There are a lot of theories on what works and what doesn’t when it comes to listing houses. So I decided to reach out to two of the best listing agents in the country to get their insights as to what really works and what is simply hype when it comes to listing homes in 2015.
I recently hosted super agents Mike Parker and Wayne Turner on an RISMedia webinar. We had almost 1,000 agents spend an hour learning exactly what these mega-agents do to list more than 300 houses a year. As I listened and facilitated during the call, the professionalism and strategies presented blew me away. Both of these gentlemen are true givers.
Every property they market follows a very well thought-out process before, during and after the listing.
Mike Parker says, “You have to really understand not just timing, but their motivation for moving.” Why are they moving? Maybe the clients were transferred to Dallas, but their motivation is to live near family in Dallas. Understanding the core motivation helps you as the listing agent do what’s right for your clients in the time frame they require.
Both Mike and Wayne use a guarantee or easy-exit listing system. Mike takes the biggest fear of being locked into a long-term agreement away with his pledge of an easy exit. This approach puts sellers at ease. If you do your job as an agent, you don’t have to worry about losing the listing.
Wayne uses his proven 90-day guaranteed sale program. If he can’t sell a home in 90 days for an agreed-upon price, he will buy it.
Both of these strategies create what I like to call “an unfair competitive advantage.” As an agent today, you have to set yourself apart from the competition and have something unique, or—even better—unfair.
Mike recently rebuilt his presentation to appeal to different personality types. This is fascinating because he uses statistics and data to appeal to the “C” personality, video testimonials for the “I,” guarantees for the “S,” and hard-hitting figures for the “D.” By thinking through what he wants to accomplish and having portions of his presentation appeal to each personality type, Mike finds that clients warm up. His message resonates with almost everyone.
The bottom line when listing homes: Have a plan, map it out, and think it through. Create an unfair competitive advantage and truly set yourself apart. As Wayne says, when someone asks you the price, or what you are going to charge, oftentimes that is simply their question, not an open invitation to negotiate. So, start matter-of-factly, and just answer the question.
To hear this entire interview and get a copy of Mike’s and Wayne’s full listing plans, visit: www.verlworkman.com/blog. Until then, happy listings.
Verl Workman is the founder and CEO of Workman Success Systems (1-385-282-7112), an international speaking, consulting and coaching company that specializes in performance coaching and building successful power agents and teams. Sign up today for a free business consult with Verl by sending an email to coach@verlworkman.com. To hire Verl to speak at your next event, email events@verlworkman.com.
