6 Keys to Winning Listing Presentations

Need More Qualified Buyers?  Win More Desirable Listings…

What is the difference between winning a highly desirable listing and taking a listing because you believe, “what do I have to lose?”  The answer is “everything.” Buyers do not shop agents, brands or information.  They shop for properties and in turn, desirable listings attract high quality buyers.  Winning those listings legitimizes you and drives momentum to your business.  Conversely, a listing taken because you felt you had nothing to lose often results in regret because of the money and time it cost you.

So how do you win desirable listings?  Here are six simple but fundamental keys.  For the purpose of this post, we are going to assume you have already qualified the seller’s motivation prior to the listing appointment and have all the decision makers present.

The Six Keys

1. Preparation – Perform preliminary research regarding the property.  It’s all out there: tax records, Zillow, Google, and your MLS.  You can find everything you need to sound informed about the property.  Drive by the property and take pictures from the street.  Use this information to create a prelisting package:

• step-by-step marketing plan
• comparable marketing analysis
• role during the sales process
• value and explanation of proper pricing
• sample marketing
• sold properties and/or testimonials

2. Confidence - Knowledge builds confidence.  Proper preparation will allow you to present confidently, but you must also earn the prospect’s confidence.  You accomplish this by educating them on the home-selling process – from agreement, pricing, MLS listing, marketing feedback, agreed price reductions if necessary, to the close.  Show visuals and be succinct.  This process naturally substantiates your prelisting package.  For information on the best ways to present to different personalities, read our previous post.

3. Competence – You have two jobs.  The first is a fiduciary responsibility to advise, consult, educate and guide.  This is where you explain what you control, what the seller controls, and what neither of you controls.  The seller controls the price and how the property shows, its condition and availability.  Neither of you can control the market conditions, competition, nor what the market is willing to pay for the home.  Your second job is a functionary role to lead generate, build value, sell, negotiate, maintain compliancy and ensure the close.

4. Pricing: The truth is that no tactic… no guru’s bullet proof promise, no genius coach’s script, and no secret marketing system will ever produce results as effectively as simply pricing the property correctly.  To accomplish correct pricing, you must be able to properly convey to the seller that it does not matter what they paid, or need, or want; it does not matter what another agent says.  All that matters is what the buyer universe will pay for their property.  To receive the highest possible price for their property, timing is everything.  If you initially list too high, you may never have an opportunity to reach that universe of buyers that would have paid a premium for your property.  If you list too high in a descending market—this will most definitely cost you money.

For more information on pricing properties correctly please view our “Pricing Listings Right the First Time”.

5. Execution – This is how we perform the home selling process: the tools we use and what separates us from our competitors.  This is the most important step of the process.  Do you really want this listing?  Then show the prospect some unique tools.  Some to consider are:

• Call-Capture IVR- Take the information that you learned about the property and create a sample recording, upload the pictures you took of the outside of the property, and add the text descriptions.  Take a sample sign rider with you and have the seller call it; show them the call detail of how you capture every lead.  Emphasize that every lead receives a follow-up call from you or a member of your team.  Sellers want to sell their home for the highest possible price and this is accomplished by following up with every lead.
• Single Property Site- a personal touch that conveys to sellers, “your property is special enough for its own website.”  Buy the property address before you go on the listing presentation and create a site: see www.211bartonsprings.com.  Don’t just type in the URL, Google it to demonstrate your online marketing expertise.
• Virtual Flyer- Create a mock-up of the property brochure and add it to your pre-listing package. Make sure to include the single property website and Call Capture number so they can visit them afterwards, and email them another copy immediately after leaving.

6. Commission – Nine times out of ten you will have to address your commission.  Your full brokerage commission is under pressure and you will have to deal with it, so be prepared.  If you properly completed the first five steps you will have created significant value in the eyes of the seller, so overcoming this should be easier.

• Be understanding.  They may be upside down or at the very least have lost equity.
• Explain how you are taking the risk.  They are in complete control of accepting or declining offers and you don’t get paid unless the property is sold at an acceptable price.
• Explain costs associated with your marketing plan.
• Explain costs associated with keeping the deal on track to close.
• Explain all these processes have costs associated with them.  Ask them which of the processes (prospecting, marketing, systems, managing, negotiating) would it make sense to eliminate?  The truth is, in today’s real estate market, if you perform the services as stated above, six percent is cheap.

Using Call Capture with Text Messaging to Generate Real Estate Leads

Mobile Marketing: What Technologies Work Best?

2010 is here and with it the realization that information technology has changed the way real estate searches, negotiations, and transactions are conducted.  Easy access to property information allows consumers to be more informed.  Financial restrictions have caused lenders to be more selective.  Fewer overall transactions make agents more competitive.

Yet the simplicity of the real estate process remains unchanged.  You still have to consistently locate and identify qualified buyers and sellers, qualify them, and manage the relationship to control the resulting transaction.  Despite all the technology advancements, real estate remains a relationship business.  Due to the personal attachment and emotion connected to buying and selling real estate, we believe this will never change.

