Ten Mistakes you're Making with your Listings

By Kathleen Black, KBCC

Listing opportunities are absolutely vital for most Real Estate agents, and missing an opportunity can cost us a lot. Many believe that it all begins and ends with the listing. I believe it begins with opportunities and it ends with the experience of those opportunities. The most important part to remember is that anyway you cut it, listings are highly important to all of us in this industry. As we’ve mentioned listing’s are absolutely critical in the Real Estate world, which is why I want to help you sharpen your approach and systems with 10 vital areas, with proven tips, to get you chosen at the closing table. 1. Missed Opportunities We never want to assume anything, we want to offer a process. Mixing up our role with the client's role gets us in the way of our opportunities. Present the options, get out of the way, and let the client decide. We do not make the market, our job is to help clients facilitate the market. 2. Your Ego When people feel good about their interactions with you, they use the information you shared at the listing consultation as the logic to decide to hire you. Feelings come first, logic is what we look for to back up what our hearts have already decided. 3. Asking the Wrong Questions One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen often is that agents will make the process about themselves, and what works for them, rather than the client. This is an important understanding. People buy and sell from a place of confidence. The best look to educate and create confidence first, and enjoy more clients and firm deals as a result. 4. Securing The Appointment What’s always important when you’re speaking to people is that you’re always creating future chains of commitment with people. If you don’t make chains of commitment with people, you end up chasing them. Our “Chain of Commitment” is the practice of using the initial appointment with a client to secure your next. The difference being that our clients are more likely to leave with a sense of direction and as a result more likely to follow our lead. 5. Do You Have A POWERFUL Listing Consultation? A listing consultation is absolutely vital to have a consistent, strong business. They are powerful to communicate value to potential clients, they’re easier for the client to follow, learn and retain everything you’re talking about. 6. Everything NEEDS to be Right In order for everything to be right, you need every aspect to fall in two places, first data on what is actually tracked to work, and second your values. We believe in a consultants approach, which means our systems all fall under that belief system. We do things from the perspective of the sellers needs and wants at each step in the process with clear aim on what constitutes a win or loss at each step for true tracking data. 7. Lack of Internalization The best are always seekers of mastery. Why? Because mastery requires no conscious work or effort from us anymore. The master picks up on more subtle and not so subtle cues from potential clients because they have invested in creating the extra mental space to do this. While others fumble the ball, that is their listing pres., the Master catches, smiles, and waves at the crowd! 8. Agreements, Layering, and Key Points Layer key messages repeatedly in your consultation. Remember the best of the best at presentations will only leave about 20% of that information with their potential clients. They have forgotten the rest by the time you end the appointment. Anything that will create a dynamic in your listing presentation that puts you against your client, is not leading you to a positive position for pricing or commission. Consultants work with clients, not against them. 9. No Strategy Often newer agents or those who service a lower amount of business per year can make small mistakes in overlooking key data when pricing, this often results in pricey losses for the agent and the seller. The approach we use is to educate the Seller on the comparables that are out there, take them through a journey of the information you use to come up with a price, and have them arrive at a price they feel comfortable with. So in the end, they own the price and the pros and cons of their chosen pricing strategy, not you. 10. You Negotiate On Your Own Value You can lose the listing based on your commission rates when it comes to an internal belief of your worth associated with your commission structure. People only have an issue for what they pay, if they don’t see the value in why they have to pay it. That belief and clarity around your value as an agent starts with your confidence in your services and in yourself. How many times have agents offered to lower commission, fearful they would lose the listing to another agent, and yet the seller had not even asked them to consider commission adjustments yet? Scarcity comes from the inside out. Whatever you charge, you will rarely successfully earn that amount if you don’t: A) Believe your services are worth it, and the seller will garner a superior result, B) Believe you are worth investing in as the professional you are.