It’s so tempting to approach potential clients as though they are ready and eager to launch their property into the marketplace, because that’s where your mind is working. But your clients may not be anywhere near that stage in their own minds. Slowing down and starting with where your client is right now may feel like a strategy that will put you way behind the curve, but it actually puts you in a position of working ahead.
Start thinking in terms of providing value first and invoice second. The dialogue you use with clients is critical to preparing them to go to market eventually—not right away, but when the client and the property are truly ready. This means that for all of your calls—open for inspection call-backs, just sold call-backs, just listed and just sold calls to past market appraisals, past market appraisal follow-up calls, and past client calls—you need to know exactly what your goal is for that contact.
For any contact with a client your goal is to first progress the client toward setting an appointment with you, and then to finally set the appointment. Most agents go straight for the appointment without finding out what the customer actually needs or wants from the sale of their property. You will have much greater success in the long run if you start by asking the kinds of questions that will encourage your clients to reveal themselves and their situations. With that information you will know exactly which next steps to guide them through.
Some of the best questions you can use include:
How have things progressed?
This allows the customer to tell you about themselves and their exact situation.
What are the next steps for you?
This will tell you how realistic their expectations are, and is a good place to refer them to any other professionals they may need to work with.
How can I help?
Your client’s response to this will tell you their comfort level with the process so far.
This is also the point at which the client may suggest a delay in the process. They may be unsure or not feel ready to move forward. What you say next in this pivotal moment will move the process forward or set it back. A subtle and effective answer would be to simply say, “That’s fine,” then add, “But—Quick question: If I had a buyer right now, could I mention your place or should I sell them something else?”
This is an extremely powerful statement to shake your client out of their fear mode, generate excitement, and nudge them into thinking of possibilities.
If the client says, “Sure, you can mention our place,” this is your opening to make that appointment and initiate momentum. You may not sign a listing agency agreement on the first appointment, but you are beginning a progressive dialogue with the client. From here you can learn how to properly bring them to market.
Putting pressure on yourself and your clients to hurry up and list their properties right away will result in more losses than conversions. This is where you need to slow down and begin to think in terms of listing ahead of the curve and getting listings for the future. This is how your business will achieve real growth.
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.
Great notes provided got a lot from them even before watching video
Heard this script before but repetition of great information and dialogue is the key to making it usable and effective