The key for agents is to adopt the technologies that will increase your business.  One way to ensure you’re making the right choices is to simply consider the buying habits of the new generation of homebuyers.  In previous posts we discussed how mobile technology searches are becoming a preferred method. The most recent statistics released in the latest NAR Profile of Buyers and Sellers reinforce this sentiment by showing that the first thing potential buyers do after finding a property is drive by it, with 84% of those buyers reporting the ability to receive pictures on a mobile device was the most valuable piece of information they desired.

There are three types of Mobile Marketing technologies available, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

1.  Call Capture or Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is the grandfather of Mobile Marketing and still the most effective.  An independent research study conducted at The Keller Center at the Baylor School of Business (http://www.baylor.edu/business/kellercenter/index.php?id=55741) reported that IVR is the second most productive form of lead generation after referrals.  Prospective buyers drive by a property and call to access 24-hour property information. They can then transfer directly to the agent to schedule a viewing, receive more information on their cell phone by SMS/Text, leave a voicemail, or receive a fax detail about the property. The key to IVR’s effectiveness is that the agent captures the prospect’s information and receives an immediate notification via Email and Text Message that includes the caller’s phone number, the information and property address they inquired on, and the caller’s name and address when available.  IVR information is captured by 100% of cell phones used by potential buyers, regardless of whether it’s a smart phone or voice-only phone.

2.  Text Messaging/SMS is similar to Call Capture, however to access the property details the buyer will text a “short code” and receive information directly to their cell phone, including the agent’s contact information, property details, and photos of the home.  Text SMS is available to all types of cell phones but pictures are only available to those consumers who have mobile internet access.

3.  Location Based Mobile Search Relatively speaking, this is still a first generation technology, but very interesting and promising.  This technology uses the GPS device in a smart phone to identify the location of the prospective homebuyer and then displays property information to them, similar to an IDX feature set.  Companies like Zillow and Trulia offer this service and allow users to access basic property details based upon their location and the for sale home in their area.

What this technology lacks is that it is only available to the 28% of cell users who own a smart phone.  In order to work, the application is dependent upon the carrier’s data coverage and load time can be slow. Due to GPS limitations, there are times when the cell provider will “triangulate” the location, which can create a plus/minus of several hundred yards, so there are times when the user will be viewing property information of another home.  We believe the most important restriction of this tool in its current form is that there is no “lead capture” element. It is not easily placed on a consumer’s phone and when it is, the service is similar to the desktop internet – easy information but in a shield of anonymity.

Recommendation

At ArchAgent, we recommend call capture on yard signs, linking them to single property websites, and to consider a dual service to provide a toll-free number with a short messaging code (see sign).  As the GPS tool becomes more reliable and consumer accessible, we do believe it will be a necessary tool… but that is still a year or two away.

5 Keys to Successful Real Estate Mobile Marketing

Previously we explored the merits of mobile marketing and if agents should implement this tool into their business plan.  We emphatically concluded that yes, you must have a presence in the mobile marketing theater.

The next question is what to consider when implementing mobile marketing into your business.  What is an efficient and economic process that will increase your property sales?  When making this decision, consider these five aspects:

1. Lead capture.  Selling real estate will always be about managing relationships.  If you are the first to identify a lead and properly qualify motivation (link to qualify post) you will control the resulting transaction.  Lead capture is first and foremost.  Your mobile technology must have it.  The beauty of mobile marketing is that it requires the prospect to proactively request the information to their mobile device.  Unlike the desktop internet, the mobile internet captures their contact information for follow-up.  There are some mobile marketing systems that allow the prospect to download the application via the desktop internet and then attempt to generate the lead by branding the agent; either by framing their personal contact information or company’s.  Ultimately, it requires the prospective homebuyer to proactively contact the agent, and therefore it’s a passive approach and not recommended for lead generation.
2. Ease of use for the prospective homebuyer. It has to be an easy and seamless experience for the prospect.  If your prospective buyer has to take steps to receive information, such as registering to a website or technology, they will leave.  The prospect does not care about application requirements; all they care about is the immediate delivery of information.  Your mobile marketing system should allow the prospect to view information by simply making a telephone call or by inbound texting.
3. Ease of use for you. Mobile marketing should be an extension of your marketing; not a time-consuming burden.  If you have to resize or limit photos to meet application standards, forget it. There is no standard SMS format across phones and carriers.  Your mobile marketing system should have built-in normalizer to accept photos of various resolutions and automatically size them for you.
4. Homogenous delivery.  The application has to work the same for all cell and smart phones so you can maintain the quality of your fulfillment.  Cell phones are easy; they essentially all display content in the same way.  It’s the smart phones and PDAs that require your application to work homogenously with Blackberry, IPhone, Palm, and Droid.
5. Instant notifications. You should be alerted whenever a prospect has requested information.  This information should be available to you in a format that you can easily import into your database manager.  As we reported in an earlier blog (link to timely response) The Keller Institute at Baylor University http://www.baylor.edu/business/kellercenter/index.php?id=55741 conducted a study titled, “Lead Generation: What Really Works” and noted that after eight hours the conversion rate declined significantly.  If you are not notified of the lead, you cannot respond timely.

