“My mother always said life was like a box of chocolates…. you never know what you’re gonna get”.
That classic quote from Forrest Gump can be applied to real estate: once you get a listing you can never guarantee what you’re going to get: hopefully a sale and income, sometimes nothing.
But what if you can boost your chances of getting that strawberry cream, Turkish delight or hazelnut swirl that you want – that is boost your chances of getting a sale and in a good timeframe – rather than just hoping for the best.
As principal you can do this by making sure you’ve got systems in place for your team to turn over the stock and minimize days on the market, after all every day that a property is on the market not only costs the seller, it costs the agency as well.
How?
Put it on paper
Have a 90-day action plan for the agent that they can share with the seller that will:
- Make sure that they are doing something every single day to get the property sold,
- Show the vendor that they are working hard on their behalf,
- Keep everyone informed of progress on the listing, including yourself
Some of the things to include are:
- When the photos, marketing etc. will be done
- VIP openings, Launch Parties, Homes opens/by Private appointments
- When the property will go online/be advertised to the wider market
- If the property has not sold by a particular time frame, what sales strategy will then be used (change up policy)
- When they will have the chat about price
Educate the vendor
Vendor management is essential. The vendor needs to know how it all works and what it all means so that they understand your agent and agency are working in their best interest. They might not like a lot of what you’re going to be reporting to them, but they do know it’s your job to do that, and it builds trust.
Education includes:
- Telling them about the various sales strategies and that includes creating competitive environments where you try to get buyer competing with buyer, rather than with the seller, and how to deal with early offers so the sellers don’t miss out!
- Marketing and vendor invested advertising
- If your agent has a team, who will do what during the sales process
- Decrypting vendor reports and explaining what the Change Up Policy is about
- Calls to update them after home opens/private appointments (feedback cycle)
- Passing on buyer feedback on price and presentation etc. so they have a realistic view of how the market sees their home
- What will happen when an offer is received and then accepted
Give them the tools
Make things easy for your agent. Your agency should have templates and systems for your agents to use, including:
- BRANDED MARKETING MATERIAL they can adapt for each client
- QUESTIONNAIRES and forms they can use to get personalised information about the property to use in marketing, such as 10 reasons to buy this home
- PROCESSES for conducting a home open and getting people there
- Questionnaires to QUALIFY buyers
- A home open FEEDBACK process that tells them when to call, send reports and follow up
- Vendor REPORTS
- Scripts and dialogues available to help them deal with OBJECTIONS/questions from the vendor regarding SALES STRATEGIES, price changes and feedback from buyers
- Processes to grade their listings so they know where to direct their time.
Back in Forrest Gump’s day, chocolate boxes obviously didn’t have labels telling you what was what. These days they do. Systems and processes are like those labels, making it easier for you and the agents to get the outcome you want. There’s no need to just hope for the best in real estate, come along to my upcoming FREE half-day Real Estate Brilliance webinar and find out how you can to give your team the best opportunity to get a sale, minimize the days on market and maximize the marketing dollars.
