The makeover2 takeover contest is
officially over and now
the three teams left, sweat it out until Inman News Conference.
The
last
assignment was for both the apprentice and mentors.
The assignment was to convince
the judges, what it was about us that establishes value to
your clients.
What differentiates
us from the masses of other agents in our market, what
qualifies us
to earn the trust, respect and support of our clients?
To say
I’ve been spent last week, musing on this is an
understatement. Heck I’m still thinking about it.
What distinguishes you from
the rest of agents in your market area?
Many of you have looked at the video’s from Jeannette,
Midori,
Desiree,
Brian,
and Kim,
and all I can say it personally I thought they
were all unique and
different. We also had to write a one page Word document
on
that topic and submit it. Here is part of the document that I
submitted, I
won’t blog the whole thing because it is too long and you
would not read it
all. (tee hee)
One question
that is frequently asked is, “How
are you going to get my home sold?”
I
explain the difference in what I do and what the “typical”
Realtor in Ann Arbor
does. (This is your Unique Selling Proposition)
1)
Pricing their
property correctly is
the most important thing I do. I spend about 6 hours on
each CMA. I am able to tell
them the market
conditions in their area, their specific neighborhood, their school
district and
the absorption rate. I don’t want to list their home; I am
committed to selling
it. I explain that to help them sell, I will interpret for them what
the market
data has shown. Yes, they have access to ALL the listings but they
don't have the knowledge to interprete them in most cases.
2)
I go into great
detail about my Search
Ann Arbor Houses search site. It is a pay per click
site. Very few
Realtors in Ann
Arbor
do this and it makes me different. Their eyes pop open when I explain
what I
spend to bring buyers to them. There are times I open up the site and
actually
show them all the buyer leads. I let them know that each prospect
(6000) in my
data base will get a notification when their home hits the market. I
explain
how my 6 buyer agents follow up the people who register on one of my
sites,
calling them back within the hour.
3)
I have them
look at Google
and find
the back links to a listing that I am currently marketing.
They see a home in
their neighborhood, with links to my 3 blogs, 4 websites, national
web-sites,
(Trulia, Zillow, Keller Williams, Harmon Homes, Homes.com, Oodle,
Google Base,
Yahoo Real Estate, PropSmart, LiveDeal, Hotpads, YouTube, V-flyer, Real
Estate
Shows.)
4)
I give them a
quick run down on Search
Engine Optimization and how it
works and why I have a good position on Google. I explain I do this to
push
their home into as many portals that a consumer might be searching on.
5)
I give them a list of references to call. I say,
“Here call these past
clients, and let them tell you if I did what I said I would
do.” “Ask
them anything you want to”. In 2007, 63%
of my business was referred from past clients, or repeat business. 37%
was from
buyers and sellers who found me on-line through my blogs or web-sites.
6)
I sign an Unconditional Listing
Guarantee in front of
them, so they know they
can fire me at anytime.
Rarely is the
question asked of me, “Will you
negotiate your commission?”
Occasionally, it is.
Here is how I
answer, “No, I
do not negotiate my
commission. But, I don’t blame you for
asking.” (big smile on my face) If they pursue it
further, I will go
back to the services I provide. If I was not confident in what I do vs.
what my
competitors are doing, then I would waffle. I am respectful of every
business
model and give them the freedom to work in whichever model they feel
will best
serve their needs.
At
this point in my career, I have only lost one listing
based on the commission and the sellers ended up doing it themselves by
hiring
a Fee for Service Company. We ended
up writing an offer, negotiated directly with the seller and closing
the home.
Declaring
Your Value
I have found
that value, is a relative term, depending on
the sellers needs. What are they looking for? What is valuable to them? Is it technology, is it a
team concept, is it
a time factor, is it your years in the business? It could be anyone of
those
things and more. Listening to them, answering their questions
determines if
we
bring Value to them.
What
distinguishes you from the rest of agents in your market area?
I would love to hear how and if
you declare your value, in the comments below.
;)
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You are lucky if all of your sellers understand the internet..spelling google and yahoo is still a challenge for some folks. We are listing lots of seniors these days and many don't begin to understand the internet. It IS true that blonds have more fun...very becoming !