You’ve heard it said that you must list to last. While that’s not entirely true, having a great listing business and strategy can give you an unfair competitive advantage in any market. Here’s how many of our coaching clients view listings.
Top agents and teams will tell you that each listing you take should generate 1.5 buyer-side closings, and a good listing, from listing to close, should take the agent two to four hours. When you take a listing, multiple agents representing buyers will show and compete to sell your listing.
That’s a beautiful thing.
On the other hand, working with buyers (which can be very rewarding) can possibly take a lot more time. For example, showing properties to one buyer can take anywhere from 10 to 20 hours, and in a hot market, there’s a lot of competition. When you have one buyer and you sell the home, you close one transaction. When you have a listing, you close the listing, plus, with the right marketing and systems, you should close 1.5 buyers, totaling 2.5 total transactions in less than 50 percent of the same time. Whether you work with buyers or sellers, I strongly recommend that you specialize and become an expert.
Finding listings can also be difficult and competitive. Here are several areas you can focus on to generate more listing inventory:
1. Your sphere of influence
2. For-sale-by-owner listings
3. Expired listings
4. Small- to medium-sized builders
5. Divorce attorneys
6. Probate attorneys
7. Geographic farming
8. Door knocking
9. Radio and TV advertising
10. Property value analysis offers, on and offline
11. Open houses
12. Multiple Internet listing lead sources
13. Referrals from past clients
Each of these listing sources has one thing in common: they require prospecting and effort on your part as the agent. What separates the high-volume listers and the agents who only list a few properties a year is not a special knowledge or some secret sauce; it’s hard work and determination.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing superstar top agent Judie Crockett, who lists and sells over 400 houses a year, during a recent RISMedia Agent Webinar where we shared several of her listing systems. Like most of my coaches, she is a giver and a true professional. When asked if she would be willing to share her listing presentation or pre-listing checklist, she said, “Absolutely! I am happy to share everything, because I have learned that people will copy everything except my hard work.”
“You have to be different; you can’t show up like every other agent and think you are going to win. For me, video is my unfair competitive advantage,” says Workman Success Systems Coach Bob Sokoler, who listed and sold over 359 homes in 2015.
The bottom line is that you must have a system. No matter how busy you are, you must spend time every day prospecting. The activities you do today will be your listings 30, 60 and 90 days from now. For details on how to list more properties and build an award-winning team, visit www.workmansuccesssystems.com and sign up for a free business consult.
Verl Workman is the founder and CEO of Workman Success Systems.
