Property ManagementThe Ultimate Pre-listing Package
You just set a good appointment to list a home with a motivated seller. You
are excited and pumped up because you have an opportunity to meet face to face
with a prospect. To give you the edge, agents need to develop effective
pre-listing packages. Some people call these pre-sale packages. They are both
the same items. The pre-listing package gives you an opportunity to sell the
prospect before you ever walk in the door. It shows the prospect you are
organized and professional.
The pre-sale package is similar to your stockbroker sending you a prospectus
on a stock in which you are considering investing. The prospectus tells you
about the track record for the stock, the trends, overall market information
and the proposed future return.
The pre-listing package can either be hand-delivered or mailed out if you
have enough lead time before the appointment. Here are some ideas of what you
might enclose in your pre-listing package.
Testimonials from 4 to 5 clients. If you have enough, try to customize
for the specific seller. If you have an appointment with an expired, having
letters from other expired clients will place you as being a successful problem
solver.
Charts and graphs about the importance of pricing and the correlation to
selling and market time. This has to be a strong straightforward section, easy
for the seller to understand and effective.
Series of questions to ask other agents. I always sent this to knock
out at least half of the other interviewees. I obviously knew the answers, but
most of my competition had no idea.
Your resume of sales or a list of all properties you have sold. You want
to include training in the field and formal education. You should also include
awards you have earned. Limit this to one page. Any longer and it will appear
overdone.
Include a copy of your marketing plan. This copy will enable you to
avoid the subject during the listing presentation. Most agents spend too much
time discussing marketing and not enough time discussing price. Price is the
most important issue to be discussed on a listing presentation. 80% of the
marketing happens when you set the price. If you don"t get the home priced
right, you are wasting precious time.
You might include a section on staging your home and the preparation a
seller must do to help you get the home sold.
Many agents use pre-sale videos also. There are some that have been
created that are effective. You can also develop one of your own. I used one
we created for five years in my career. It was very effective in focusing the
clients on price and what my team was going to do to sell their home. It was
another tool that enabled me to reduce the discussions on marketing and get
back to price.
A Word of Caution:
Many agents create novels when developing a pre-listing package. I don’t
believe our prospects want to read a novel. They want information that will
prepare them for your presentation. They want to learn more about what agents
do and your strategy specifically. They are not trying to be the expert-- that
is why you are there.
My goal was to give myself an advantage over my competition going in.
Convey information to my prospects to reduce the time I personally had to
invest on the appointment. Begin to prepare them for the price discussion that
would take place at the appointment. Those should be your goals too.
Creating a compact hard-hitting pre-list package will help increase your
batting average on listing appointments. It will also decrease the length of
time on the appointment. Your clients will see your commitment to them and
your business. Start putting together the components that will begin to sell
you and your service before you even walk in the door.
Also See:
Prelisting Packages Provide The Edge
Create an Unforgettable Feature Sheet