Using Call Capture with Text Messaging in Your Real Estate Marketing

Mobile marketing: what is it?  More importantly, will it really help you grow your business?

Mobile marketing is defined as marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a cell phone.  With the rise of Short Message Service (SMS), also called “text messaging,” mobile marketing has become increasingly popular.

An ordinary cell phone can receive marketing information via a text message.  The phone does not have to be “smart,” a term used to describe handheld devices that are voice-centric but also have many features of a personal digital assistant (PDA), such as a web browser or sync-able calendar.

As it pertains to real estate sales, mobile marketing means you can deliver content such as property descriptions or pictures to a cell or smart phone in a manner in which the phone can properly display the text, images, or website.

Should you utilize mobile marketing in your business?

Consider the present: 94% of people in this country between the ages of 25 and 44 are using the internet to search for homes, and 25% of them are accessing the internet by using their mobile device exclusively, according to Marvist.com.  The National Association of Realtors’ 2008 Field Guide of Buyer and Seller Statistics reported that once a desirable property was found, 77% of prospects drove by the property.  A reasonable conclusion would be that they wanted to see if the internet representation was valid.

Consider the future: Gartner, an information technology research company, reports that smart phone sales increased by 75% last year.  As cellular minutes become more and more commoditized, wireless companies are focused on increasing revenue by monetizing data plans.  In fact, walk into any wireless store and try to find a cell phone that does not have a data plan or is considered “smart.”  I did exactly that; my local AT&T store in Austin, TX offered 22 phones for sale and all but 3 were “smart phones.”

Consider today’s consumer: As the NAR reports, almost 8 out of 10 potential buyers will drive by a property.  The vast majority will be in possession of a mobile device.  The opportunity for you to capture them as leads is only present if you can offer them marketing information they can view while mobile.

This trend bodes well for you.  Now you can offer higher quality information (digitally) and since the consumer is willing to access it using a mobile device, you can capture their information for follow-up.  It’s a wonderful silver lining: the mobile internet eliminates the anonymity of the desktop internet.

The answer is clear.  Yes, you must use mobile marketing, and you must make it available for cell and smart phones.  It is a logical extension of your marketing and best of all, it’s economic and accountable.

Next we’ll discuss how to effectively mobile market and what are the best technologies available.

December Newsletter: Mobile Marketing with Pictures Now Available

December 1, 2009 Issue 11 Dear Valued Customer,Thank you for your continued patronage. Mobile marketing: what is it and, more importantly, will it help you grow your business?Mobile marketing is defined as marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a cell phone.  With the rise of Short Message Service (SMS), also called “text,” mobile marketing has become increasingly popular.  As it pertains to real estate sales, mobile marketing means to deliver content such as property descriptions or pictures to a cell phone in a manner in which the phone can properly display the text or images.The National Association of Realtors’ 2008 Field Guide of Buyer and Seller Statistics reported that the number one tool potential homebuyers used in an initial search for a property was the internet (87%).  Once a desirable property was found, 77% drove by the property.  A reasonable conclusion would be that the prospect wanted to see if the internet representation was valid.Considering almost 8 out of 10 potential buyers will drive by a property, doesn’t it make sense that you should offer them marketing information they can view while mobile?  Property information via the Powerline™ service is great, but now you can deliver the property information and pictures with your digital business card. It is a logical and effective extension of the Powerline™ service to incorporate a full-feature mobile service.  You’ll be able to offer a greater incentive (pictures, visual tours, agent sites) to the consumer and they can call or, if they prefer, text directly into your Powerline™ service.  Powerline™ mobile marketing is ready for you to use now. We’ve also introduced a data append product; you can send in any data such as MLS or farm data and we’ll fill in the missing elements such as name, address, phone number, do not call status, etc… Try it out free for a month. For more information on mobile marketing or the data append service, send an email to support@archtelecom.com or call us at (800) 882-9155. Sincerely, Steve Cortez Managing Partner Arch Telecom, Inc Spotlight – Accountable Internet Lead Generation with Ben Kinney This month’s webinar, led by Keller Williams MAPS Coach Ben Kinney, is free to all Arch subscribers. However, seating is limited so please register today.The power of the internet lies in its ability to quickly digest and present information; the Achilles heel of the internet is that it is a vast sea of digital anonymity Register…In this session you will learn: How to create and maintain leads to your website Capture, connect, cultivate, and close internet leads Google secrets for Search Engine Optimization How Local Listings can improve your search position Experience WAVE ‘09 by signing up today; don’t miss out! View calendar of upcoming topics. Product Spotlight -  Mobile Marketing Provide the information consumers desire on-demandPictures have been added to the SMS/Text features allowing prospects to instantly receive property details on their cell phones including the price, bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, and up to ten high resolution pictures of the property.Inbound SMS/Text short codes availableNo longer want the prospect to have to dial a toll-free number? They can now simply text a unique extension number to a short code and receive instant information on virtually any cell phone.Best of all, these features are available immediately to any Powerline™ subscriber. Please contact us at 800-882-9155 or email support@archtelecom.com to activate these services. Arch Events View Web Archives of Previous Training Sessions: The Language of Sales with Dianna Kokoszka Short Sales: Position Yourself as the Realtor with Knolly Williams How to Price Your Home Correctly the First Time with Doris Carlin Attend Our Next Session: Accountable Internet Lead Generation with Ben Kinney Ask Arch I called into my Powerline™, but did not hear the “Press 6″ option to receive more information via text message. There are several reasons that this could happen, but we should address the most common causes. The Powerline™ system will only make this option available if the caller is accessing from a cellular phone.The other most common cause is that the individual extension does not have the information inputted through the website so the caller will not hear the prompt. What is your Data Retention Policy for online reports and extensions? We store all of your call detail data for a minimum of 90 days. We recommend that you download the data in a .csv file monthly if you feel you will need to reference it at later dates. Your recordings also work on a 90-day clock. However, this is reset every time the extension is accessed or anytime the user logs into either the Customer Portal or the Phone menu. As long as you are actively maintaining your system, you will not be subject to the Data Retention for your extensions. What’s New at Arch Uploading Photos Through the Customer Portal:Login to the Customer Portal: Click on the Powerline Tab Click on “Pictures” under “Controls” Click “Browse” and locate the images you wish to add Enter in a brief description of the image Click “Upload File(s)” Please contact Customer Support with any questions about these features at 800-882-9155. 2009 Arch Telecom 210 Barton Springs Rd., Suite 275, Austin, TX 78704 800.890.7575  www.archtelecom.com

