How to Turn Every Listing Into More Business
Welcome back to Mike Ferry TV. Tony Smith here with you again this week. Happy to fill in for Mike. So, let’s talk this week about a very simple but very important direct thought that Mike has been presenting to us for over 50 years. Think about the simplicity of this thought and then we’ll expand on it a bit. Mike said, if you want to grow your real estate business, it’s really pretty simple. Step one do everything you can possibly do to find a listing. Step two provide great service and get that listing sold. And step three tell everybody about what you did so you can get another listing because of it. Pretty simple. Pretty straightforward.
We’re going to look at step three today. Okay. I think that step three is often overlooked. And I believe it’s often overlooked because when an agent takes a listing, it’s not uncommon for them to get locked into all of the details and all of the minutiae and all of the challenges that they have to overcome to get that listing sold. And they miss some of the important ingredients that Mike’s been trying to get us to look at. So, let’s go through a series of thoughts today about how you can tell everybody what you did to get another listing because of it. All right.
1) When you take a listing from the time, you list it until escrow closes, there are four key instrumental times you can ask for referrals
The first thing I wrote down, when you take a listing from the time, you list it until escrow closes, there are four key instrumental times that you can ask for referrals. Obviously, at the point of listing, when you’re there with that seller getting the listing, isn’t it a great time to go ahead and ask for referrals? How about at the time? Once you get an offer accepted, when you’ve put that transaction together in open escrow, what a golden opportunity to ask for referrals. And then again, when all the contingencies have been removed and it’s basically clear to close, shouldn’t you approach the seller for referrals there and then obviously at the close of escrow. So, if you take advantage of the four key moments to ask for referrals from that seller, okay, you’re going to dig in and you’re going to get those referrals.
2) Talk to a minimum of 25 of the neighbors around that brand new listing
Look at step two. You should talk to a minimum of 25 of the neighbors around that brand new listing. When you list it promoting the listing. And then you should talk to 25 neighbors again around that sale once it closes escrow. Are you having really strong conversations with the neighbors about your listings and about your sales? It’s a great opportunity to expand and get referrals.
3) Ask the seller who is in their center of influence you should be promoting their listing to
Look at three I wrote down. Ask the seller who in their center of influence you should be promoting their listing to. You know, um, Mr. or Mrs. Seller who would you like to have me present your listing to? Do you have anybody in your phone? Do you have any friends or family, uh, neighbors that you would like me to really promote your listing to. It’s a great opportunity to expand and get referrals.
4) Call your own database about the listing and the sale
I put down number four. Call your own database about the listing and the sale. Right. It’s a great time to talk to your database about a brand-new listing that you have. They can help you find a buyer, and then of course, you can promote the sale again to your database. Gives them an opportunity to let them know that you’re busy and productive.
5) Communicate with all of the vendors and get referrals from them
How about five? You have a golden opportunity during this transaction to communicate with all of the vendors and get referrals from them. You know, there’s title and escrow and a lender and a repairman and a painter and a carpet cleaner and the window washer. There’s all of these different vendors within this transaction, and they all get paid because of this transaction. If you really consider the fact when someone is getting paid, isn’t it a perfect opportunity to approach them, thank them, of course, and then ask them for business. Okay. You know, pretty much in every file you encounter some new vendor that you haven’t experienced before. It’s another opportunity to expand your database. Why not get those referrals from all the vendors? It’s a key opportunity.
6) Talk to the top agents in town
Okay. I wrote you should and could talk to the top agents in town, which is part of your plan of action. Okay. If you go out and promote your listing to the top agents in town, it gives you a chance, of course, to promote the listing. It gives you a chance to present the commission structure that you’ve got an agreement from your seller with. It gives you a chance, basically, to expand your business. Right. It’s really important today that the agents in town come to understand the commissions that you’re getting negotiated for them. Great opportunity to expand.
7) Put a sold sign up
How about this one? Put a sold sign up. You know many agents over the last several years have forgotten about sold signs. You know, for a long time, a sale really didn’t mean much. The public thought everything sells, right? Well, that’s a little different in most parts of the world. Today, a sold is a little more interesting to the public. So if I’m listed ten streets over and I drive by your house that’s listed, and I see a sold sign, I think I want that agent. My house isn’t selling. How did they sell theirs? Put sold signs up. It definitely expands your opportunity to get another listing.
8) Call all the Expireds and for sale by owners in the immediate area about the sale
How about call all the Expireds and for sale by owners in the immediate area about the sale? Okay, you could go through and pull the Expireds. Pull the fsbos around that property. Once it’s sold, call them, announce the sale and ask them for their business. It’s another angle to get into the Expireds in the fsbos. I put this one. Of course. We think about adopting the buyer at the close of escrow. You close escrow. You can adopt that buyer into your own database. It’s another opportunity to expand your database and ask for referrals.
9) Have a lot of for sale signs in the area
How about this? Uh, Mike has always told us that one of the most effective, most affordable, and most consistent ways to market yourself, to create that brand that you’re looking for, is to have a lot of for sale signs in the area. So, if you can put that for sale, sign up. If it’s in a location where you could put a for sale sign in the front yard, and if there’s exposure in the backyard, you put a sign back there. If you chose to have an open house, you put signs up around the neighborhood. That kind of marketing creates great exposure.
So, think about it. If you really do follow Mike’s advice and you take a listing, you do everything to get it sold. And then if you were to go through all of these action steps to promote the listing and ask for referrals, you can get another listing because of it. Would you like to make this business simpler? Listen to Mike. He’s got the answers for you.
All right, something else I want to announce. Here we are. We are in September. We’ve got incredible events. Ron Cronin down in San Diego putting on an action workshop this month. The incredible Larry Kozak putting on an action workshop in Toronto, Canada. Mike Ferry is all teed up to do a Finish Strong event in Boca Raton, Florida in October. And of course, we’ve got the Production Retreat, one of our Keystone marquee events in Orange County in January 2026. Go to our website, go to the events calendar, get yourself booked, get yourself registered so you can get more exposure to the incredible ideas of the Mike Ferry organization. Thanks for your time.
Action Workshop Toronto Sept 16-19
Action Workshop San Diego Sept 23-26
