which kind of process you use—and tips to change your process to true ‘client-centered’.

1. Do you have an ‘information-loaded’, prioritized listing system? If you don’t have a complete process, you aren’t instilling trust and confidence in the seller.

2. Do you educate from the beginning, or do you just sell, sell, sell (tell) ? A pre-first visit package educates seller and shows your professionalism.

3. Are you a ‘property information gatherer’ or a ‘people consultant’? An in-depth questionnaire focusing on their needs proves you care more about them than getting a sign on the property.

4. What’s your objective? The statistics prove that most agents’ objective is to list the property. That is not in the client’s best interests. To change to client-centered marketing, you must focus on listing only saleable properties.

5. Do you provide the seller a written marketing plan? A professional marketing company always provides the plan in writing. Shouldn’t you?

Looking for guidance in how to make your process truly client-based? Take a look at the CRS-recommended resource, Your Client-Based Marketing System.      In it, you’ll see all the questionaires you need, a PowerPoint presentation, ready to use, a marketing plan, and much more. Save time and compete with the mega-agents.      

Listing properties. If you’re finding it increasingly difficult to list properties at the right price, it may be because you’re working too hard  trying to talk the seller into it, and are not working hard enough to show a seller into it. Sellers, like all of us, believe what they see, not what they hear.

Go visual. Instead of trying to tell a seller what you know to be true, back up your statements with statistics, graphs, facts, etc. You do this in your market analysis. But, most agents don’t do this with the rest of their marketing plans. Start now gathering information to back up your chosen marketing strategies.

For example, if you’ve found, through your experience, that open houses do not sell that particular home, start keeping statistics of your open house visitors, their needs, and what happened to them during their buying cycle. You want to provide sellers the information they need to make good decisions, and to support your marketing plan.

Ideas galore. If you’re wondering exactly how to create those visuals, check out Your Client-Based Marketing System. Dozens of ideas on how to create proof that you know what you’re talking about!

I’m pleased, too, that CRS (Certfied Residential Council) has just featured this resource this month. This resource has been test marketed and approved by the CRS Council, too.

What do I mean? First, ‘buyer agency’ of course means representing the best interests of the buyer. ‘Seller agency’ means representing the best interests of the seller. What are the best interests of the seller? According to thousands of sellers in a Consumer Reports survey , they are satisfied with the level of service when the

1. listing sold quickly

2. listing sold for close to listed price

We all know that listings priced right sell faster and for closer to full price. So, practicing ‘seller agency’ includes taking marketable listings–not over-priced ones.

Agent Agency Practice Doesn’t Put These Two Goals First

‘Agent agency’ means you are listing properties for what you think are your best interests, not the seller’s.  What are those ‘best interests’?

Okay: Maybe the picture’s a little much….

Agents tell me they take over-priced properties because

1. They’re afraid if they don’t take the listing, someone else will. Their selfishness comes first. (Does your doctor give you the medicine you want, because, if he doesn’t, someone else will?! Doctors who do this are convicted of mal-practice–or worse)

2. They think they can ‘get the price down later’ and want to control the property themselves from the beginning. This self- serving tactic costs the seller thousands in proceeds because shopworn properties, on the market a long time, result in much lower selling prices—just look at the sale racks at clothing stores! (And look at your MLS statistics)

3. They want to use the property as a ‘bait and switch’. Agents know that signs and ads–plus online marketing– bring calls. They know the potential buyer won’t buy that over-priced property, so they always have other right-priced properties in mind—to switch them to. Doesn’t this sound exactly like a ‘used-car salesman’ approach?

How to Identify If You’re an ‘Agent Agency’ Practitioner

You’ll know when you answer this question. Do you know the percent of your listings that sell in normal market time? If it’s less than 70%, I think you’re practicing what I call  ‘agent agency’. (You may not even realize you’re practicing this way).

What Do You Think?

What percent of listings sold in normal market time in your price range seems to indicate that the agent is practicing seller agency? What percent indicates the agent is practicing ‘agent agency’? What do you think?

In my next blogs, I’ll help you switch from that tempting ‘agent agency’ to what I call ‘client-based’ marketing. You’ll gain a great reputation and make your listing life much better!