An agent emailed me last week with a good question about a real estate listing presentation. Maybe it’s something you’ve asked yourself? They wrote, “My biggest pet peeve is when I’m competing for a listing and I lose out to the other agent simply because the sellers were lied to and told their house can sell for way more than it actually will. Considering I’m definitely a people person and love building relationships and helping people, how do I get the crooked Realtors from some how convincing the seller that their home is worth $50,000-$100,000 more than it’s worth?”
Losing a listing to a competitor hurts.
When a home is over valued one could easily spend six months trying to sell a home that isn’t sellable. How do you win this listing presentation while still pricing the listing right? Today you will learn the 5 steps to winning a real estate listing presentation, even when competing against a Realtor who is trying to convince the seller the home is worth way too much.
This article assumes you are amazing at creating relationships and provide a good service for your clients.
Unrealistic expectations
A seller may have a mistaken idea of the value of their property. Maybe they don’t know the market or just assumed it was worth more based on a previous tax assessments. Perhaps their neighbour’s recently renovated mansion sold for a nice sum and they assumed their home was worth the same.
Or
It’s possible that an agent has convinced the seller that their home can be priced significantly more than it should in their market.
How to win this listing at a fair market valuation?
Step 1: Establish credibility
Your first job when meeting or interviewing a client is to establish your credibility and role as a Realtor.
Once established you can remind people of your credibility and the value it will give a client working with you. “Do you want somebody that is well skilled, has experience in converting the ad calls and sign calls, and knows how to represent your interest. Or do you want to work with an agent that wastes 6 months of your life with an overpriced home where you may get a few calls and appointments but no offers?”
Here’s a quick tip to help you come up with a list of unique benefits that will build your credibility and your differentiating value to present to potential clients.
- Write down 10 values that you give your client
- Write down 10 values that your company/broker gives that makes a strong difference to your client
- Write down 10 benefits that your client gets from these above values
Step 2: Discover their needs
Before you jump into the listing presentation or go over your prepared CMA, establish the needs of the seller. According to Dirk Zeller most clients misunderstand the role a Realtor has in the process of buying or selling. The fundamental role is to help them buy/sell their home, but you do much more than this. It’s also to help them to articulate their needs, to achieve their goals for themselves and their family, to sell their home for a price that fits their financial needs and the market and to do it in a manner that reduces stress and anxiety.
“The faster you can convey your role earlier in the process, the higher the probability of securing that client, the higher the probability in getting them away from another agent, and the higher probability of creating a satisfied client overall.” Dirk Zeller
Essentially, you will standout as a Realtor that is unlike any other when you establish your role and align it to their needs.
When you know what the seller wants, you can tailor your presentation to match these needs. A presentation becomes a great opportunity to make a seller feel like you understand their needs, that you care about them and that you are the best agent around to help them achieve them.
Dirk Zeller talks about this exact process when dealing with buyers. It’s essentially the same process when interviewing sellers. I’m not affiliated with him in any way, but I do think the advice he gives is good so I’ve included 2 videos at the bottom of this page by him.
Step 3: Build your case
The agent that contact me with this question likely did an excellent valuation. But unfortunately the other Realtor’s math made more sense to the sellers.
Think of how lawyers argue their case. If two parties are in a court room they use facts to establish grounds for their case. Each lawyer has an opportunity to persuade their audience with well presented reasoning. It’s hard to argue with the facts when they are presented in a compelling way.
You’re a credible Realtor, you know how to market properties and you know your market. Yet, even if you have 30+ years industry experience don’t rely on your experience alone to convince the seller that your valuation is right. Imagine a lawyer standing in front of a judge stating, “I’ve been a lawyer for 15 years and in my opinion my client is innocent. I rest my case.” Obviously the lawyer’s years of experience is important, but a judge will need more evidence than an expert opinion.
If you suspect that the seller has unrealistic expectations when presenting your valuation, take more time when showing similar properties. Explain the exact reasons the other homes were priced higher or lower. Show additional homes that have sold for more and for less and ask the seller questions to see how their property compares. “This home has a brand new kitchen, have you done any recent upgrades?”
If you have enough examples, the sellers will arrive at the same valuation conclusion you have before you even reveal it.
If the sellers aren’t coming to the same conclusion as you on their home value, then you need to ask them more questions and present more home comparables. Remember your job is not to convince the seller of their property’s value, instead it’s to act as a consultant so they convince themselves.
Step 4: Pricing strategy
Before showing them the valuation you arrived at, explain how your pricing strategy fits into your overall marketing strategy. This is very important and is incredibly compelling to Sellers.
For example, are you pricing their home to drive the most traffic and create a bidding war? Are you overpricing their home, but increasing the commission of the buyer agent to attract more Realtors? Is their home in a high traffic area and you are pricing it fairly to get an offer early to help them move on with their lives?
Your reasoning behind the pricing strategy could be the tipping point that justifies why the Seller needs you to sell their home.
Step 5: Expert opinion
Finally, now is the time to reveal the price of their home. By the time you show them the price they should be expecting the number they see.
This is the time to remind them of your credibility as well. Conclude by explaining the market activity that you are seeing and why this price will help the seller achieve their goals.
Wow the audience
By following the above 5 steps you will have convinced the seller that you have strategy to sell their home and that the price is an important component to this strategy. You will have informed them as to why you are credible and amazing at your job. They will understand the value of their home and what is a fair market price.
Finally, this is your opportunity to wow the seller and establish yourself as the best agent to do everything you’ve shown them.
When everyone is trying to win with the same strategy, showing them what they will do for the seller, you close by showing the seller what you have already done.
Before arriving to the listing presentation create a Single Property Website on StreetText and upload a quick picture of their home. It takes 5 minutes and it shows your profile picture beside the listing. If you would like to learn more how to do this, Stephen wrote an article explaining how to make your listing presentation standout.
Summary and Conclusion
It hurts to lose a listing after a presentation. However, this is an opportunity to ensure that you are communicating your significant competitive differential. You have a unique position in the market place, with unique database of buyers and sellers. Perhaps you have a great listing inventory that you can leverage to help market this property.
You have a lot of value to provide the seller and by doing the above 5 steps and ending the presentation with a wow factor, you will ensure that the seller has only one agent to choose. And that’s you.
Have you ever lost a real estate listing presentation? How did you win the next one? Let me know your experience or thoughts in the comments below.
Additional videos:
Why should someone hire you?
Buyer counseling interview – same principles work with sellers