5 Steps to Convert FSBOs to Listings

We’ve discussed the first three steps in the process of how to convert FSBOs, and now we’ll focus on the last two: creating points of differentiation in order to either close or assist.

When closing the FSBO for a listing agreement, whatever you say and demonstrate that is unique and compelling separates you from your competitor, and these are your points of differentiation.  This is the single most important aspect of winning listings.  It is about the prospective home seller assigning meaning to what you are saying and presenting; it is their perception of you.  In marketing and sales perception is everything.

If the consumer perceives your services to be of greater value than those offered by your competitors… you win.  If the consumer sees your services to be of equal or less value, you will not distinguish yourself and will have no control of the relationship or the resulting transaction.

Perception is everything.  Take a look at this classic picture; what do you see?

Some people see an old lady looking down, others a young lady looking away.  If you need some help, the nose of the old woman is the jaw structure of the young woman looking left and vice versa.  The picture doesn’t change; you just assign emphasis to different parts and the result is a different meaning.  That’s exactly what sellers do to you when you present your services.

Establishing points of differentiation is challenging, but when achieved it enables you to obtain great success.  The key is to be able to present your marketing plan confidently and effectively.  It helps to use physical visuals and/or tools.  This makes it easy for the prospect to understand what separates you from competitors.

Assisting the Seller

Based upon our surveys to agents, the FSBO will list in between 15 and 25 days.  The challenge is that you know they will eventually sell with a full-serviced agent, yet exactly when is hard to determine.  You may be early in the process or were unable to close them to a full commissioned listing.  You know you have to maintain contact, but what can you do to generate new value that excites them and compels them to listen to you?

One strategy that is very effective is to offer the FSBO a free marketing system; a single property website with mobile marketing.  While this does assist them in selling their property, the benefits to you are twofold:

1. Only one prospect can purchase the home, so every other prospective buyer and seller you generate benefits you.
2. The leads you generate give you a compelling reason to continue to converse with the FSBO and positions you as their agent of choice when they do list.

The single property website demonstrates to the owner that their property is important enough to have its own website.  The mobile marketing captures the contact information of the prospects so you can follow up.  The leads can be distributed to you and the owner, so they will have no fear of not being granted full access.

If you have an interest in learning more about using this technique, we offer a free demonstration website with mobile marketing that is custom to you and can be demonstrated in listing presentations.  You may also request free FSBO data for 30 days.  The combination of the tools, scripts and data will help you close more FSBOs in five easy steps.

Sustainable Lead Generation Creates Momentum (continued)

In our previous post we discussed how to create momentum by establishing consistent and repetitive lead generation sources.  We explored the first two steps of a five step process for converting For Sale By Owners to listings, and now we’ll explore step 3 – “Identifying the FSBO Personality.”

The Process:

1. Understand the FSBO Mindset
2. Know Your Facts
3. Identify The FSBO Personality
4. Create a Point of Differentiation
5. Close or Assist

There have been many theories and classifications of personality types with various authors laying claim to the work, but the origins were identified as early as Hippocrates in his text, “Nature of Man” and refined into four archetypal types by Henry Sigeristo in the mid 1930s.  The importance of their works is that they were both social visionaries who were also medical historians.

