I was talking with Margaret Rome a little while ago, and we were discussing how Active Rain helps us in our listing presentations. With the addition of groups, and Features, and our blogs we have at our disposal a very effective and powerful sales tool. I have been showing off my Home Page on which my customers see that I am ranked #1 in St. Cloud and #2 in Osceola County in Florida. I am very proud of this page. I keep it with my handwritten letters from happy customers which every client sees. Yes, 5 out of 6 of my clients will write a letter to impress the Broker/Owner of my company. A nice reminder of why he puts up with me! But seriously folks, using my page as a reference in addition to the recent sales I have achieved, has made getting listings a snap.
As an ice breaker I used the technique outlined in ARE YOU?. In this last presentation, I stopped by with seeds in hand to thak the owner for the lovely showing I had a month ago. Gee, it just so happened his listing just expired the day before. With seeds in hand and putting the 7 second sales pitch on hold, I gave him the seeds said hope I can help you sometime in the future and left. Two days later the phone rang. Can you come over in 2 hours and talk with me and my wife about selling the house? I said "I have an opening at 8pm will that work for you?" "8:00pm it is."
The test.
My home seller has been down this road before. Unsuccessfully. He gave me a limited amount of time to prepare his presentation (about 4 hours) and a previous appointment in front of him. Will I be late? What can I scrap together and how will I present? The presentation kit is already prepared. On my way back I stopped at his house, photographed it and put together a V-flyer show casing his home along with the comps I ran at the time we booked the appointment.
Arriving with cookies in hand, Will It Be YOU or ME? I promptly made my way to the kitchen table-where I am able to lay down my brag book.The first page has the Active Rain profile on it. Attached to it is the recent sales postcard mailer that went out a week ago. He was very impressed. Armed with the stats and comps we discussed his home as he stared down clutching the color the flyer I had drafted for his house. His wife loved the verbage. At the end of the discussion he said how impressed he was. I asked "So, did I pass the test?" He smirked slyly as his wife glanced over at him and said "Test? What test?" I jumped in.. "He gave me 4 hours to prepare a convincing arguement of why I am the best at what I do and why". "Really?" she said. He nodded and said "you not only passed-you exceeded my expectation" Good! The areas you need to sign are already highlighted, I will pick it up tomorrow at 2pm. how is that for a close!
Lesson here is that Active Rain does instill consumer confidence. I did not have to pitch him once. I could instead keep him focused on the market conditions and what we would need to do to sell his house. How improved photos would be an added benefit, and how a little staging can create a sense of warmth and want for buyers. The price and value to the buyer is what will in the end sell the home. The stats did impress him-Thanks AR.
I never thought about using the AR page before, but why not? I think it's a great idea.