People get into real estate for several reasons. Some want to avoid being held to a schedule.  Most don’t want to be told what to do.  Many say they want to help people.

Most sales jobs, like pharmaceutical sales and investment brokerage, have extensive audition processes and sales training to get and keep their job; the real estate industry only has a laws and definitions course to get a license.  There is no formal sales training or coaching; it’s all voluntary.

The result is that the CREA average is 2-4 homes sold yearly.

There are a few reasons for this.  As mentioned above, one reason is the lack of good quality here’s-where-and-how-to-find-the-business-and-here’s-what-to-say-and-how-to-say-it-when-you-do-find-the-business coaching/training.

Another reason is that many licensees are order takers rather than order makers.  These are Realtors who don’t actively look for business; instead, they wait for it to come to them.  And when they do get potential business, they take the listings overpriced and run their buyers to 50 different houses and submit ridiculously low-ball offers.  A Realtor like this will consider anyone they talk to who owns a home as a potential lead, yet never ask them to set an appointment or list their home with them…then they’re surprised when that person lists and sells with another agent.  They’ll also lose many buyers to other, more assertive and organized Realtors.

Most Realtors aren’t doing the selling; they are being sold to.

Let’s find out who’s doing the selling.  Is it you, the professional salesperson, or is your prospect/client doing the selling on your incoming/outgoing calls, appointments, open houses, showing and listing presentations, offer presentations and negotiations?

Prospects – When making outgoing calls, talking to call-in buyers, or sitting in open houses.

• Do you find yourself answering many questions and justifying your or your company’s track record?
• Do you typically mutually end a conversation with a listing prospect because they said they would wait for the market to get better, re-list with the same agent, or do they already have an agent in mind? (“Oh, ok.  Thank you for your time.  Take care.”)
• Do you mostly talk to dial tones instead of finishing conversations with buyer call-ins because they just wanted the price or said they’re already working with another agent rather than setting an appointment with you?
• Do you run into people who don’t sign in at your open houses, or ask you tons and tons of questions about the house, then tell you they’re already working with an agent?  Or when you call them to follow up, they don’t respond?

Appointments with Sellers

• Do you find your listing presentation mostly answers their questions and handles objections (usually about commission)?
• Do you have many listing appointments that end in “we want to think about it?”
• Do you typically get less than 50% of the listings you go on?  Or are you above 50% because you mostly only take friend and family listings?
• Do you take overpriced listings and cut your commission because that’s the only way the seller will list with you?

Appointments with Buyers

• Are you taking your buyers to what seems like virtually every house on the market in their price range?
• Are you taking buyers to homes above the price range they initially told you they wanted?
• Are your buyers making you take them to homes that don’t fit what they say they wanted…maybe just because they “want to rule it out”?
• Are your buyers making low-ball offers?
• Are you afraid to ask buyers to sign a Buyer Broker Agreement?
• Do you work with buyers who haven’t yet gotten pre-qualified by a local lender?

Negotiations

• Do you let what other agents tell you about their clients and offers/counter offers affect how you present to them?
• Do you let your client do precisely what they want, even though calling the other agent back in 30 seconds, not countering, or telling the other party to go pound sand might hurt the deal?
• These questions are a checklist, if you will, to size up who is doing the selling…you or the other party.  If you answered “yes” to even a quarter of those questions, unfortunately, you’re the one being sold to.

Three Tips On How To Avoid Being Sold To

1.  Always, always, always ask questions.  Asking questions is equivalent to selling.  I would go so far as to say you could consider answering a question with a question.  Regardless, after validating what the other party asked or said, your default response in all interactions should be to ask another question.

Ask questions about what they want to do, how soon they want to do it, and why they want to do it—anything to find out their motivation and how you can best help them.

If you’re answering many questions and not asking a lot of them, the other party controls the conversation and sells you.

2. Know and believe in the stats.  I’m not saying you should spout off statistics every chance you get; however, if a potential seller asks how you/your company is any different from their last agent,  it would be helpful to know that 70% of the listings on the market don’t sell, yet you sell 60% of yours.  Or, it might help to know that your listings sell 30 days faster, on average, than the average listing in the market…or for 3% more money than the average listing sells for (list-to-sale price ratio).

Stats go a long way when, for example, a For Sale By Owner gives you an objection, and you know that no matter what they think, the actual empirical data shows they will a) most likely not sell their home and b) get 15-27% less than if they sold with an agent…if they do sell.

3.  Get, read, learn, practice and memorize scripts and objection handlers.  The average agent only sells about two to four homes a year in a good market because so many get caught off guard.  They wing their prospecting and presentations and don’t know what to say when someone has a question or objection.

Just remember, you’re a professional salesperson.  You’re the one doing the selling…don’t be sold to.

I know there is quite alot to take in with this blog, but if you had the confidence, capability, and willingness to master the art of listening, guiding clients in helping them get what they want, be transformational and not transactional, where would your business be?

I can help you get to where you want to be.