Buffini & Company Blog

3 Steps to Turn Your Sellers into Lasting Clients

Win the market with our Do It N.O.W. campaign. This turn-key, marketing campaign will help you find and secure listings for the changing 2024 real estate market. Avoid the chaos and serve the listing every time. Outperform the competition and build long-term business.

It’s happened to all of us at one time or another—you go on a listening presentation and really hit it out of the park. You nailed the presentation and really hit it off with the seller. You think you have this one in the bag and then it happens—they list with someone else.

It happened to me early in my career. A seller contacted me and invited me to view their home. We had a friendly phone conversation and I was excited to see the property in person. Since this house was just like the one I had sold around the corner, I knew I could sell it. The owner gave me a tour of the home and I focused on all of the outstanding features. Next, I gave my CMA presentation. He said he needed a few days to think it over. I thought for sure the seller would choose me to list his home.

A week later, I drove by the house and was surprised and disappointed to see another agent’s “for sale” sign on the lawn of the listing I thought was a sure thing. I wondered, Did I do something wrong? What could I have done differently? At the end of the day, if I had been more skilled in my approach and presentation, it would have been my sign on the seller’s lawn.

The situation taught me a lesson and helped me focus on the most profitable skills an agent can have—the skills of listing and marketing a property. See, when you’ve mastered this skill, you not only get more listings, you also begin the process of creating clients for life. When you masterfully sell a client’s home, they’ll not rely on you to sell their homes in the future; they’ll refer you to their family and friends as well.

Step 1: A Well- Executed Approach. Your approach sets the stage for your working relationship with the seller. It’s when you ask pertinent questions and evaluate your seller’s needs. It’s also when you listen to your clients and observe body language and other non-verbal clues. A lot of frustration can be avoided if we take the time to truly listen to everything a person is saying and not saying.

Listening to your sellers also helps you pinpoint how you can serve them. It’ll also allow you measure the seller’s motivation to sell their home. If they’re not really motivated, it’ll be hard to make the sale.

Step 2: A Solid Presentation. During your presentation, your goal is to connect with your seller by offering a compelling plan to market and price their home. The number one question sellers have is: What are you going to do to get my home sold? Make sure to use the Complete Home Marketing Plan that Brian and I developed several years ago, and tailor it to each presentation you make.

When a home is priced right, its chances of it selling quickly improve. Save the pricing part of your presentation for last, or else your client will only be thinking about the price the entire time.

Remember, the sellers are assessing you—from the first phone conversation to your listing presentation. Be respectful and professional, actively listen when they’re speaking and be on time. These little things not only leave a great impression, the also show you care and are the right agent for them.

Step 3: Manage Expectations. I’ve discovered over the years that the root cause of all conflict is the violation of expectation. If your sellers expect one thing and you deliver something else, you get conflict. And if this happens several times throughout the transaction, you’ll have an angry seller on your hands! During your presentation, make sure you manage their expectations—of the selling process, of your role as the listing agent and of others who are involved in the transaction. Sure, the neighbor’s house may have sold in two days, but that may have been a decade ago when the market was red-hot. Patiently explain the process during the presentation, and when you get the listing, throughout the process as well. Reminding them of what’s normal and expected will help keep conflict at bay.

If you want more great tips to help you work with your sellers, be sure to sign up for MarTech Trends, a one-day event where we delve into the latest marketing and technology trends that you’ll want to adopt in your business. We’re heading to Boston in June and my hometown, Chicago, in July. Register now to reserve your spot!

Joe

One Reply to “3 Steps to Turn Your Sellers into Lasting Clients”

    WordPress › Error

    There has been a critical error on this website.

    Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.