Good morning and welcome to Mike Ferry TV. It is the week of August 24. I think … well, I hope by now that all of us recognize the critically important role we play today in Real Estate, which is that of a strong Listing Agent.

You know, there’s no question, there’s always going to be a big group of agents that are driving Buyers around and showing property, but that’s a very tedious, time consuming, and, in many cases, a very frustrating part of our business, which is working with Buyers in an inventory shortage market that we’re experiencing today. So, if you’re driving Buyers around, you’re probably running into this kind of a situation. You know, it’s a Monday afternoon and you’ve selected three or four to show and then you hope by the time the Buyer shows up at 1:00 that all three or four are still on the market.

And then you take them to those three or four and they’re probably not going to be the type of property the Buyer really wants to have, but the choices are very limited because of the shortage and they pretty much have to take what is available. So they select one and they write an offer with you at 5:00 and you call the Listing Agent and you’re one of 7 … 9 … 12 … 15 … 5 offers … and yours is not accepted, and then you have to call the Buyer back and express that problem, and then you’re going to start over 2 days later, and you go through the same routine and you’re showing three or four homes again and it’s not up to the standard, but they choose to write an offer and they’re one of 7 or 8 offers, and this time you get them to go a little over list price to help them understand. Your offer’s still not accepted, but now the challenge … and you now have too many days invested in this Buyer … and do you let them go, because they’re going to buy? They’re motivated … they’re qualified, pre-approved. Do you let them go, or do you continue working with them?

See, this hook of working with Buyers is very lucrative. However, in this type of market we are involved in today is probably not the best use of your time if your goal is to become a more productive and profitable agent, which, of course, has to be done through listing property. And we know that the competition for listings is much stronger than the competition working with Buyers. We know that. You know that. A small percentage of all the agents in your community list property.

The problem is those agents that are listing property are pretty darn good agents. Are you competent enough to be competitive? Or take the path of least resistance and put the Buyer in the car and go through that very frustrating time, which is what happens most of the time. And I hear this from Brokers every day. Every day I’m getting Broker saying to me, “You got to convince my agents that they have to list property.

And, of course, I smile and say, “I am willing to try to convince them to list property if you’ll get all the agents engaged in the Mike Ferry training and coaching. If they all attend the Superstar Retreat coming up in September, you’re going to understand the value of listing property because we’re going to have in the room a huge crowd at our retreat of 50 people because that’s all the city will allow us to do at our retreat … and those 50 agents are all great Listing Agents, and we’re going to be talking to them during the retreat.”

But is it really my job to help you understand listing property? Is it really your Broker’s job? Or is it you making a commitment to bettering the quality of the business that you’re involved in. Listing property allows you to have a predictable, duplicatable business. Showing property does not allow that. Predictable meaning that if you follow a script, use the presentation, you can predict the outcome probably 75% of the time. Duplicatable … we know that Sellers have a certain need of what they have to have done to get their property sold and to move on … and you can fill that need by following the presentation that we offer you.

But the listing of property is a decision you have to make internally. It’s not an external decision. Yeah, your Broker, your Manager, Mike Ferry, your coach, if you have one, is all going to keep saying, “List property. List property,” but it really comes down to you making a decision because, see, the challenge is very simple. The skills for working with a Buyer are here, the skills for working with a Seller are here, and these skills are much more defined, much more difficult to learn, understand and use, but they pay so much better. I mean really, let’s be honest, I mean, how much skill does it take to find a house and open the door? But walking on a listing where you’re competing with two or three other good, qualified agents like yourself, you got to be good at what you have to do.

So I’m going to review with you again … the very simple process that we have been teaching for over 45 years … the same process I used 50 years ago as an agent in Huntington Beach, California. The process works, why? Because it’s duplicatable and predictable and it gets the Seller what they want and allows the agent to take the listings that you’re looking for also.

