New Real Estate Agents – How to Make Your Listing Presentation Different From Everyone Else’s

When I started in real estate, one of the first things I was taught was to create a listing package. Into this package went all of the bells and whistles I could find to persuade a seller to hire me.

My first listing presentations were a compendium of things I would do for the prospects…all the ways I was going to market their house and all the ways my company provided an edge. I had practiced my presentation in front of the mirror, in front of my broker, in front of my class at the office, so I was ready.

And my first listing presentation went exactly as I hoped it would. I was polished, professional, and profound.

And STILL the listing went to the other gal…the one with years of experience.

I had the temerity to ask Mr. and Mrs. Seller what the other agent had said or done differently than me, so I could learn to be better next time.

Sure, they said. She basically had the same things in her listing package as I had in mine. But she asked them if they’d rather have someone with many years of experience working on their transaction or someone new in the business.

Well, how do I compete with that? Well, now it’s been years and I’m the one with the experience. And here’s my advice to you if you’re working on your first listing appointments.

Listing Appointment Advice to Newer Agents

  • First, fake it ’til you make it. There are a lot of home sellers out there who know a lot less than you about selling a house. They aren’t always going to be interviewing a bunch of high-powered agents. You have a chance. You never know. So be polished, professional, and profound.
  • Second, ask a lot of consultative questions to find out what’s important to the sellers, before you ever start presenting anything to them. Don’t be afraid to talk about their past experience with real estate agents. Don’t be afraid to talk about their objections. Sellers will be more likely to hire you when they feel listened to and heard.
  • Third, practice closing. You can’t get hired if you don’t ask them to hire you. This is not something you practice in front of a mirror alone. You can start there, but you have to practice this with a live person who challenges you with real emotions.

Sales Presentation Tips

Presentation is everything, so make your products look as attractive as possible. Whether you’re promoting the item via the web, a catalog or a brochure, invest in good photography. It encourages an emotional response. Also pay close attention to the copy. If something about a product is unique, make sure you describe how. And if you want repeat business, differentiate yourself from the competition by offering something your competitors don’t, be it personalized service or exclusive products. If your in outside sales then be presentable. Spend a few dollars and have a polo shirt embroidered with your company logo. Don’t go on sales call with your dirty work clothes. You reflect your company and customers will see quality if you and your material look the part.

Six steps to a quality presentation

1. Make the presentation relevant to your prospect. Have a guide for your presentation but make each presentation unique to the client you are working with. You need to make a personal connection with each prospect. If you use a generic presentation for all customers how do you expect to make a personal connection?

2. Create a connection between your product/service and the prospect. If possible make a sample that is specific to what the customer has indicated they are looking for. You can also buy an AutoCAD program that you can create customer sample layouts for landscaping, architecture and so on.

3. Get to the point. Don’t be like some of the franchises that send a sales rep out and spends an hour selling you on the company. At the end of the hour you haven’t heard anything about the product. Be direct and respect your customer’s time.

4. Be animated. You really want to stand out from the crowd, make sure you demonstrate enthusiasm and energy throughout your presentation.

5. Use a physical demonstration. Depending on your business bring samples, pictures, or take your prospective customer to completed job so they can see the quality first hand.

6. Lastly, believe in your product/service. Without a doubt, this is the most critical component of any presentation. When you discuss solutions, do you become more animated and energetic? After all, if you can’t get excited about your product, how can you expect your customer to become motivated enough to buy?

Preparing to Craft a Concise Presentation

A local organization has asked you to send a representative to speak on a particular topic. Although you have received these requests before, you always sent one particular person to fulfill this role. However, that person no longer works for the company. Although you have known replacing them needed to happen sooner rather than later, you can no longer put off its importance. Grooming your next executive to craft a concise presentation is important to the organization’s bottom line. How do you begin?

If you had time to do it yourself, you would. But you don’t. However, sending a group of managers to a workshop on presentation skills is an option. A professional development company that specializes in executive presence and presentation skills can teach your managers how to craft a concise presentation while critiquing their particular skills of public speaking. The most effective presentations include these important components:

1. Clear Purpose and Objectives
The purpose must be clearly understood before anyone can craft a concise presentation. What message will the audience understand when they leave? What are the important points to consider? What is the best way to organize the material to deliver a clear, concise message?

2. Awareness of Audience
What type of people will hear this message? College students, seasoned executives or stay-at-home mothers? Who will hear the message is just as important as what is said. You certainly want to make sure your style of language fits the listeners you will address. In addition, to craft a concise presentation, you want to make sure the audience can follow the content of the message. Are you addressing a group of scholars or first-year college students? Who you address will also determine the language you use for the presentation.

3. Time Efficient
How much time you have to deliver the presentation will impact its content and organization. In addition to the considering the time needed to deliver the content, there should be time left over for questions and answers at the end. Planning how you will use the time allotted is important. It will impact the presentation’s effectiveness. So be mindful as you craft a concise presentation not to spend too much time on one point and more time on less important ones.

4. Visual Aids
Adding illustrations or other visual components to the presentation can also increase its impact and effectiveness. Considering the explosion of visual material found on Facebook, YouTube and other Internet sites, your presentation could benefit greatly by choosing powerful illustrations. In fact, to craft a concise presentation, visual aids could cut down on the time needed to explain difficult concepts or allow you to quickly introduce new ideas.

These are just a few considerations to ponder while preparing to address an audience. To craft a concise presentation requires a time commitment to study, research and prepare. Understanding the purpose of the meeting, the audience, the time allowed and whether or not to use visual aids are just a few points of reflection. There are more items to discuss and presentation skills training will help strengthen your leaders’ abilities to deliver presentations that are superior in a group or one-on-one session.