Dos and Don’ts to Maximize Your Opportunities When Meeting With Owners
Especially in a hyper-competitive listing market, it is important that you and your team members are on top of your game when meeting with owners for a potential listing. This means not only being prepared with information about the home and the market, but also having a strategy to immediately gain the owners’ confidence and commitment to select you as their real estate agent.
Here are five elements of a proven listing appointment strategy that will increase your team’s success in winning new listings during your first appointment:
Don’t stage the home in the first walkthrough. As the saying goes: You attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. As that relates to your listing appointments, you need to be the champion of the client’s home instead of a critic. Compliment them on interesting features—especially if you learn that they created them themselves—and focus on the positives so that the client sees that you will be genuinely excited to sell the home to potential buyers.
Don’t argue price. While you will obviously have done research on past sales and current listing competition, I recommend being open-minded regarding price when meeting with the seller. More importantly, ask a lot of questions and listen closely to the owner’s responses; learning their attitude and price-flexibility is imperative in order to establish an initial price that will allow you to proceed with their listing immediately.
Use the assumptive approach. As you view the home and discuss your marketing plan for them, speak in terms of “when,” not “if.” They are the client, but you are the expert. Guide them through the best strategy for selling their home, explain what you are going to do for them, then lead them into the natural next step of filling out the necessary paperwork.
Set the next appointment. This dovetails with the assumptive approach and is true whether you actually obtain a signed listing agreement or not. Always set the next appointment, make it soon, and whenever possible ask them if you can take something with you to copy (e.g., plans for completed or planned work) so that you have a reason to come back with more value. Essentially, act like their agent, and you will most likely will be.
Be prepared and close the deal. It is in the owner’s best interest to choose your team to list their home, so be prepared to make that happen immediately. Have the listing agreement ready to go, as well as any additional forms—like disclosures, exclusions, etc.—will make officially winning the listing easy and natural for the client.
An agent I coach followed this advice just yesterday and, in a competitive situation, walked out with a new client, the owner’s blueprints for recent work on the home and a $1.3 million listing. Her confidence, strategy and engagement were the reasons why, and you can accomplish the same in your business by following the suggestions above!
For a free copy of Sherri Johnson’s sample guidance to sellers regarding current listing price, click here.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 25 years of experience in real estate as an agent, broker and executive, Johnson now shares her proven methods through coaching, consulting and keynote speaking services nationwide. She is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour and is the Official Real Estate Coach for McKissock Learning and Real Estate Express. Johnson has also been named an RISMedia Real Estate Newsmaker in 2020 and 2021 as an Influencer and Thought Leader. Schedule a free 30-minute coaching strategy session or visit www.sherrijohnson.com for more information.