So, step one in our 5 step process … prequalify 100% of the people, 100% of the time. No exceptions under any circumstance before you go out. And, of course, you’re going to say, “Why do I have to prequalify?”

First … it determines if they’re serious or not. Second, it gives you their concerns and objections I had of the presentation. Third, it demonstrates your professionalism because professionals always prequalify … the doctor, the lawyer, etc. And fourth, it gives you information to carry into the presentation so you can converse with them a little more easily. Prequalifying is the name of the game to start every listing process.

But then, step two in our listing process … mail or deliver … now, sometimes you’re going to be going ahead and emailing it because of the social distancing and the fact that you’re making a virtual presentation, I understand that … you’re probably better off having it delivered or dropped in the mail … a strong non-ego Pre-Listing Package, which should include any and all of the following … a list of personal references, a list of names and phone numbers that they can call and check on the quality of your service. It should include your plan of action. What is the sales plan you have that you’re going to follow to get the property sold? What are the steps you take? What are the different means of marketing to get Buyers in to see that home? That’s your plan of action. A copy of your track record or the company’s track record if you have a track record that is meaningful. A completed CMA with suggested list price. A completed net sheet showing them what it’s going to cost to sell and what they’re going to get if they list at your price. A completed contract, where all they have to do is sign where you put the yellow or red checkmarks. Your disclosure statements, which they have to review, if you put all that in a package and don’t put in 45 pictures of yourself. They have information in their hands that they have to go through and digest before they can list the property. If you go through all that on a listing presentation, you’ll be there 30 to 40 … 45 minutes. If you give it to them in advance, you can be in the house for 15 minutes and have a higher percentage of contracts signed.

The third step is call back to confirm your appointment and that they’ve received the Pre-Listing Package and read the package. Make sure that all the decision makers are going to be there … critically important. But at the same time, when you call back, that’s when some more objections come up because they’re going to say things like, “I can’t believe you suggested this price and you haven’t seen our home yet.” Question … how do you respond?

“Thank you for bringing that up, Mr. and Mrs. Seller. I’m excited about the opportunity and you’re right, I haven’t seen the home, and that price may adjust when I see it, but if we really have a pricing issue, why don’t we address it the moment I walk in the door? And then if we can agree on a price, we’re not wasting each other’s time. How does that sound?”

“Okay.”

“Hey, we notice that you up on that net sheet this thing of 6% commission.”

“Correct. That’s what we charge.”

“Well the other agent said they would charge 5 or 4 or whatever they charge. Can you charge less?”

“You know what? Once we discuss the price and get that settled, why don’t we then just immediately talk about the commission? Let me show you what I’m going to do to get it sold to see if it’s worth the commission that I want. How does that sound?”

“Okay.” You see, you’re handling a lot of problems before the problems can take place in the presentation.

Then I said letter D … or the fourth part of our process … show up physically, mentally and emotionally. Be prepared because it’s show time. This is your chance to perform. Remember, you’re competing against other good people. You better put on a good performance.

But then, of course, step five is the most important. Follow the scripts. Take the scripts we offer. Print them out. Walk into the home with the Seller and say to the Seller, “I’ve written down a whole series of important questions and thoughts that need to be answered. Do you mind if I read through them now?” and they go, “Okay,” and you just have your script in front of you just like I just did showing you the five steps.

Folks, professionals come in prepared, amateurs do not. Professionals practice their presentations so they can deliver it in a meaningful manner, amateurs do not. Why do agents not list property, and why do they show property instead? Because nothing we’ve just discussed is important. In today’s market, listings, more than ever, are the name of the game and are what going to make you a great agent.

Thanks for participating this week, and we’ll see you now … the 1st of September. It’s right around the corner. See you next week. Thank you.

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Mike Ferry is the global leader in real estate coaching and training. Watch Mike each week as he discusses a variety of topics to help real estate agents and brokers. Grow your real estate business by improving your mindset, developing your skills and creating a plan of action to increase your production!