Originally personality identification was developed to assist sociologists in relationship building to heal compulsive behaviors.  Since real estate sales is about relationship building, it’s not a stretch to appreciate that if you can identify the personality of your prospect and adapt your presentation to fit that personality, you have a greater chance of establishing the relationship.

Four archetypal personalities:

1. Analytical: Not physically demonstrative.  Slow to make decisions and requires proof and details to substantiate claims.  Appears to be quiet and in control.
2. Dominant: Not physically demonstrative.  Quick to make decisions, controlling, concerned with the bottom line.  Appears to be hurried.
3. Likeable: Physically demonstrative.  Agreeable, team player, empathetic.  Appears to be easy going.
4. Expressive:  Very physically demonstrative.  Outspoken, animated, and constantly physically moving.  Desires to be the center of attention.  Appears to be multi-tasking.

Of these four personalities, the majority of FSBOs are analytical with the sub-majority being dominant.  Analytical types possess a primary motivation to save money.  Dominant types believe they can accomplish anything and can easily sell their own home.

The analytical FSBO is going to require that you show them physical evidence of why you will increase their net on their home sale.  They are not likely to list with you immediately as they are slow to make decisions, so you are going to have to exercise some patience.

The dominant FSBO believes they can easily sell their own home; although they also possess a secondary motivation of saving money.  They likely made the decision to list FSBO with little thought.  Dominant personalities represent the listings that are obtainable on an initial meeting.

Properly Gauging and Increasing the FSBO’s Motivation

Whether you sell widgets or homes, all successful salespeople are efficient.  Consider the efficiency model:

Efficiency = Effectiveness/Economics

Efficiency is the key element to your real estate success.  If you list a home with a highly motivated seller and price it right, you will likely sell it quickly with minimal marketing dollars and time invested.  Conversely, if you list a home with an unmotivated seller and price it too high, in retrospect, you will wish you had not taken the listing.

You must properly gauge the FSBO’s motivation so you do not risk becoming inefficient.  To properly gauge the prospect’s motivation you have to ask the right questions.  It’s a common theme: qualifying.

Saving money is the primary motivation with an analytical FSBO.  So you must address return on investment in a quantifiable way.

• How can I exceed the FSBO’s expectations on meeting their needs?

Possessing the belief that they are capable of selling their home themselves is the primary motivation of the dominant FSBO personality.  So you must expose the challenges of selling a home to them without belittling.

• What problem is the FSBO trying to solve?
• Why would hiring me versus my competition benefit the FSBO?

These scripts will assist you in specifically addressing the above motivations.  Because the prospects’ motivations are different, SCRIPT II branches to emphasize different values.  The analytical script provides you with proof to convey to the FSBO concerning why they will net more money on their home sale if they list with you.  The dominant script provides you with solutions to common challenges faced by the dominant FSBO.

You can view our scripts online at:

FSBO Script I: Gauging and Increasing Motivation

FSBO Script II: Separate Yourself from the Competition

FSBO Script III: Assisting the FSBO

The quicker you increase the FSBO’s motivation and earn their trust, the sooner you will be able to obtain their listing.  When evaluating the FSBO’s motivation, consider the following model:

Motivation = Attention + Relevance + Confidence + Satisfaction

• Attention: in the first thirty seconds that you are addressing the FSBO, you need to capture and sustain their attention.
• Relevance: once you have obtained the FSBO’s attention, the FSBO is going to wonder how your message pertains to their interests and goals.
• Confidence: the FSBO has to be confident that you can complete the task.  They understand that success is not a guarantee, but they must believe you are up to the challenge.
• Satisfaction: if the outcome of what you say is consistent with or exceeds what the prospect expects, they will be satisfied and list with you.

We believe in the four tenets of real estate:

1. Winning listing presentations
2. Pricing properties correctly
3. Qualifying buyers
4. Negotiating price reductions when necessary

Next post we’ll demonstrate tactile strategies to create points of differentiation so that you are perceived as the agent of choice.

