You’re a good agent. You work hard, know the inventory and your neighborhood, and best of all, you’ve been successful representing sellers in your neighborhood. You  go on a listing presentation and you discover you are competing with two other agents for the listings. You’re relieved to find out that the other agents being interviewed aren’t your arch-adversaries. Rather, they’re agents that have done next to nothing during the past year or so. You give your presentation, circle back to the sellers only to find they’ve decided to list with the person they know that has sold nothing! You wonder how they could be so foolish and take such a risk.

Odds are you’re not alone in your frustration. The scenario above occurs all the time in almost every market. The above outcome shouldn’t really be that surprising. Most successful agents are impressed with the knowledge and experience they bring to the table, and can easily overlook the pitch being made by an agent that isn’t nearly as successful. The impression they are giving in their presentation can be neutralizing most of the reasons you are giving as to why the seller should be doing business with you. You see, you can be sharing a fantastic resume but if you’re not documenting your success, it means nothing. “If it isn’t in writing it doesn’t exist,” is the critical rule that must always be followed. But, this doesn’t just apply to the success you’ve had, it can also apply to the perceived success another agent has. For example, comments made by a competing agent can lead a seller to believe that the agent has had great success in the neighborhood. Most sellers don’t know the right questions to ask, and can become enchanted with the rhetoric of an agent with little success. Remember, perception is reality.

You can insure that a false impression isn’t being left by another agent by either documenting their performance, or by documenting your success and then encouraging the sellers to ask other agents under consideration to do the same thing. You can also use the following script outline examples as a way of explaining how risky it is for the seller to retain the services of an agent that has had little success, or at least, a lot less success that you have. Find the industry they can relate to and ask the following:

• Would you hire an attorney to represent you on an important issues that has never won a case?
• Would you retain the services of a financial advisor that has never made their clients any money?
• Would you send your kids to a college that wasn’t accredited?
• Would you hire a chef to cater an important event that had never catered one before?

 

Then remind your selling prospects, that their real estate is one of the most important assets they have. And, as such, it’s critical they retain the services of an agent that has a proven track record?  Finally, remember that you can prove you’re the best choice by more than just documenting your production in sales. You can also use Testimonials from other Sellers that have retained your services. You can even focus on your listing conversion rate, or your list to sale price ratio, or even days on market to document success. The key is it must be in writing and you must anticipate what your competition is going to say and be certain to overcome misconception that can be left by competing agents with slippery tongues!