A Big Part of "List"ing is Listening

What Paul S said - range of values to open the door for discussion, leave the list price field in the agreement blank for later.  Collaboration makes room for trust to develop :).

Listening is a very valuable skill to have. It is very good to listen to learn about the home and the seller's objectives. They probably already have a listing price range in their mind, and it is important to understand why they think what they think. Then when discussing the CMA, you can discuss in great detail what the market agrees with on their assessment, and where some things may need to be adjusted. Great write up.

What a clever title!  Your approach makes perfect sense. I tour the house first, as well.  I come to the presentation with a price range, rather than a specific price.  I agree that it is difficult to price a house, if you have not seen the interior.  Listening is key, if we are to work well with our clients.

We have an agent in my office that has the same sales pitch for every listing presentation. He basically bullies the seller into listening to his canned pitch and then steps outside for a cigarette while they decide whether to list with him or not. He proudly tells all the new agents this. I wonder why he is wearing cheap suits these days!!!!

Creepy, Ellie!  I wish that two-visit listing appointments were possible all the time, but the fact is that they aren't.  Most sellers are interviewing one or two agents and want to get it done right then.  If you aren't ready, you lose.  Luckily, I do over 1,000 valuations every year, so it's pretty easy for me to make the necessary adjustments on the fly.  The key to success in real estate is being able to listen and converse intelligently.  If you are working off a script and you get thrown a curve ball, you just end up looking less than knowledgeable and professional. 

Great approach, Tanya!  I am sure your sellers know that you are listening thoughtfully!

I seem to do a much better job with the two step approach. It gives the Seller time to prepare some of the checklist items also.

I missed this presentation, and sorry I did.  It definitely makes sense to look at the house and come back with a CMA comparing apples to apples.  It makes the seller's home more personal and not just a number.  And yes, listening is an all important part of the sales process.  I, like you am not salesy, but we are sales people. We just don't need to come across in a typical fashion.

Tanya, I think your observations about Jared James' presentation is spot on.  His presentation was TOP RATE and his argument for a 2 step listing presentation was very logical.  He's obviously had great success with it too if he sold 150 homes in a year!  

Though I agree with some of your commentors, there is a time and place for the one step listing, and one should always be prepared to shift to it if need be (e.g., a "come list me"), the two step is probably more appropriate for my personality style a much higher % of the time! 

When I first heard about the 2-step CMA came from Barbara Todaro. She's helping me revamp my listing appointment. And of course, Broker Bryant taught me that a listing presentation is a listening presentation.

I can see how a 2-step CMA is very much an advantage to an agent. Let's put it this way, it's another opportunity of impressing the potential client.

I will prepare a CMA, listen, listen and listen to the potential client. I like to see the numbers that the seller expects before I give them the true numbers. I will have the range of where the market is and make adjustments to the CMA after viewing the inside of the home. The majority of my listings are the one step presentation. 

We generally do a one step listing and have a CMA prepared with ranges which we will adjust at the table with the sellers after we have previewed the home and are discussing the CMA.  I think it can also be useful at times to take the sellers to look at some of the competition in the price range they want to list at to compare against theirs.

Sue of Robin and Sue

Of course a 2 step might allow you to be more precise if you're not sure, but if you know a particular market very well it is entirely possible to do a great job on a one-step. There are times when a two step is a crutch for the agent who wants the chance to come back and dazzle with a "customized presentation", which can be nothing more than a regurgitation of what the seller said on the first visit.

Hello: I think a two-part listing process is great for traditional sales, but not necessarily for short sales or other distressed properties/clients.

I do love a two part listing process.  It allows you to really understand the client's needs and what they must do to get their house sold.  However, sometimes client's won't allow you that luxury. No matter which approach you take, you have to LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN.  Great post!

Tanya,

If we really want to know what the client is looking for we have to listen first and after that start formulating a plan on how to help him fulfill his needs. This goes for selling a home as well as applying for a mortgage.

I don't really consider myself salesy either, but I must confess I do show up with a CMA already done.  I usually have asked a client a lot of information over the phone, and I find a lot of the time the client does already have an idea of the price.  I will say, I have had a couple of times, where after walking through the house, I have straight out told the people that their house is not at like I thought and gone back and done a new CMA.  I never put a listing price on my CMA, so it does give me the flexiblity to come up with a number on the spot.  Interesting to think about though.  Thanks for the post.

You make some great points Tanya.  Hope you find continued success in your second year.

Hi Everyone! I love the dialogue back and forth and Tanya, GREAT TITLE! I am glad many of you enjoyed the Webinar and hope that you join us on our next where we are going to be discussing the role the database plays in your business and what your database should be able to do for you. You can sign up for email updates at www.jaredjamestoday.com if you want to hear about additional Webinars I do on a regular basis. Keep the conversation going! Have a great weekend!

Tanya,

I agree with Bryant. I do the CMA based on SF, location, style etc. and adjust when I get there; up OR down.