Sustainable Lead Generation Creates Momentum

There’s so many different ways to grow businesses, that it’s clear that it would be fruitless to suggest a right or wrong method.  But I do believe there are business models that are more efficient. People like to say that real estate is a relationship business, but it’s not about having a lot of friends; it’s about having quality business relationships that result into transactions.More succinctly, I believe real estate is about winning listing presentations, qualifying buyers, pricing properties correctly and when needed negotiating price reductions.  When those four tenants are done right everything else falls into place.Want to be a great marketer?  Save your money and forget the hype from marketers that want to sell you their secrets.  Just price your properties right.  Your ads will be more responsive.  And if you have twenty properly priced properties versus none, it’s a lot easier to confidently present the pitfalls of overpricing to a seller or walk away from a bad deal.   Want to eliminate working with unmotivated buyers?  It’s not magic; just qualify them.  And if you have twenty motivated buyers it’s a lot easier to say “no” to the unmotivated. But where do you start?  How do you create and establish momentum?  I believe it all starts with sustainable lead generation. If you’re new or don’t have an abundance of leads, a good place to start is FSBOs and expireds; as these prospects have already declared their motivation to sell.  Over the next two weeks we’ll post our perspective on how to convince these sellers you are the agent of choice, starting with FSBOs. Feedback from the agents we’ve worked with state that successfully converting FSBOs is a multi-step process.  The process typically takes fourteen to twenty eight days.  Sure there are success stories of one call closes, but again, it’s not about right or wrong it’s about a consistent method to be efficient. The process for your consideration: Understand the FSBO Mindset Know Your Facts Identify The FSBO Personality Create a Point of Differentiation Close or Assist FSBO Mindset First, appreciate the FSBO mindset and take a walk in their shoes: You have decided to sell your home yourself.  Either you feel it’s not that difficult to sell your own home or you desire to save commissions.  You invest a few thousand dollars fixing up your property painting and landscaping.  You visit your local home improvement store and purchase a FSBO website and yard sign kit.  You run a newspaper ad.  You’ve staged your home.  You’ve spent dozens of hours and thousands of dollars on this project.  Your ad hits. Fifteen agents call you before 10AM.  They all tell you they are taking a survey or they have a buyer for you.  They immediately segue into asking you for your listing.  After having just spent a significant amount of time and money preparing your home to sell yourself you become annoyed that full-service real estate agents are calling you. A likely scenario when agents call you: You politely say “no” to the first agent. You tell the second caller if you wanted a real estate agent you would have called one. You begin to feel aggravated with the third agent. You become downright angry with the fourth agent. Know Your Facts The truth is that a home listed by a full-service agent nets more money for the seller than if they sell it themselves.  Conveying the facts assists you in building trust with the FSBO and inspires them to make a better decision.  By having a firm grasp on the following facts, you will be able to handle objections confidently. According to the 2008 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers: A home listed FSBO sells for 27.5% less than if listed with a full-service agent.  The average FSBO home sold for $153,000 compared to $211,000 for agent-assisted homes. A home listed FSBO takes three times as long to sell. 86% of homebuyers found their home through a full-service real estate agent. 50% of the sellers who successful listed FSBO said they would not do it again.  In order of difficulty, the most challenging tasks were: Selling within the planned length of time Getting the right price Preparing/fixing up home for sale Understanding and performing paperwork Having enough time to devote to all aspects of the sale Additional reasons FSBOs will not net as much money on their home sale or be as effective as a professional real estate agent are: FSBOs attract bargain hunters and investors who are highly skilled negotiators. Most agents will not show FSBO homes, limiting the FSBO’s exposure. 33% of FSBOs sell to a referral.  Homebuyers who are not familiar with the FSBO do not feel secure in purchasing homes from owners. Agents have up to 1 million dollars in “error and omissions” insurance, not available to FSBOs.  This insurance protects the seller’s assets for years after the sale. FSBOs are not able to screen or prequalify buyers.  They do not know who is coming into their house and may present a potential danger to their family. Appreciate their mindset and know the facts before you call or market to them. Ask yourself this, “In a listing presentation, would you address a seller listing a $3,000,000 home differently than you would address a seller listing a $75,000 home?  Of course you would.   So don’t approach every FSBO the same. But you should not make assumptions based solely on the price of their home.   It has long been acknowledged that interacting with people in a manner that is agreeable to them based upon their personality type is effective. Next we’ll discuss how to identify their personality type and key points that are agreeable to the different personality types that help you create points of differentiation from your competitors and from the FSBO believing they should pursue this transaction themselves.

Arch Telecom  210 Barton Springs Road, Suite 275, Austin, TX 78704  800-882-9155  www.archtelecom.com

Mistake #4: Not Being Prepared to Handle Objections

This is a continuation in our series on how to maximize your lead conversion; after all, a lead is only valuable if you are able to convert it.  Previously we discussed the importance of timely response, qualifying motivation, and what you say to the prospect. Now we will focus on objection handling.

As with most things, the key to effective objection handling is preparation.  Preparation leads to confidence and enables you to listen and understand what the prospect is saying instead of focusing on what you are about to say.

Prepare by knowing your lead conversion script.  Practice it out loud with a role play partner.  Before you make calls, put yourself in a proper mindset.  Appreciate that you have a clear objective at the beginning of every call.

With respect to mindset, focus only on what you can control.  You cannot turn an unmotivated and unqualified lead into a motivated and qualified lead; your purpose is to identify motivation and qualify.  Detach yourself emotionally from the results of the call; by doing this you will remove fear and hesitation.

Your objective on the initial call is clear: to qualify.  If we back off qualifying, we will regret it when we find ourselves showing a prospect a home that is way out of their purchasing power.  We’ll wonder how we ever got into the situation of driving an unmotivated prospect around for weeks.

You are building business relationships and they must have sincerity and trust on both sides.  While some business relationships may become friendships, that is a secondary occurrence that will only happen if we first engage the caller and qualify them.

Over the years our live operators have called over 60,000 leads.  Our experience has been that only twenty percent of prospects will freely answer our questions and allow us to engage them into a dialogue without initially posing some type of objection that we must overcome.

