2015 LISTING PRESENTATIONS

Be Like a Financial Advisor, Not a Travel Agent

Many agents still believe they can use the same strategies that have worked for decades in real estate with little change. These agents still believe that servicing a listing means:

1. Taking photos of the home
2. Populating the listing sheet with basic comments
3. Putting the home into MLS and on internet sites
4. Placing a sign in the yard
5. Having a Broker Open doing a little bit of print media
6. Occasionally conducting open houses
7. Sitting back and waiting for buyers to make offers through other agents

 

It’s true these are all very good steps to take to market and sell a listing. Unfortunately for old-style realtors, the basics just aren’t enough anymore. There is too much information available to all buyer and sellers. And, if prospects don’t need an agent to get information, why should they expose themselves to the risk of having to deal with some pushy real estate salesman. One need only look at what happened to the travel industry. It almost doesn’t exist anymore because the information is available online. Ask yourself, when was the last time you used a travel agent?

Consider what access to the internet meant to buyers and sellers during the boom years. Discount brokerages offering reduced commissions became commonplace.  In one sense, The recession has been good to real estate companies. It not only purged the ranks of realtors nationwide, leaving only the strongest of survivors, it also cleansed the market of most companies that were offering heavily discounted commissions.

So, what does the future hold for successful real estate agents?  The answer can be found by looking at the financial industry.  Like the travel industry, vast amounts of information are at the fingertips of every investor. Yet, unlike the travel industry, financial advisors have thrived in the new order of information technology. What has the travel industry done that was different?  Two things:

1. They analyze and interpret the vast amount of information that is available online.
2. They have a deep understanding of their client’s needs and risk appetite and apply that information to their client’s individual needs.

 

If you apply the wealth management approach to your real estate practice you’ll be very successful indeed!  The next time you’re explaining to someone what to do use the following elevator presentation to show how valuable your services are and how different you are from the competition:

“My role as a trusted real estate advisor is to continuously analyze and interpret the vast amount of information that is available about real estate.  Then, I take that information and share it with you so we can develop the best possible strategies based on your personal situation. If you don’t have the best information, you won’t get the best results.”