“An individual’s success often depends on his/her ability to deliver a polished and persuasive presentation.” – Terri L. Sjodin
“W.I.I.F.M.?” What’s In It For Me?
How are your presentation skills looking these days? We’re into the most competitive marketplace coast-to-coast since I entered the business more than three decades ago.
Your success depends on your ability to give your prospective client a presentation that has been carefully thought out.
Registrants usually spend most of their time with
an oral presentation, selling their abilities and attributes. Will this
convince a future client to decide on whether it is good business to do
business with you? I’ve always taught my real estate
entrepreneurs this: The prospective client is always thinking: “What’s
in it for me if I list with you now?” Alternatively, we are thinking: “What’s in it for me if I get the listing contract?”
So, the W.I.I.F.M. mantra prevails over both parties to the contract.
Some common mistakes that registrants make; according to an article by Terri L. Sjodin in Real Estate Professional magazine, are: winging it; being too informative versus persuasive; being boring, boring, boring; and relying too much on visual aids.
In order to have a classic win-win scenario, the
registrant should do a self-analysis of what they say and do in their
presentations.
Some of the best presentations skills ever have been copied from the Tommy Hopkins and David Knox seminars and videos/DVDs.
It simply doesn’t work to have a canned presentation, without giving the prospective client the opportunity to ask questions. And you must ask questions of them, as you go along in your presentation.
Yes, visual aids/power-point presentations are excellent. But are they entertaining/creative/ humorous? In
the presentations that I give to prospective agents when recruiting, I
always inject some clip art humour, which really helps to break the ice.
Remember that the prospective client is not only
looking for the best content in the delivery of your presentation, but
he/she is looking out for W.I.I.F.M.!
To ensure you have a decent presentation, think about it from the consumer’s viewpoint. He
is looking to sell his home, for the most money and usually in the
least amount of time. So, whether you choose to use a power-point
presentation or a three-ring notebook, it is a matter of choice. But
use one or the other. Ensure that you have plenty of leave-behind literature about selling their home and information about you and your brokerage.
Showing the clients what they will net out of the
proceeds is pretty standard procedure, yet many of us neglect to show
them what they will net if they work with you.
As with any actor, professional athlete or teacher, rehearsing your “script” on a regular basis is imperative. Make changes as you go along in your career. The more you practice, the more professional you will become. The more innovative and/or creative you become, the more success you’ll have.
The use of statistics in recent years has become the “edge,” that will usually win over the client to work with you. Checking out your own brokerage’s stats, compared to others in your area, may just be the ticket. Most brokerages have statistics that show your firm garners perhaps one per cent more on asking-to-selling price than average. This will mean a substantial amount of money in the seller’s hands — W.I.I.F.M!
Maybe your office has a sales force of 40 compared
to the nearest competitor’s 60. You may be able to compile a stat that
shows how many ends per month each registrant does and how many
listings per month each registrant has done. There are some providers
of stats that will show the average income per agent on the brokerage’s
sales team. This is the 2000s and we have to learn
that public lives by statistics in nearly every thing that they do. So,
why not to deliver what you can?
I’ve shown this format a number of times to
aspiring salespeople and they are astonished at the numerous statistics
that are available. If you have access to this type of information,
then your client will undoubtedly be impressed. The very fact that you
have this information will show that your brokerage has a sales force
to be reckoned with – a sales force that produces more on average than
the other brokerage he may be considering, and a sales force that has
an excellent track record in his market area.
When you are thinking W.I.I.F.M., are you just
thinking about the commission you will earn? Or are you thinking of
doing such a bang-up job selling the client’s home and making them so
happy, that they will be sending you referrals, without even asking?
The above gives you a plan of action to enhance your presentations. Take a look at your weaknesses and work on those. Review your strengths and sharpen them up with ideas from other top producers or on-line authors like Sjodin (www.terrissjodin.com). Also, see John Tuccillo’s book, The Eight New Rules of Real Estate (Dearborn Financial Publishing).
For those of you who don’t like to read, check out your own brokerage’s video library or your local board’s library. View them at least seven times and you will reap rich rewards. Until next month, that is the way I see it from my desk as I celebrate my 70th while writing my 17th article for REM! Please send me your comments by e-mail, or suggestions for future articles.
Thought for the month: “Determination is the wake-up call of the human will.” — Sir Winston Churchill, circa 1940 Battle of Britain
Stan
Albert is celebrating his 35th year in real estate, and is a committee
member with TREB and RECO. He is a registered trainer/consultant, and
is now in his ninth year with Re/Max Professionals in Toronto. Email salbert@trebnet.com; (416) 232-9000.
Discuss this article in the REM Discussion Forum.
Stan Albert, ABR, ASA is a consultant with Re/Max Premier in Vaughan, Ont. He can be reached for consultation by email. Stan is now celebrating his 45th year as an active real estate professional.
