Overkill Kills

This post is not directed toward my respected colleagues who have posted recently on listings they failed to get, or clients they couldn’t convert. Those people are no strangers to rejection but they are also extremely well -acquainted with success. This is for those of you who have made 10 consecutive listing appointments and come up empty or if you’ve not hit a bulls-eye in a dog’s age. So if you are in a dry spell or slump, this is for you.

You have a great presentation. You make a compelling case. Your facts, figures and data are devastatingly convincing. You can’t figure out why you are losing these listings. I’ll tell you why, and I haven’t even been in the field with you, but 10-1 here’s what I’ll see:

1. You talk far too much.
2. You aren’t in touch with the people across the table from you.  

Let’s get back to basics.

• We sell homes. We sell people on hiring us to sell their homes. In sales, we first identify a need, then fill that need. Are you robotically finding out why people are selling and robotically going into your spiel, or are you creating rapport with them and tailoring your discussion around THEIR SPECIFIC reasons for selling? If they are moving to Florida, bring that up several times in the conversation so they know you are on the case. it’s all about getting them to Florida.
• No presentation is compelling without a USP, or unique selling proposition. What makes you different? What sets you apart? Instead of a compelling 45 minute fact marathon, develop a compelling 45 second answer to the question “why should we choose you over the other agents?” Maybe you grew up in this neighborhood. Perhaps you are the best stager ever. You might work the niche that buys their kind of house. Be brief and confident.
• Ask questions. This is about them, not you. Questions take the canned pitch tone away, and they allow people to discuss their favorite subject: themselves. And the more people talk, the more clues they’ll give you as to what matters to them and how you can make that happen.
• Take 2/3 of your presentation and scrap it. People glaze over after 3 consecutive minutes of blather, let alone 30.
• Take a breath. Stop batting out brilliant answers to questions and pause every so often. Repeat a question occasionally so they know you heard it. People don’t want brilliant answers as much as they want to be understood.

Less is more. When your presentation becomes bloated with pre-emptive solutions to objections you may not even get, you have a problem. Simplicity, not complexity, sells. Slow down, listen more, and simplify your case. 30 seconds on what makes you special always trumps 15 minutes of your firm’s accolades. If you do that, don’t be shocked when 5 out of the next ten meetings turns into a listing.