By Craig Proctor
RISMEDIA, March 13, 2008–Most of you will have a few listing presentations that don’t have a clear outcome, even after you’ve presented all your services and explained exactly how the seller will benefit. This happens to every agent at one time or another. No matter how compelling your presentation is; no matter how clearly you lay out the over-and-above benefits a prospect would receive by dealing with you, there is always a small percentage of prospects who waffle a little – afraid to make a decision.
How to Turn Indecision into Action
Maybe you’re neck-and-neck with another agent in your prospect’s mind. Maybe they’re just indecisive period. Whatever the reason, there is a way to deal with this indecisiveness and achieve a resolution in your favor.
At the very back of your listing presentation, you should have a page that you turn to only if you feel you need to. Let’s call this your “Cancellation Guarantee.” Obviously, if a listing presentation goes well, and the prospect happily lists with you, you don’t need to use the Cancellation Guarantee.
Plan B
However, if the seller is interviewing other agents and does not seem convinced to take the chance with you, you can pull out your Cancellation Guarantee as a sort of “Plan B.”
Here’s how it works. If the prospect is afraid to take the risk, you offer to remove the risk by showing them that they simply can’t go wrong with hiring you because they can cancel their listing with you at anytime if they’re not happy.
Tell them that by choosing you they can’t make a mistake because they can reverse their decision at anytime. However, if they list with one of the other agents they interview and are not happy, they may be stuck for months. As you know, and as your prospects know, listing contracts are designed to lock sellers in for a specified period of time (usually several months in length.) It’s a contract the agent can exit at any time (by ceasing to actively market a prospects’ property), but by which the seller is legally bound. If the agent they hire is not doing an effective job, the consequences for the seller can be dire.
Specifically, here’s a role-play scenario showing what you should say to prospects when you feel the need to use this guarantee:
“Mr. Smith, obviously you’re not interviewing agents because you think it’s fun or because you have nothing better to do with your time. You’re doing this because you don’t want to make a mistake.”
At this point, you might make reference to an industry statistic that three quarters of clients do not re-use their previous agent. Explain the importance of this statistic in this way:
“Mr. Smith, the reason this number is so high is because all agents will PROMISE to do a good job for their clients, but it’s rare that an agent will GUARANTEE this. As a result, it’s quite possible that an agent could win a listing based on a great sales pitch, but then not follow through to do a great job in selling that listing. Understanding this possibility, you would have to agree that this piece of paper (i.e. the Cancellation Guarantee) is very, very important because it GUARANTEES you that I cannot simply woo you with a great sales pitch, but rather that I MUST do a good job for you every single day. As you can see, what I’ve done by giving you this guarantee is to switch the risk from you to me. This piece of paper allows you to take a chance on me without really having to take a chance at all. Because if I don’t do what I promise, you can simply cancel our contract. Mr. Smith, did other agents offer you a cancellation guarantee?” to which these prospects will answer “no.”
You’ll find that explaining the guarantee in this manner convinces most of these less certain prospects to sign a listing with you.
If you’re doing a good job marketing your listings, you won’t have to enact this guarantee very often, but it can be a highly effective tool to nudge certain prospects into listing with you.
If you would like to find out more about drafting and using a Cancellation Guarantee, visit http://www.hypertracker.com/go/cp/a03a080312/ where you can learn about my 3-day SuperConference where I explain the program in detail.
Billion Dollar Agent Craig Proctor has been in the top 10 for RE/MAX Worldwide for 15 years and is the only real estate trainer who actually does what he teaches. Craig consistently sells over 500 homes per year to earn almost $4 million in commission. Over 25,000 agents nationwide use Craig’s system to make more money in less time.
To receive free training from Craig with no obligation, visit: http://www.hypertracker.com/go/cp/a03b080312/.
This Free Training includes free weekly teleconference training calls with Craig and some of his most successful agents where they discuss the cutting edge strategies they’re using right now, in this market, and explain how they work. You’ll also receive a free weekly email newsletter that reveals the tested and proven marketing strategies that continue to make Craig one of North America’s top agents. By taking advantage of this free training, you’ll also get advanced notice of Craig’s free half day seminars that will provide you with the tools you’ll need to start implementing these ideas immediately. These seminars are held year round in cities across the country. To receive free training from Craig with no obligation, visit: http://www.hypertracker.com/go/cp/a03b080312
