It doesn’t take long for clients to notice an agent who isn’t completely prepared.
It works the same way when an agent is clearly prepared.
Let’s talk about two separate realtors. We’ll call one Andrew and the other Matt.
It Starts with Communication
The First thing is how they communicate with their clients or their leads.
- Andrew understands at the beginning of your relationship with your client, it is the most important to be in constant communication and always available.
When the listing is new, being in contact and talking to the owner once a day is a must. They may want to tweak something about the listing.
Having ongoing communications can make a difference in the time frame it is sold at.
- Matt wins the listing and immediately places the home on the MLS. Then the owner gets an update from him 2 or 3 times a week.
- Sometimes Matt will get the listing finalized, and take a short vacation.
Stand Out During Listing Presentations
The difference between these agents is apparent from the first listing presentation.
- Matt sits down with the owner and goes over his plan.
- He’s pretty prepared for the meeting, but it’s the same thing for each owner he meets with.
A smart agent uses visuals rather than just numbers.Matt runs through the usual 5-10 minute presentation and asks them if they want to list with him.
If they say no, he gives them his contact information and says if they change their minds, to contact him.
- Andrew goes into a meeting with a completely different mindset.
- He gives the presentation but it’s filled with numbers about their area and market right now. It was specifically prepared for this lead and their home.
- When Andrew brings up statistics, he makes sure they fit for them but also stand out.
In certain situations, he may have emailed the seller the day before any important stats and information that is going to stand out. Then he’ll focus on the trends in their area.
Boring Pictures Ruin Your Pitch
Andrew’s pictures and videos stand out as well.
- Whether it’s marketing techniques to get their home seen by a bigger audience or staging inside of the house, he has detailed pictures of everything that he offers for them, so they can easily visualize what he is going to do with their home.
Each of these agents offers virtual tours, but only Andrew’s is included in a video in the presentation as well.
He lays out in exciting ways how he’ll advertise their home too.
- Matt’s presentation is just bulleted slides, some numbers and a few quotes from former clients.
- Andrew even has checklists containing each of the steps he’ll take for them.
It showcases aerial pictures of their place and has a pretty layout of the different options they’ll have.
Then after it is done, Andrew asks them a bunch of questions about their hopes, timelines and everything else. They get into a back and forth discussion about it.
He makes it feel like more of a counseling session than an information dump.
When it ends, Andrew gives them a brochure with all his information and a couple of more examples of his successes.
Creating print materials means you cover all of your bases online and offline. This way they can access you and some more information without going online or calling you.
It can make a difference if they are choosing their agent down the road and it is what good agents like Andrew do.
When each of these agents win a listing and put them on the MLS, it is completely different. We already touched on how they choose to communicate over the start of the listing period with the owners.
“Know what your customers want most and what your company does best. Focus on where those two meet”
-Kevin Stirtz
The better you know the person, the easier it is to buy them something meaningful. Andrew knows this and walks them through the process.
Knowing what interests them is key. People do business with people.
Nowhere is that truer than the real estate biz!
You can’t relate a client or lead until you know what values and ideals are important to them. Matt does not think about this.
He’s not organized enough to have a detailed plan. He does some marketing but the plans don’t keep going.
- He even has a total disregard for the importance of good real estate photography. He doesn’t think how it will reflect on the owners.
- Since Matt is mostly depending on the MLS to bring in leads, online appearance is not his biggest priority. Most home buyers will skip right on by a home that does not look appealing online. He can get away with this because a lot of owners don’t even check up that much on their listings.
Matt does not put enough time into writing good descriptions in the MLS display along with their marketing materials.
- Andrew hires a freelancing copywriter to get his descriptions done. They stand out. Just like photography your descriptions are important because they speak to the buyer about all the great features of your home.
An exceptional Realtor takes the time to craft something that will entice a buyer to want to visit your home.
Matt will slap something together and call it a day. The same thing will happen when it comes to the marketing materials that are left in your home for a buyer to take with them. Andrew’s materials are detailed and stick out in people’s minds.
Testimonials Win People Over
Each of these agents stand out in their testimonials as well.
Not only are Andrew’s presented in a much more captivating way, they aren’t just customers talking about their house beings sold, but they dive into the emotional difference that an easy and successful sale made for them and their family.
To go along with that, Matt is slow and seemingly unwilling to provide contact information for his past customers if ever asked.
Our Smart Agent is very willing, knowing the power of his past clients and referrals. He is more than happy to get a future customer in touch with past clients.
When the owner sets up an appointment or a meeting to go over the home and staging techniques, Matt is five minutes late.
When he gets there he needs a refresher on what the house looks like before they go over any staging strategies.
Andrew is clearly ready for the meeting, getting there early and quickly going over the best ways his client can stage his home.
He gives the owner a much better idea and structure for how each showing should be presented.
Don't be Matt.
Matt’s owner’s staging is not consistent every showing because of their meeting.
One of the biggest differences in these realtors is the comfort and the trust that each of the owners has with them in any moves or negotiations that go on.
The owners who work with Andrew can trust him to make any decisions or changes since they’ve been in constant communication and on the same page throughout this whole process.
He’s spent the whole time keeping them updated with each detail or development.
Matt’s clients are left in the dark a lot of the days. So if he does anything without their permission, they have no faith in it. They aren’t even sure if he is being truthful about bids or disclosing all the information.
Don’t be like Matt. Be prepared and professional and grow your relationship with your clients.
Joe Nickelson is a real estate professional dedicated to helping home buyers and sellers achieve their dreams of owning property, and helping real estate agents stop using the sometimes-vicious tactics that weigh on their consciences. He believes that the Smart Agents books will, quite literally, change people’s lives for the better. Check out his full bio here!
