Every top salesperson has an effective strategy and can create successful and positive outcomes for themselves. Most agents, however, don’t have a strategy, and therefore don’t know how to approach and convert a new buyer or seller client into an appointment—or, effective positive outcomes while they are “waiting” for the customer to tell them what to do next.  Having a strategy before every appointment, prospecting call or open house needs to be part of your agent’s action plan to create business for themselves.
As their sales manager or broker, it is your responsibility to increase their sales skills and abilities to help them overcome objections and close more opportunities into listings, sales and income for both them and your office. Follow these easy-to-adopt and -implement tips to help your agents create better value that will truly help them close more appointments. These proven strategies will have them filling their calendar with listing, showing and negotiation appointments—and, even better, they will be thanking you, their manager, for teaching them how to compete at a higher level and dramatically increase their conversion rates and income.
Strategy 1: Hold weekly training and coaching sessions in your office.
If you haven’t held a sales skills-related training event in your office, I highly suggest you schedule one within the next week. Invite specific agents that you want to be there that would benefit from learning better communication, negotiations and strategy skills to help them attract more clients and actually close more leads into income. Any experience level should be included, as some of the most experienced agents don’t know how to add value and be effective with a strategy to close. New agents should be required to attend a session on how to communicate their value better to close more business to get appointments. Ask them what challenges they have and objections they are having a difficult time overcoming, and make those your talking points, so you are going to address their very specific needs. Sharpening the saw will help.
Strategy 2: Hold a workshop to train and coach on listing and buyer presentations.
Your agents may know that your company offers a really beautifully designed marketing brochure for them to use on a listing or buyer appointment, but do they truly know how to communicate the value of the programs and benefits that make a difference to the seller’s or buyer’s experience? Additionally, so many agents have not updated their presentations in a long time (a really long time!) and they don’t have necessary marketing tools in their marketing proposals, including online social media marketing and advertising available to help sell the home. Most agents don’t offer a buyer anything of value in terms of a buyer presentation. Help them by showing them how to create more value to the customer with information on the entire home-buying process, from mortgage and pre-approval to home search, the contract, title, escrow process, home inspectors, moving checklists, and more. You will be helping them communicate their value proposition to a new buyer through better printed or digital materials that will differentiate them from your competition and get them hired. The agent that communicates the most value gets hired…every time.
Strategy 3: Create a follow-up strategy for converting leads.
Help your agents create follow-up systems for converting leads that are not immediately ready to list or buy. Through your CRM (or theirs), show them how to create an effective 90-day email drip campaign that includes 12-15 emails, each offering a different value to the buyer or seller lead. These campaigns are easy to create the content and give to your agents so they can have a system to follow up with every lead strategically. Using my exclusive GoldMine Pipeline™ Strategy, you can help your agents create predictable, consistent monthly income. For a free copy of my Exclusive GoldMine Pipeline™ Strategy, click here.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 20 years of experience in real estate, Johnson offers coaching, consulting and keynotes, and is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour and the Official Real Estate Coach for McKissock Learning and Real Estate Express. Sign up for a free 30-minute coaching strategy session or visit www.sherrijohnson.com for more information.
