by Neil Jenman
READING TIME: Apx 3.5 minutes
If you are a good real estate agent, we have a good offer for you – a very good offer. It’s simple: we can pass on lots of listings to you.
But you must be a “good agent” – a very good agent.
Our biggest challenge at ‘Jenman Support’ is finding good agents to look after sellers who contact us. In some areas, such as Sydney’s eastern suburbs, we get dozens of requests from sellers. All have the same request: “Help us find a good agent”. Many who’ve read our books or articles say, “Help us find an agent who adheres to the ‘Jenman philosophy’.”
Now, let me be clear: We are not one of those ‘agent finder’ mobs that just give sellers’ details to you and all the other agents and then sit back and cop a hefty fee regardless of what happens to the sellers.
No, we insist that the agents to whom we send sellers must be “good agents”. We care deeply about what happens to our sellers. Our supervisor, Phill Branford, says we treat every seller as if they are a member of our family. He’s right.
Having worked in real estate all my life, I know that nothing is more important to an agent than good new listings. The number one near-constant complaint in all real estate offices is: “We need more good listings.” It’s been this way for decades.
Agents can all define the meaning of a “good listing” – “a property owned by sellers who genuinely want to sell and who are sensible about the price”.
But how many agents can go the other way? How many agents can define what is meant by a “good agent”. And no, not from the agent’s perspective, from the client’s perspective.
Agents with their faces painted on their cars or billboards are not considered “good agents” by the public. As all agents know, today’s real estate world is riddled with narcissistic self promotion.
The word “profile” is one of the most common words in a real estate office. Some agents will quickly cut their commission but will never cut the advertising dollars they demand. In real estate, the major purpose of advertising is not to promote homes, it’s to promote agents. Most agents are obsessed with promoting themselves. If you’re an agent, you know this is true.
But, no matter how high their “profile” might be, the agent who does the most advertising in an area is not necessarily the best agent. On the contrary, some of the worst agents (for sellers) are the biggest self-promoters. If you are more interested in promoting yourself than looking after home-sellers, you are not the agent that will suit our sellers.
In short, here is the true definition of a good agent: “An agent who always acts in the best interest of the sellers even if the agent’s interests come second.”
When I started my real estate career, I followed two major rules: Work hard and take great care of sellers. It worked. Within nine months of opening my real estate office, we were the top selling agent among thirty agents in our area. Why? One reason: We put the interests of the client ahead of our own interests. This meant two things: Sometimes we might waste a bit of time, lose a bit of money or even miss out on a commission. But it also meant we attracted dozens more sellers than other agents, all of whom were basically clones of each other.
One of the best business books I have ever read is called ‘Differentiate or Die’. To succeed in business, you need to be massively different to your competitors.
The way to be different in real estate today is to take better care of sellers. Offer them irresistible service and conditions.
So, how about it?
There are three main conditions we want you to follow if you are to receive sellers from Jenman Support?
First, you must be committed to getting sellers the HIGHEST PRICE possible.
Second, you must not charge sellers for NEEDLESS EXPENSES.
Third, you must all REMOVE RISKS of loss from sellers.
That’s it! Surely, it can’t be hard to follow these three simple conditions. Believe me, it’s not. We have agents to whom we have given hundreds of sellers which has given these agents hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions. But first, before the agents get paid, they must do these three things: get the best price with no needless expenses and no risk.
If you are willing to treat our sellers right – the way they want to be treated – we will treat you right. We will support the sellers plus you. We will help you to get the highest price for the sellers. If we can all put our egos aside, you can discover ways to get much better prices for sellers without wasting a cent of their money on frivolous costs.
Most sellers are not stupid. Sure, some might be naïve, but once they are given the right information, they soon grasp what’s really going on.
Ironically – and, indeed, often comically – many sellers have read the Jenman articles and books, but the agents haven’t read such material. So, some sellers literally know more than some agents. We will give you material and ideas so that you can give sellers what they need – an agent who gets them the best price without needless costs and risks.
And notice something else that we have not mentioned – your fee. Sellers are not really after a cheap fee. Indeed, many sellers know that cheap agents often get cheap prices. They also understand that the truly “cheapest agent” is the one who gets the highest price.
So, if you can genuinely negotiate a higher price than other agents, then, of course, you are entitled to a higher fee than other agents. But only AFTER you prove that you can negotiate the highest possible price for the sellers. Do a great job first and get paid second.
We have a booklet which lists 42 ways that agents can get a higher selling price. We will give you this booklet at no charge or obligation. We will teach you how to use each of the 42 ways to help your sellers.
All we ask is that you genuinely place the sellers’ interests ahead of your own interests.
Our sellers, the people who contact us, many of whom spend a lot of time speaking with myself or others at Jenman Support, are good and decent people. They are also fair. If not, we do not offer them our support. All we ask is that they be treated fairly in return.
If you are the best agent in your area for the sellers in your area, then prove it by saying to the sellers: “We will not charge you unless you get the highest market price and you are happy with our service.”
Isn’t this what the best companies in the world do?
Isn’t this how clients want to be treated – with respect, with honesty and integrity? We are not talking about more than what JFK labelled the “basic rights of consumers” in the early 1960s!
In real estate, people are selling what is usually their biggest financial asset. Surely, they are worthy of the highest level of excellence and service?
If you agree with us and you are ready to offer the sellers of your area the highest and best level of service in your area, we want to hear from you. We have many sellers in many areas right now who are waiting for a good agent.
Instead of us having to call every agent in every area – and get abused by terrible agents – we’d rather appeal to you by saying: We have some very good people with some very good homes to sell. All they want is a good agent. If you are a good agent, contact us. Let’s talk about it.
If you are ready to treat sellers the way the sellers want to be treated, we can make sure you have many more sellers. Listings are your financial lifeblood in real estate. There is nothing better than a good listing, all agents know that to be true.
Well, to a seller, there is nothing better than a good agent.
If you want more and better listings, be a better agent. Do more for sellers than other agents.
So, if you’re a good agent and you’d like to meet some good sellers in your area, please call 1800 1800 18 and our senior agent finder, Michael Kies, will speak with you asap.
Hopefully, you’ll soon be delighting dozens of extra sellers in your area.
If you are prepared to give sellers the treatment and service they expect and deserve, you’ll get a lot more sellers.
Isn’t this how life is supposed to be? We get what we deserve. Treat sellers better and watch what happens to your listings!
Good agents: Please call us today on 1800 1800 18 or email us on [email protected].
Thank you for your time.
******************
To comment on this article, please click here.
To contact us, please click here.
To follow Neil on Twitter, please click here.
To visit our Facebook page, please click here.
To read more Articles, please click here.
******************
