Training & Business Development: Scripted Authenticity: Oxymoron, or Cash Cow?

Failure to prepare to meet with prospective clients increases likelihood of losing listing, says mentor
Failure to prepare to meet with prospective clients increases likelihood of losing listing, says mentor

RISMEDIA, June 1, 2006?The script is a predetermined knowledge of how to communicate with your prospective seller or buyer with such poise and expertise that the listing invariably becomes yours. Seventeen-year-veteran and iSucceed Mentor Stephanie Vitacco’s script library covers even the most extraneous topics ? a contingency she?s learned to maintain the hard way.

From Stephanie?s perspective, any failure to prepare to meet with a prospective client increases the likelihood of losing the listing. ?I’ve been doing this for more than seventeen years now, and you get the same questions, the same objections, the same concerns, over and over again. You literally know exactly what the client is going to say long before he says it. In her mind, not having a prepared answer is borderline unethical, and at the very least dim-witted.

She explains, ?When I hire someone new, I give them a folder entitled ?Scripts? that we review together, because I am extremely particular about what I want my staff to say, in almost every situation.?

Why such fastidiousness, you might ask? It’s all in the delivery, the composure, the confidence, the way an agent presents themselves to a potential client. Vitacco explains it in this way, ?Nobody wants to sound like they’re reading from a script, and nobody wants to listen to anybody who sounds like that either. Scripts are nothing more than prudent preparation. They help you to speak with confidence and conviction. With such confidence, you might think Vitacco impervious to the rare verbal curve ball, but she admits that they still do come.

In fact, almost all of Vitacco’s scripts were birthed from awkward scenarios. It seems almost humorous to her in reflection, ?All of my scripts began from uncomfortable situations ? moments when I was asked a question and didn?t feel that I had a confident answer to give. Afterward I would go back to the drawing board and flesh out a new script so that the next time around I could knock ?em dead. Knocking them dead might be an understatement, considering that in 2005, Vitacco and her team saw $85 million of business call them on the phone and walk through the front door.

On this week’s RISMedia/iSucceed Business Development and Training Call, Stephanie Vitacco shares how the well-honed script supplies the composure, confidence, and charm you need to secure the listing. Vitacco not only discusses the nature and purpose of the script, but lists her top five most common objections and rapid scripted responses. The interview, hosted by iSucceed?s own Kelly Kelley, will be available from May 31st to June 6th at rismedia.com.

Stephanie Vitacco began her real estate career 17 years ago in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California, rising through the ranks to become the #1 agent there since 1993. As a member of The Society of Excellence, Stephanie attributes her success to hard work, attention to detail, and a constant goal to help make her clients move as successful and smooth as possible. Working seven days a week, her clientele find Stephanie to be extremely accessible, and she believes that no transaction is too big or small. She’s sold everything from first-time homes to luxury estates.

The Los Angeles Magazine has recognized her as one of the best Realtors in the valley, and the valley?s Business Journal also recently recognized her as one of its top 25 economic engines. The National Association of Realtors has named her one of the top 300 agents in the United States. Last year, Stephanie and her team closed 175 transactions for a volume in excess of $85 million.

Next week enjoy an educational conversation with Rich Toepper, who uses a two-pronged advertising strategy: a shotgun-style approach with billboards, and a sniper-style tactic with direct mail. The goal? Send the right message in the right way to the right person, and someone will soon be cutting you another commission check.

Every Wednesday the RIS Media/iSucceed Business Development and Training Call offers agents across the country profitable real estate strategies, and also introduces them to the full 30-minute iSucceed Weekly Counseling Call, available only at www.iSucceed.com – the largest Web-based provider of real estate tips, tools, secrets and strategies from over 200 of the industry?s top-producing agents.

Listen to this week’s interview here.

iSucceed, Inc. is an integral part of the RealtyU? Family of career development companies and services.

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