In my listing presentations, I often ask if they're interviewing other agents. It's just a curiosity for me. It won't really change my presentation, but it often gets the sellers in a talkative mood, and breaks the ice.
In one case, many years ago, the seller told me "yes, we're interviewing the number one agent in our village", and then mentioned her name.
The interesting part was that I didn't know her name... in fact, I'd never even heard of her. Apparently my facial expression gave away my thoughts, and the seller asked if I knew her. I admitted that I was not familiar with her. I really didn't want to disparage the other agent, but I was truly surprised. I know who the major players are in our area, and this woman wasn't even on my radar.
When I returned to my office, I investigated this woman. I found her right away. She was, indeed, an agent in the area, but she was brand-spankin'-new, and hadn't sold her first property yet. So apparently she went in to the listing presentation with a bunch of false bravado, figuring she could bluff her way into a listing.
When I got the listing, I did ask why they decided to hire me, vs. "the number one agent in the village"? The seller replied: "Oh, she was number one, all right... Number-one-pushy-agent!".
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