HOW REAL ESTATE AGENTS CAN WIN MORE LISTINGS
by Neil Jenman
Reading time: Apx 6 mins
PLEASE NOTE: Although this article is directed at real estate agents, every home seller can benefit from reading it. Why? Because it will help sellers recognise the best agents.
Nothing is more important to real estate agents than good listings. A good listing is a sure sale.
To attract home sellers, today’s agents have one ubiquitous method: Self-promotion. They call it “profile”.
It goes like this:
“Hey agents, here’s how you succeed. Get your name out there. As well as your name, push your face. Make a rock star of yourself. Put your photo on bus shelters, backs of buses, billboards, leaflets and, of course, advertising (at the sellers’ expense) to promote yourself.”
To quote one real estate trainer: “Go back to your existing listings that you’ve got and get more marketing dollars from them! Why? Because you’re going to use those listings to get more listings.”
Stop it, agents. Stop doing what most agents are doing.
GREAT ADVICE FOR AGENTS.
Here, in one sentence is career-changing advice for agents.
INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON WHAT’S BEST FOR YOU,
FOCUS ON WHAT’S BEST FOR THE CLIENTS.
Don’t just say it – as most agents do. Prove it and show that you mean it, as most agents can’t and don’t. As Teddy Roosevelt once said, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
SIX POWERFUL WAYS THAT AGENTS
CAN DO WHAT’S BEST FOR HOME SELLERS.
PUT YOURSELF SECOND
Yes, at times – many times, perhaps – putting the interests of clients first means putting your own interests second.
Sadly, many people, especially the elderly or disadvantaged, feel forced to sell their homes. Showing them how to keep their homes for a few more years can bring joy to their lives. They will thank you like you’ve never been thanked before.
The feeling you’ll get from doing the right thing is a delight no money can ever match.
When you show that the well-being of homeowners is more important than your commission, word of your goodness will spread faster than any billboard. When the most frequently-used words about you are: “You are not like the other agents,” that’s when you’ll be on your way to many more listings in your area.
ONLY CHARGE FOR SUCCESS
Do not charge sellers in advance of giving them the service and the results they seek. As an agent, you known darned well that you often have the best buyers waiting for new listings.
You also know that the major reason for advertising is to promote the agent and find new leads for the agent. Advertising is not about promoting houses; it’s about promoting agents.
Nowhere else in the world do agents charge sellers in advance for marketing costs. Australia (and increasingly NZ) is the only country to slug sellers with this unethical practice. In all other countries, all costs are included in the commission which is only payable once a property sells.
There is no reason you can’t do the same.
You should never create a situation where you profit from the losses of your clients – which is exactly what happens to thousands of Australia’s sellers.
If your boss – or your franchisor – makes it compulsory to charge all sellers thousands of dollars for marketing costs, defy them.
Or quit.
Find an honest and more sensible agency. But do not use the excuse that you are “just following orders”. An immoral order does not need to be obeyed. Show some character and refuse to act unethically by charging home sellers for marketing costs before their homes are sold.
Don’t fool yourself into believing the nonsense that premium ads are essential. Genuine buyers are resourceful. They use ‘filters’ to find homes. A basic ad is all that’s ever needed.
Study marketing and you’ll soon discover that spending thousands of dollars advertising a single house is not only unethical (when charged to clients), it’s unnecessary.
There are 195 countries in the world. Give Australia’s sellers the same benefits that apply in the other 194 countries: Do not charge sellers anything until their homes are sold.
REJECT PUBLIC AUCTION
If you know anything about negotiation you know that homes are under-sold at public auction. Any agent who tells sellers that public auction is the best way to sell is either incompetent or dishonest.
As an agent you know that the primary reason for pushing auctions is because auctions condition sellers down in price.
Align your goals with those of your sellers. Make it your mission to do what you are paid to do – sell homes for the best price. And if you want to do that, you must reject public auction.
If you must use the word auction, make it a silent auction.
Do the right thing. Have nothing to do with public auction.
OFFER A GENUINE SERVICE GUARANTEE
One of the worst things that happens to sellers when they deal with 99 per cent of agents is being locked-in to harsh contracts. The industry calls them “controlled listings”.
No matter how agents behave, no matter how unhappy sellers become with an agent, there is nothing the sellers can do. They are locked in. Totally controlled.
Do not treat your clients this way. If they are not happy with your service, give them the right to sack you without penalty.
Okay sure, one or two sellers may do the wrong thing. But remember that, as an agent, you are a member of the least trusted profession. Imagine the impression upon sellers when you offer to trust them rather than ask them to trust you.
Let me repeat: Offering a genuine service guarantee will totally change your real estate career – for the better. You will win many listings when you tell sellers: “When you list with me, you are not tied up to a locked-in contract.”
OPEN WEEKENDS AND AFTER HOURS
It’s incredible. When home-buyers are most available – weekends and after-hours – most agents are closed.
One of the golden rules of selling is: “Make it easy for your customers”.
If you want to have a day off, take Tuesday off. If you want to work less hours, start at noon on weekdays.
If there are a dozen agents in your area and you are the only agent open after-hours and weekends, you will attract virtually every buyer in your area.
Look at the opportunity: Your competitors close at 5pm daily and on Sundays. That’s when buyers like to inspect homes.
Show the sellers that you are the only agent open weekends and after hours. The sellers will respond by listing their homes with you.
BE THE MAVERICK
Be proud to be the maverick. Do what other agents don’t do – walk your talk.
But beware, you will not be popular with other agents. They will despise you for offering superior service.
But remember this: You are not in business to please your competitors. You are in business to please your clients.
And if you become the maverick agent in your area and please your clients more than any other agent, then it will naturally follow: You will win more listings than other agents.
Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted to do?
When I began my real estate career, I promised myself that I would do two things: I would work hard and always do what’s best for my clients.
I opened my real estate office in a February. There were 34 offices in my area. By December, my office was the leading sales office.
Believe it, agents: Nothing gives you more listings than placing the interests of clients ahead of your own interests.
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