There are three ways we handle objections:

1. Ignore and redirect
2. Address immediately
3. Address later

Some objections are not true objections; they are just auto-responses by hesitant buyers that translate to “I am not comfortable.”  True objections must be addressed and overcome if the relationship is to be established.

We “ignore and redirect” when it’s not a true objection and it would serve no purpose to address it.  For example, if our initial question is:

Agent: Hello, this John Smith and I saw that you had accessed my recorded information line about 123 Main Street, and I just wanted to email or mail you some more information.  Which of those is easiest for you?

Prospect: I’m not interested in that house.

Initially, we would not address that as a true objection.  We would handle that by ignoring and redirecting the prospect with a question such as:

Agent: Great, so that I can send you homes of interest what area of town are you most interested in moving to?

At this point it serves no purpose to defend the property.  If we said:

“Well, wait till you see the inside and it’s newly remolded kitchen,”

or

“It is sitting right at the average sale price per square foot for this neighborhood…”

While these things may be true, at this time we don’t know if this prospect is interested in gourmet kitchens.  If we extend the conversation by defending this home, we are at risk of losing the caller.

They have already stated they are not interested in what we are selling.  At this point, our objective is to qualify the caller and build the relationship; this is not the time to build value in properties.

However, true objections cannot be ignored and must be addressed.  If you believe it was not a true objection and ignore it but the prospect repeats it, then it was true and you must address it.  The likely reason you did not perceive the objection as real was interpretation; typically the prospect wasn’t specific.

So depending upon the subject, you may choose to address immediately or defer.  For example:

Prospect: I have no interest in that house…

Agent: “I understand; this neighborhood is changing so fast.  I’m curious, is this the area of town you want to live in?”

Prospect: “No, I’m sorry; I doubt I could afford that home.”

Agent: “Oh I can certainly appreciate that; so I can best understand your position let me find out a few things about your situation and then we can discuss price issues.  How long have you been in the market?

While there are many techniques and ideas on how to best handle objections, we have found that most prospects are savvy.  They know this is a sales call.  They are not going to bend under pressure or be manipulated.  But they will respect you if you properly engage them and ask the right questions.

Our three step objection-handling technique is:

• Listen: understand the objection by focusing solely on what they are saying.
• Accept or Ignore: the first objection can be ignored, but the second time you must acknowledge it.
• Resolve: act to overcome the objection.  You can overcome objections; you cannot overcome conditions (such as financial wherewithal).  You must be able to identify the difference.

Real objections can be resolved immediately by offering alternative solutions.

Prospect: “No thanks, I’m really not interested in the property.”

Agent: “Okay, I just wanted to follow-up and make sure you were able to receive everything you were looking for.  Is this the area of town you wish to live in?”

Prospect: “This home didn’t look like there was a fenced- in yard”

Agent: “No, unfortunately, this home doesn’t have one.  May I ask why that is important?”

Prospect: “I have two big labs that love to stay outside.”

Agent: “One of the best parts of this area is access to parks where the dogs can run and play. My dogs love it.  Are you looking only in this neighborhood or other neighborhoods as well?”

Prospect: “Well I live in Westlake, but I’ve always wanted to live in Pemberton Heights; it seems this would be a good time to purchase and I was really hoping to find something I could afford.”

By staying focused on your objective, handling their objections, and engaging dialogue, a listing opportunity presented itself.

It is often said that lead generation is the lifeblood of business, and we believe that to be true.  But lead generation serves no purpose without lead conversion.  A simple buyer call that seems to have no interest in the property they called in on could become your next listing.

It’s a misnomer to think that selling real estate is about selling houses.  It’s really about finding, building, and maintaining relationships.  Whoever owns the relationship owns the transaction.

Next post we will begin a series on finding and developing lead generation sources.

Mistake #3- Not Asking the Right Questions

Previously we discussed the importance of timely response and qualifying motivation.  This post focuses on what you say to the prospect – the script.  If you are going to increase your conversion, there is nothing more important than asking the right questions.

Several years ago we surveyed our client base and found that one of the overwhelming problems that they faced in their business was responding to leads in a timely manner.  We decided to address this by creating a live operator service that would represent the agent professionally, responding to their leads within fifteen minutes of the inquiry and qualifying them.

Since we had never actually talked to prospects previously, we hired a coach from one of the most successful real estate coaching firms in the country to write our initial script.  This is an abbreviation of the script we received:

• Hello, this is Joe Realtor with ABC Realty; may I ask who I am speaking with?

• Great, I saw you were interested in 123 Main Street.  Would you like more information on the property?

• I would like to add you to my mailing list and send you similar properties.  May I have your mailing or email address?

• Fantastic, and are you currently working with a real estate agent to find your home?

• Wonderful, are you going to need to sell your current residence before you move?

• Perfect, what price range and area of town are you looking in?

• I’m excited for you; do you know anybody else who is looking to buy or sell?

