Training

Master Your Real Estate Listing Presentation and Negotiation Skills

Apr 2, 2024

Success as a real estate agent often hinges on negotiating effectively and delivering compelling listing presentations.

For real estate agents looking to up their game and stand out in a competitive market, honing these skills is paramount.

Negotiation Skills

Negotiation lies at the heart of every real estate transaction, making it crucial for agents to master this art.

Effective negotiation involves more than just haggling over prices; it requires clear communication, strategic thinking, and building rapport with clients and counterparties alike.

Continuous education and training

Sharpening negotiation skills as begins with a commitment to continuous learning and professional development.

The Real Estate Times Series is shown above. To learn more, Click Here.

Seek out specialized training programs, workshops, and seminars focused specifically on negotiation techniques tailored to the real estate industry. There are several options available through online platforms like Harvard Business School, Udemy, and various organizations nationwide. Or you can find endless YouTube videos, podcasts, and books dedicated to this subject.

Additionally, consider joining professional organizations or networking groups where you can exchange insights and strategies with fellow real estate professionals.

By staying informed about the latest trends and best practices in negotiation, you can enhance your ability to navigate complex transactions and achieve favorable outcomes for your clients.

Practice and role-playing

Like any skill, negotiation requires practice to master. Dedicate time to honing your negotiation skills through role-playing exercises and simulated scenarios.

Practice negotiating various aspects of a real estate transaction, such as price, terms, and contingencies, with colleagues or mentors acting as clients or counterparties.

Role-playing allows you to test different strategies, refine your communication techniques, and build confidence in your ability to negotiate effectively in real-world situations. Embrace feedback and constructive criticism to identify areas for improvement and fine-tune your approach over time.

Understand client needs and market dynamics

Effective negotiation in real estate hinges on a deep understanding of both your client’s objectives and the broader market dynamics at play.

Take the time to listen to your client’s concerns, priorities, and preferences, and tailor your negotiation strategy accordingly.

Conduct thorough research into market trends, comparable properties, and local market conditions to identify opportunities and anticipate potential challenges during negotiations.

By aligning your approach with your client’s goals and leveraging your knowledge of the market, you can negotiate with confidence and achieve the best possible outcomes for your clients.

Listing Presentation Skills

A compelling listing presentation is key to winning clients and securing valuable listings.

Begin by thoroughly researching the property and its neighborhood to understand its unique selling points and market value.

Arrive at the presentation armed with data and insights that demonstrate your expertise and reassure the seller of your ability to represent their property effectively.

Additionally, personalize your approach by considering the seller’s specific needs and motivations. Then, tailor your presentation to address their concerns, and highlight how you can meet their goals.

Show don’t tell

During the presentation, focus on building rapport and trust with the seller. Take the time to actively listen to their needs and preferences, and be prepared to address any questions or concerns they may have.

Present yourself as a knowledgeable and trustworthy advisor who is committed to guiding them through the selling process with confidence.

Utilize visual aids such as market trends, comparative market analyses, and professional marketing materials to support your arguments and showcase your dedication to achieving the best possible outcome for the seller.

Value proposition

Differentiate yourself from the competition by highlighting your unique value proposition and the benefits of working with you as their realtor.

Emphasize your track record of success, your comprehensive marketing strategy, and your proactive approach to communication and negotiation.

Share stories about successes with past clients, including challenging listings and how you overcame them.

By investing time and effort into mastering negotiation and listing presentation skills, you can enhance your value proposition, win more clients, and achieve greater success in the competitive real estate industry.

When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazin

Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct, response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts and engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you. Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 6-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Planner

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 6-Month Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

3. The Free Online Real Estate Business Plan

The Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for the year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closings, and so on are needed to reach your financial goals. – Click Here

4. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

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Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

Educate Your Prospects Before They Become Your Clients

Aug 3, 2020

What if all of your clients knew exactly what to expect during the real estate transaction? Imagine how comfortable they would be, how less likely they will be to freak out over the smallest bump in the road. Taking the time to educate your clients takes this premise and makes it a reality.

Even better is to educate your prospects before they become clients.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways agents across the country are educating prospects in their efforts to create savvy clients.

Educate the masses with virtual webinars

Homebuyer seminars are hardly innovative – agents and lenders have been organizing them for decades. The only necessary change, with the current distancing guidelines, is to turn your seminar into a virtual webinar.

