3 Things to Never Do When Face to Face with Sellers...Even if They Beg You

 

 

The sellers are sitting across the table from you and you’ve got a legit shot of securing their listing.

 

You’re thinking to yourself: “I’ll do anything - legally, ethically and morally - to get this listing tonight.

 

That’s a great attitude to have, but there are some things you should never do when sitting face to face with sellers, even if they beg you to do it.

 

In fact, there are five of them to be exact and doing some, all or anyone of them could derail your listing presentation and stop you dead in your tracks.

 

You may already do these or you may not.

 

Either way, avoid them at all costs because they are real deal killers.

 

3 Things to Never Do When Face to Face With Sellers

 

Here they are in no specific order:

 

1. Never give price first

 

If you haven’t figured it out yet, then I’ll let you in on a little secret: the main reason you’re at a seller’s house for a listing presentation is so they can get your thoughts on the price of their home.

 

Yes, they do want to hear about your marketing, team structure and all the other things you’ll do to get their home sold.

 

But when all is said and done, you’re there to give them the price at which you think it will sell.

 

And, to that end, as soon as you tell them the price, the opportunity to keep selling and earn their business is diminished greatly.

 

One of the coaches at NAEA told me a story once of how he went on a listing presentation one time to help a lady sell her half of the duplex she owned.

 

While he was there, Wheel of Fortune was playing on the television during his presentation (another mistake he made and one you’ll want to avoid as well - no TV during presentations).

 

Within 5 minutes of sitting at the kitchen table, the seller asked him what he thought the price of her home was and against his better judgement, he gave it to her.

 

From that moment on, he did his listing presentation while she continued to watch Wheel of Fortune.

 

Not surprisingly, he didn’t get the listing.

 

The fact of the matter is that until the seller agrees that you’re the best person for the job of getting their home sold, price doesn’t matter.

 

Price is a function of supply and demand...the demand you’re able to drive on their home based upon your selling system.

 

You must keep control of the sales process and follow a fairly structured approach in your listing presentation to get the best results.

 

 

If a seller asks you for the price of their home before you’re prepared to give it to them say this: “Am I the agent that you want to sell your home? The reason I ask is that if I’m not the agent, then the price I give you is irrelevant. The price at which you sell your home should be based upon the fact that you know, like and trust your agent and you feel that they’re going to do the best job for you. So, if I’m the agent you want, then let’s go to price and get the paperwork squared away. However, if you’re unsure if I’m the right agent, let’s spend some time together an review what I do that other agents do to get your home sold for top dollar in a time frame that works for you.:

 

Sure, it’s a mouthful, but it’s what you have to do in order to have the opportunity to have a legitimate shot at getting the listing.

 

Never, and I mean NEVER, give price first.

 

2. Never agree to do print marketing

 

    For some reason, sellers still want to see their home in the Sunday paper.

 

There was a time, prior to the advent of the Internet in 1992, when advertising in the newspaper was a great way to get your listings seen by a large number of buyers.

 

To that point, there were, and still are, real-estate-specific magazines and other publications that people could find in news boxes in front of grocery stores and restaurants.

 

But for all that paper and ink that’s used to create these printed materials, it’s virtually a useless method of getting homes marketed and sold.

 

 

According to the National Association of Realtors®, 3% of home buyers use print materials of some sort to find a home.

 

3%...that’s it.

 

Conversely, 45% of buyers use the Internet in one way or another to search for homes.

 

That’s a 1,400% increase.

 

Knowing this, you need to be able to articulate to sellers that your budget, your time and their time would be completely wasted on listing homes for sale in any print media as virtually nobody looks at it to find a home.

 

There is a caveat to all of this advice.

 

If - and that’s a big if - you currently use a source of print media that does, in fact, generate solid buyer leads and gets you at least a 3X to 5X return on your investment, by all means, use it.

 

Other than that, avoid print media like the plague.

 

Never agree to use print media as part of your marketing strategy.

 

3. Never leave a listing appointment without asking for your prospect’s business

 

    Let’s do the math:

 

    Prospecting time to get one listing appointment: 1.5 hours

 

Listing preparation time: 2 hours

 

    Drive time: 1 hour

 

    Listing presentation time: 1.5 hours

 

    According to my math, that’s six hours, minimum, that goes into taking a listing.

 

Let’s add to that the roughly $7,251 in commission you’d make on the sale of a home at the median price across the United States right now, $241,700.

 

That makes, six hours of your life, plus gas money, plus time away from your family and a potential commission of almost $7,300…all for one listing.

 

From where I stand, that’s a big deal and absolutely something I’m willing to fight for...including making sure I ask for the order.

 

Unfortunately, most salespeople don’t feel the same way that I do.

 

Here’s what Grant Cardone, sales guru, has to say about the negative results associated with not asking for the sale...

 

You must get to the point where you value yourself and your time enough and have the courage to ask your prospects for the order when the time is right.

 

Otherwise, it’s a complete waste of time, energy and money to put all that work into getting a listing and not ask the sellers if they’d be open to listing their home with you before, during or after your listing presentation.

 

 

Never leave a listing presentation without asking your seller prospects for the order.

 

You have to remember that it’s your real estate business, your listing system and your listing presentation.

 

You could never walk into a restaurant and dictate to them how to run their business - other than telling them how you’d like your food cooked and seasoned - and have an enjoyable experience.

 

Be committed to doing what I’ve laid out here and you’ll have more control of your listing presentations get significantly better results at the same time.

This post was originally published by Market Maker Leads.