Earn Your Commission, Learn to SELL the attributes and dreams!

Earn Your Commission, Learn to SELL the attributes and dreams!

I like this challenge on finding gems to add value to a property.

This has been a pet peeve of mine for years, agents who are too lazy, uneducated, or unskilled to do their jobs and actually SELL the property.

Many are merely order takers and tour guides.  Comparing all the three bedrooms homes in town and putting a price on it that they think will make it sell quickly with little effort.

The only selling involved is in getting the seller to take a lower price or putting thousands of dollars worth of improvements into the home so they can collect a commission on these things too.

Then when the buyer shows up, an agent who knows nothing about the property who is often a glorified tour guide makes little effort to actually sell anything, just gives lots of tours. 

If the listing agent showed up with a few buyers, found out what makes the buyer tick and showed the attributes, they would not have to rely on being the lowest priced home in town, they would be increasing the actual value for the home.

My story

When I first started investing in Forestland, I would buy an undersold property for a good price, improve the wildlife habitat and timber with a well-planned timber sale, then resell the property for a price that reflected both a good Forest Manager and a good Salesman.

Not only did I make a few bucks on the timber sale but with a good plan we created a winter and summer deer magnet with just the right food and cover for year round wildlife splendor.

I first met Ed when I was ready to sell a few of my properties, and brought him out, he told me what he thought he could sell them for and how he had a database of potential buyers that he could show the property to.

I did not like the price that he was expecting the property to sell for, I put a lot of work into this property and I knew that I could sell it for much more.

So I suggested that if he brought a buyer up, I would do the selling and get at least 50% more, possibly double.

We signed a listing agreement, for double the price that Ed thought it was worth, I am sure he thought that I would fail and then reduce the price, but he was wrong.

On the first property, a husband and wife, their son and two grandsons came up from Milwaukee.  After visiting for a few minutes we headed out to the woods for the tour.

I approached them as I do with all of our clients, I asked lots of questions and watched their reactions, what did they like in a woods, why were they buying it, what was their vision for the property.

The whole time we were walking, I was probing for what made them tick, and gradually leading them to the places on this property where the things they liked were located, where the deer trails were, where the food plots were located, where the aspen sprouts were located for winter feeding, and more.

I also pointed out how and where on the property they could locate that dream cabin, where they could set up the deer stand for optimum results, where the grandkids could swim in the pond, and so many more visions of splendor that I could help them to nurture.

I also took lots of pictures of the grandchildren enjoying our walk, along with some of the other attributes that I could tell they were impressed with.

At the end of the day, I knew they were ready to buy, and price no longer mattered, they were in love and when you are in love, who cares what it will cost.

But just in case, I wrote up a thank you letter, outlining the attributes and the fun we had on our walk, sprinkling in a few photos of the grandkids and all the cool stuff they saw.  I also included a copy of the forest and wildlife management plans for the property.

The letter many have been over kill, since they stopped my Ed’s office on the way back to Milwaukee and wrote out a cash offer for full price with a closing in two weeks.

And right after the purchase, guess who got a contract to manage this property?

I followed this formula for numerous properties and after the second one also sold for double what Ed thought they were worth, to the first prospect that I showed them to, Ed said, name your price, do your thing and I will send you the buyers.

I tried to teach this method to Ed, who is a very good agent, but he never quite got the hang of knowing what would strike someone’s fancy and how to really Sell it.

But I think that both Ed and I learned a lesson, in that price really does not matter that much if you can successfully sell the attributes. 

I have been telling agents for years that they should be spending less time going to minimum licensing classes and driving around with marginal buyers and spend more time with folks like Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Tom Hopkins, Verl Workman and many more superstars.

Learn to sell, don’t just be an order taking clerk, that’s how you EARN your commission.

Unfortunately there will always be order takers, and they will often undercut the good salespeople.  Personally, I will pay a higher commission, if the agent really SELLS me, because I suspect that he will do the same for the buyers.