No matter what the prospect said, our operators were to respond with a superlative such as “fantastic, great, wonderful, I’m excited for you…”  I thought this seemed somewhat hokey and too homogenous for every situation.  But the coach convinced me it was about being “positive and excited,” not about what you said.  Since I do believe attitude plays a major part in success, I went along.  What sounded great on paper did not translate to success in reality.  We failed to qualify leads more often than we succeeded.

We reviewed the call statistics to find similarities in the calls we did qualify, and consistencies with the calls that failed.  We noticed:

1. We had no better success when the prospect responded yes to the question “Would you like more information on the property?”
2. 90% of the leads were already working with an agent.
3. We were receiving one referral out of every 100 calls.
4. The operators reported that on successful calls the prospect often offered information without them asking for it.

It was clear that the call should not be about the property, but about the prospect.  We experimented with many techniques to create dialogue and realized the key was to place the needs and wants of the prospect first, and our agenda second.  This created dialogue and in the end enabled us to qualify.  To emphasize the concept to our live operator team, we created two slogans:

1. Strip yourself naked.  This was about mindset; it meant to ignore any office distractions, self-inhibitions, concerns about your results of the call, or pressures of the job.  The operator was to be so focused on the prospect that if they were naked in the middle of our offices, they wouldn’t care or notice.
2. Ride the wave to the beach.  Generate dialogue to build momentum and never exit a call.  Don’t be satisfied; go beyond what you think is satisfactory and ride the wave of momentum all the way to the end.

We started there and over time tracked results, tested, adjusted, and obtained consensus on what specific questions and techniques worked for getting prospects to open up.  Keep in mind we were calling prospects from Florida to California and we had no ability to talk about the specific property.  Our sole purpose was to qualify prospects and harvest information to help our customers be more efficient.

The techniques began to crystallize.  Be service-oriented in the beginning, create dialogue by asking questions, and get callers in the rhythm of responding.

Our script:

• Hello, this John Smith and I saw that you had accessed my recorded information line about 123 Main Street, and I just wanted to email or mail you some more information.  Which of those is easiest for you?

This was disarming to the prospect; we weren’t asking them if they like the property or not, just making it easy for them to give us their email address.  We were offering service, not asking them if they wanted it.  This question also opens up an excellent opportunity to ask a simple follow-up question to ensure they get complete and proper information that is relevant to their particular home search.  Again, we want to focus on their needs and get them in the rhythm of responding.

• I would like to get an idea of exactly what you are looking for and send you some similar properties in the area.  Do you have a bedroom and bathroom requirement?

No matter who is in the market or how long they have been searching, they know the answer to this question.  They may not be sure of their price range, or even if they are interested in a single-family or condo, but everybody knows how many bedrooms they need.  They don’t have to think about it and can’t see any harm in answering, and you have them engaged.

Now that they are in the rhythm and ready to freely answer your questions, you can begin to qualify.

• What is the ballpark price range you are looking at right now?

• Are there any particular areas or school districts that you really desire to live in?

• Are there any specifics, in terms of pool, garage, or other features you really want in this home?

We lead and help them along, but with the focus on listening.  Many times, the prospect will begin to qualify themselves by inserting statements such as, “Well, we’re looking to purchase this summer,” or “I need to buy in this school district before the semester begins.”  Never interrupt; anything you say will not be as useful as just listening to them.

We have learned that good lead follow-up is about listening and learning.  It serves no purpose to give out a price only to have the call end, or to talk about granite countertops without even knowing if the prospect likes granite.

In a real conversation, all sorts of details came out.  Perhaps they revealed they were renting (first-time homebuyer), or they needed to paint their property before selling it (listing opportunity).  The conversation is about the prospect, not the house.  The truth is you do not sell the home; you find the buyer.  You do not list the home; you convince the seller.

The initial script asked the prospect if they “were working with a real estate agent” and amazingly all of them were.  When we quit asking that question at the beginning and explored it after we had a dialogue, we learned only 20% actually were.  Clearly, without rapport the prospect was just saying, “No thanks, I’m just looking.”

So we ask:

• How long have you been actively searching for a home?

• How are you doing most of your searching… just driving around and looking on the internet?

If they do state they are working with an agent, we ask:

• Are you under a buyer agreement or are they just showing you properties?

These questions are open-ended and encourage the prospect to speak freely about their search.  Similar strategies can be applied to uncovering a listing opportunity, with questions like:

• Are you a first-time homebuyer?

Or

• Do you currently lease? If so: How long do you have left on your contract?

• For people in resort or investment areas: Will this be your primary residence?

The key is to ask open-ended questions that encourage dialogue.  And it’s all about dialogue.  Then determine if this prospect fits your agenda and simply close for an appointment or choose not to work with them.  When a relationship is established, the close is automatic and natural.

Next time you generate a lead, one that you created with your hard-earned money and effort, try stripping yourself of every external distraction and focusing solely on the prospect.  Then when you create dialogue, extend that momentum all the way home.  You may well find your buyer conversion, your listing opportunities, and your sphere of influence pipeline skyrocketing.

Next post we will explore how we have learned to handle objections.