Agent Deb Tomaro spoke about her buyer educational events, “Sure, the events help pull in prospects, but once converted, these people turn into the best kind of clients”.

“They know what to expect, they know the process, so I’m not having to micromanage them,” Tomaro explained. “They are able to keep things in perspective, they understand the big picture, and they know what they’re doing.”

The most important step when considering holding a virtual webinar is to determine your audience. This should be easy if you practice in a real estate niche. If you are a generalist, consider some of these audiences:

*3 Critical Steps* Direct Response Report

First-time homebuyer
Vacation property buyer
Government loan programs featuring low or no down payment
Senior buyers
Immigrant buyers
Mobile home buyers
New home buyers
Veterans
Horse property buyers

The toughest part of the process is the planning, but the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council of the National Association of REALTORS (REBAC) has a handy online pamphlet that walks agents through each step.

Radio still has its place

Less than 1 percent of real estate agents use radio or television, according to Matt Wagner, founder of Radio and Television Experts.

Of the two, radio is by far the preferred medium if you plan on buying advertising or hosting your own real estate show. The main advantage of radio over television is the cost – radio is far less expensive.

For the purposes of educating prospects, you’ll need more than a 30-second spot. The back and forth of a call-in talk show is ideal for educating prospects.

How much will this cost? It depends on the size of the market, the station’s ratings and the time of day you choose. Stations in New York City and Los Angeles charge far more for advertising than those in Grand Forks, N.D., and Casper, Wyo.

Thankfully, real estate talk shows typically occur on weekends, when air time is the least expensive. If you live in a small enough market, and a station is in need of content, you may even end up with free air-time. But that would be the exception, not the rule.

Otherwise, many agents pound the pavement, or the telephone, to drum up sponsors for the shows, in exchange for mentions on the air. Good prospects are title companies, home inspectors and lenders.

Of course, there are ad agencies, radio air-time brokers and others, who will actually do all the groundwork for you, for a fee.

*Mortgage Options* Direct Response Report

Teach through print

Although the final eulogy has yet to be written, newspapers are expected to someday go the way of the Pony Express. Only the largest, according to some forecasters, will survive.

Like real estate, however, print journalism is quite local. While many real estate consumers rely on the Internet for real estate listings and information, in some towns, it’s the local newspaper that is still the go-to source.

Robin Shapiro, broker-owner of Robin Shapiro Realty in the Rockaways, finds great success with her hometown paper, The Wave. Before it was put online “people would actually cross over the bridge to buy it,” she said.

If that sounds like the paper in your town, it may just be the place to offer your services as their real estate advice columnist. Call the editor and make the pitch.

Even if you don’t fancy yourself a writer, you can hire an inexpensive freelance editor to go over your copy before sending it on to the paper.

Blog topics that educate

Blogging helps you educate prospects on a range of real estate issues. It’s a great way to let them know about current market trends so they know what to expect when they decide to enter the market.

Examples of blog topics that help educate include:

Financing — this is such a confusing topic for real estate consumers. Make it easy for them to understand.
Common real estate terms and what they mean – just go through your listing or purchase agreement and you’ll find a plethora of jargon that befuddles most real estate consumers. What’s a contingency? What is “arm’s length?”
Closing – aside from financing, the closing process is probably the most mysterious they’ll encounter. Demystify it by explaining what happens, who will be there and the paperwork they’ll be confronted with.

While there are many ways to educate your clients, why not choose a method that reaches a massive amount of people and combines lead generation with education?

Even if you have to pay for the method, you can bask in the fact that you’re getting two results in one go.

Offer the 4 Home Seller Mistakes Direct Response Report in all of your marketing as an opt-in (including your emails, direct mail, and on your website).

Also, keep a stack available to add to your listing presentations and to give out at open houses.

Need help targeting a specific niche of buyers or sellers? Use our Demographic Search Tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy). Or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are some helpful resources we’ve made available to support your success.

1. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

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The Real Estate Mailing List Guide outlines the top tools for generating targeted prospecting lists including Baby Boomers, Empty Nesters, Investors, Lifestyle Interests, High-Income Renters, Move-Up Markets, and more. The Guide also defines done-for-you marketing campaigns to match these markets. –Click Here

2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

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The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. –Click Here

3. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

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Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan. – Click Here

4. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

5. The Market Dominator

Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically each month to an exclusive carrier route. Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

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Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! –Click Here

7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”

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The “Crush It” Guide includes easy steps to launching an effective direct mail marketing campaign, how to create a targeted prospect list, the perfect way to layout marketing materials for success, seven opportunities available to target in your area right now. –Click Here

Why 90% of Agents Fail

Agent Success

Oct 23, 2017

How You Can Beat the Odds

By Real Estate Speaker and Trainer Todd Robertson

There are many factors that lead to success in this business, and of course, many that can stop an agent in their tracks. This week, I wanted to share some of the biggest factors agents face when trying to dominate in a geographic farm, why 90% of agents fail and what they can do differently than their competitors to come out on top.

1. Fear and Uncertainty. In today’s world, fear is unfortunately an all too common and powerful headline that garners attention thanks to mass media. HOWEVER, in the real world of listing and selling real estate, consumers don’t want fear and they don’t want uncertainty. They want and need an agent who comes from a place of 100% clarity and certainty. They want an agent who is respectful, responsible, competent and CONFIDENT. They need to know that the person handling this big transaction in their life has everything it takes to ensure their best interests are cared for. Be that agent for them by ensuring that you have the right tools, systems, training and marketing plan in place.

2. Money. The old adage is true, it takes money to make money and marketing effectively costs money.
Consistently. And that’s not something everyone is ready, willing, or able to sign on for. However, to brand yourself as the turn to agent in your geographic farm, there’s really no way to get around spending marketing dollars. Fortunately, you can spend smarter by using systems that are designed to capture market share while utilizing budget-saving tools such as Every Door Direct Mail. Our Market Dominator System does just that – and it allows you to send the very largest possible marketing piece acceptable for EDDM – 12×15, and puts you literally in every door in the geo farm of your choice for just $1 each. That’s smart marketing.

3. Impatience. One thing that seems to stop many agents from developing a successful farm is their inability to hang in there for the duration. When they don’t get instant results from their marketing, they give up. I get it. I walked in those shoes as an agent as well. But one and done mailings or marketing is never ever going to result in establishing a dominant position as a competitor. What does that? Consistency. Repetition. Showing up month after month after month. That’s the winning formula.

4. Becoming a “Victim”. You know the drill. The ones who get sucked into the market doom and gloom around the office coffee pot and buy into other agents’ ideas of why your marketing or theirs just “doesn’t work”. Stop. Stay in your own lane in terms of mindset. There will always, always, always be people who want to drag you down, tell you that you can’t accomplish something, or root you in negativity.

It’s up to YOU to stay focused on your WINNING formula of skill building, market-savvy tools and systems, and consistent, repetitive follow up and let others worry about their own track to success.

5. Not Having a Campaign. What’s the old Ben Franklin saying? “Fail to plan and you’re planning to fail?” It’s true. Without a viable marketing campaign plan in place, you have no way to gain traction in a market area. That’s why our Dominator Members commit to sending their 12×15 Market Dominators every month for two years – because they know that’s what it takes to truly own a market. To become THE brand in a geographic farm. They also know that if left to their own devices, most agents would have a tough time consistently researching, creating, and producing a powerful, direct-response marketing piece all on their own every single month. So they work smarter, not harder, and tap into a system like the where it’s all done for them.

6. Bogged Down in Busywork. Top agents know the highest and best use of their time is prospecting, presenting, and closing – not all the minutiae of busy work that can easily, and effectively be delegated to a virtual assistant or admin. It’s easy to be super busy being busy and not making any money. I know, it’s less intimidating to spend a day trying to design your own postcard than it is to pick up the phone and call until you get a listing appointment – but which one will get closer to those goals you just set faster? Delegate. Use systems. Use pre-designed, time-tested tools that are done for you. And yes – pick up the phone!

Give yourself your best shot at developing a geographic farm. Lean into a powerful mindset of certainty and confidence and put a strong campaign that works in place so that you can effectively brand yourself in that farm as the agent to call. If you need help with that, I’m happy to share some additional strategies. Email me (todd.robertson@prospectsplus.com) and let’s talk.

Need help? Contact our marketing team at 866.405.3638. They’re incredibly knowledgeable, and ready to help get your geo farming and all your marketing on track to close out this year stronger than ever!