Sellers expect real estate agents to sell their homes. They may be looking for an aggressive salesperson who will close prospective buyer. What they should be looking for is a marketing expert.
The truth is the listing agent will probably never even meet the buyers or talk with them. That's because the buyer has their own agent and in most markets, a buyer's agent will bring the buyer and "sell" the house.
Representing both the buyer and seller raises potential conflicts of interest, further limiting the possibility of the listing agent "selling" the house to a buyer.
So what does the listing agent do? Marketing.
Marketing is what you see on TV when you see a commercial for a car. Special offers like Truck Month or Toyotathon are examples of Marketing. The commercial is not there to sell you a car but to get you to go to the showroom and visit the dealer.
Excellent marketing will bring buyers to the house. This is the same as getting them into the showroom to buy a car.
When I visit with a prospective listing client, this is one of the first items on my agenda, to explain the difference between marketing and sales and then go through all the activities I will do to market their property.
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