INTRODUCTION
The book which you are about to read could be called an instruction manual in salesmanship. There has never been anything like it made available in written form. It is based on the simple premise that a TRAINED salesperson will, over the long run, be more successful in the Real Estate business than an UN-TRAINED sales person. If you agree with that premise, please read on...........
Teaching the Art of Selling
What I am going to accomplish in this book is to show each and every one who reads it, how to get ONE OR TWO MORE DEALS EACH YEAR, which I know (from my own experience) slip away from every agent because he or she did not do all the things TRAINED SALESPEOPLE do when they "GO TO WORK." This book is about how to be a "SALESPERSON," not just an agent. I’m going to discuss how you can develop a style of conversation which you can incorporate into your sales presentations which will allow you to uncover objections, and put forth remedies to those objections, in a manner in which you will have your prospects agreeing with you and seeing things your way. And at the end of your sale presentation your prospects will agree that you are the only logical choice to list their property and any further discussions with anyone else would be a waste of their valuable time. This is the art of selling, and it takes practice. So, when you finish reading this book remember, you will have to practice and rehearse your presentations so that you feel comfortable with the new material.
WHAT to Do WHEN You Get the Appointment
All Real Estate people have heard of what you must do to get listings. Usually what is taught is that you must "cold call," "door knock," "farm," "join community groups," etc., etc. My information here is not HOW to get the "Listing Appointment," because that is a whole other story. I’m going to talk about WHAT to do WHEN you get the "Listing Appointment." They are hard to get, aren’t they? Well, why not have the equipment within you to be sure that you will give the best "Listing" presentation known to mankind? Why not know that when you go in for your listing presentation that you are going to be leaving with the signatures?
So, within this guidebook I am going to show you ways of presenting your case to your prospects in a prepared and organized manner which will enable you to be sure that when you have finished your presentation, you have done your job. And when, after you have practiced and trained yourselves to do this, you will begin to see your "listing appointments," turn into actual "listings." And this means more money, AND less time wasted. I am sure you will agree with that statement.
Think about this: If you go into a listing presentation with a prepared plan of how you are going to make this presentation, and how you are going to respond to each of the objections that you know your prospects are going to use to avoid signing your listing contract, wouldn’t you say that you would have an advantage over your competitors? And you will certainly have an advantage over your prospects. I mean, how many times do people sell their homes? You make sales presentations by the dozens. It’s not cheating to have an advantage, you know. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s called: GOOD BUSINESS.
Make a List and Bring It With You
When you go in for that listing presentation, is there really anyone you can think of who would do a better job marketing that property than you???? There really isn’t, is there? So, go in assuming that you are going to get the listing. Make yourself believe that it is to their advantage to have you as their listing agent. It doesn’t matter what reasons you have on your list. One could be that you are the best looking Realtor in town, or that you have the nicest car around, or that you are just a good person. It doesn’t matter what the reasons are, just have a list of about ten and while you are giving your presentation, and make sure you interject each attribute into the conversation and get them to agree with you that that is a good feature and would benefit them. Later I’ll explain how important this list will be.
THE 7:00 A.M. SATURDAY APPOINTMENT
In this particular case, I don’t believe his wife was sick at all. I believe that he had planned the whole thing so that he would not have to make a decision then and there and, in fact, I had been snookered. I had walked into a "One Legger" presentation which would have been impossible to close and was an example of TRAP # 1, of what I call FOUR TRAPS TO GUARANTEED FAILURE. Later, I will explain the other 3 and show you how to be on guard for them and how you can gracefully avoid them, thereby saving yourselves the disaster of failure before you begin your presentation.
Listing presentations should be prepared and given in stages, or what I refer to as "MODULES." Each module has certain elements, and each element should be discussed before going into the next module. This is the method successful sales people use to continue being successful at their trade. If you stick with the module technique in the presentation, you are able to control the pace and direction of the presentation AND obtain certain necessary agreements (closes) from the prospects as you are heading towards getting the signatures. Does that make some sense?? So, in the listing presentation, the first stage, or module, of the sales presentation is:
Time and Place
Of course, your meeting place must always be at the home of your prospects. For example, sometimes you will have an individual who will state that he "conducts all business at the office." Don’t fall into this trap, because it is TRAP # 2, and is a guarantee for failure. First of all, if you acquiesce to his request for a meeting at his office, the wife probably won’t be there and that is his chance to avoid signing your listing and it is certain death for your presentation. If you meet at "HIS" office, you have lost any chance of gaining control. Can you see the scenario? He is sitting at HIS desk and you are there in a chair, probably lower than his, and you are speaking into his power camp. There might be a telephone ringing right at the point of your close. You are in a subservient position!! You don’t have a chance for a close if he has a mind to put you off. AND, ...... how can you give an estimate on the value of the home if you don’t get a chance to look it over, inside and out? If it’s a rental property, you still must meet at their home. Do anything and everything you can think of to avoid meeting at the prospect’s office.
As illustrated earlier, .... it’s important to present your offer in person. So, ...... you must make every effort possible to arrange to present the offer in person. As amazed as I have been over the years at sales people who open up their listing presentations with the statement that they "will do it for such and such amount," I am doubly amazed at sales agents who work so long and so hard to get an offer written, and then feel okay about fa