How To Be A Listing Presentation Star

We’re blogging live from the CENTURY 21 Global Conference in New Orleans! The learning session agenda for this weekend is incredible and kicking it off was Raylene Lewis of CENTURY 21 Beal in College Station, TX (home of Texas A&M University), giving her tips on how to become a listing presentation star.

Raylene began with a bold statement, “Giving a listing presentation is like a performance of a one act play starring you – the missing ingredient.” How do you ensure this performance gets a standing ovation from the seller? Find out below!

Raylene Lewis’ Tips For Becoming A Listing Presentation Star

Take Off Your Shoes

Raylene had the entire session audience in stiches when she said, “Take off your shoes before you go into the house. I’m not kidding! There are two kinds of people in this world  – shoes in the house people and no shoes in the house people. You don’t want to risk that these sellers are no shoes people. That could lose you the list right there.” Noted! Raylene went on to advise, “Make sure your socks match your pants!”

Watch For Body Language

While you’re giving the presentation, watch the sellers’ body language and visual cues. Are they smiling? Are they nodding? Are they crossing their arms? Notice their behavior and modify yours accordingly.

Take Notes

Make the sellers feel like the center of attention by asking thoughtful questions about the home and taking copious notes. This shows the sellers you are taking this appointment seriously.

Establish Yourself As An Expert

While touring the home with the sellers point out specific characteristics of the home. As a best practice in your real estate career, study up on the most popular kitchen appliance brands, bathroom fixture brands and their costs so you can make educated comments on style, quality and price. Don’t talk about your personal sales statistics; show that you know the product.

Build A Relationship

As you move through the house take notice of the sellers’ personal belongings – a doll collection, deer heads mounted on the wall, racing photos – and ask about them. Show genuine interest in their personal interests to begin building a sincere relationship.

Talk About Other People

When it comes time to talk about objections, always make it about other people. For example you can say, “While I love your orange shag carpet, other people may not.”

Follow An Inspector For A Week

Raylene advised taking a week and following an inspector around as he explores homes. She ensured the audience, “After a week of following these guys, you’ll know immediately what issues routinely come up and you’ll be better prepared to spot those during listing presentations and gently point them out to the sellers.”

Explain Your Marketing Strategy

“I tell sellers there are three ways a buyer chooses a house: 1) On a national level by using the internet, 2) At a local level by finding an agent, or 3) On a personal level, by driving around and looking at homes. I then tell them, my marketing and advertising reaches people all three of those ways,” Raylene said with confidence.  She went on to say, “I tell the seller my marketing uses the maximum number of images available, I use clear and concise visual tours and you can check on all of this using Century 21’s Golden Ruler.” Great use of the tools, Raylene!

Give The Seller Control Of The Lock Box

During the listing presentation Raylene tells the sellers they will have complete control of the lock box and they will receive and email each time the lock box is activated. Raylene shared, “You would be surprised how many sellers are afraid of lock boxes and just having people pop in unannounced. Giving them the ability to leave it outside on the porch or take it inside while they take a shower makes them feel immediately better.”

Decide On Price

Raylene told the audience she starts every conversation about price the same way, “Seller, I want you to know that I don’t determine the sales price of your home, you do.” She goes on to say, “Other agents may try to buy your listing, but this is a huge disservice to you because this typically results in price reductions, longer days on market and ultimately, a headache for you.”  Raylene brings three kinds of documents with her to the presentation to support the price conversation: a print out of the search criteria for the home (example: 2 bedroom, 1 bath, with parking), a residential CMA spreadsheet and a detailed view of 8 similar houses. Raylene highlights the important variables so the sellers can easily digest this information.

Ask For The Business

After talking through everything listed above, Raylene told the group, “I ask for the business and I get their signature right then and there.”

Send Thank You Notes

Raylene let the audience in on one of her customer service secrets, “After each listing appointment I send a hand written, snail mail thank you card to the sellers for having me and I also send a gift card to the person who referred me to them to say thank you and to let them know I got the listing.” Raylene went on to make a great point, “Those people who made the referral are clearly people who talk and I want them to keep talking about me!”

Give Your Business Cards To Everyone

Raylene closed the presentation by saying that she relies on referrals and to ensure that they keep coming in, she gives her business cars out to everyone. She admitted, “I make sure when I take my kids to their activities, all those parents know I am a realtor!”

There you have it ladies and gentleman! Do you have tips to add to the list?

Continue this conversation with Raylene on her website, Facebook page or on Twitter, @RayleneLewis.

Be sure you are following the CENTURY 21 Facebook page and Twitter account, @CENTURY21, for live updates during the Global Conference. The official hashtag for the conference is #C21GC.