Chris Smith loves to crowd source. And who can blame him? Its a great way to tap into the resources of a community, assemble information, and then develop whatever it is you need. Chris has a great community that is very responsive because he has been a high profile member through his work at Tech Savvy Agent, Inman News and now as a product evangelist and coach. Recently Chris Posted a request;
Looking for the best listing presentation in the business. Modern, clean, beautiful graphs and charts, showcases the importance of digital marketing, social and mobile etc… Preferably iPad ready too. Easy ask right? If you have one you think fits the bill let me know. I want to steal it, tweak it and then give it away to the entire community to use for free.
Not only is the request , on the surface, easy, it is generous since Chris will bring back the new and improved listing presentation to be shared by the community. The problem is Chris is asking the real estate community to deliver him a Unicorn (or a Jackalope, a Yeti , or an honest politician – pick your mythical creature) so he can dress it up and give it back. I don’t think that can work and I’ll tell you why.
Listing presentations are very personal. Listing presentations are not about price, cost, technology or “sizzle”, they are about answering four questions;
- Why should I use a REALTOR?
- Why should I use your brand?
- Why should I use your company?
- Why should I use you?
The questions get modified a little – if you’re a multi-office firm, the question might be ;
- Why should I use a real estate professional?
- Why should I use your brand?
- Why should I use your company?
- Why should I use your office?
- Why should I use you?
If you’re not a REALTOR they might be ;
- Why should I use a real estate professional?
- Why should I use your brand?
- Why should I use your company?
- Why should I use you?
The purpose of a listing presentation is to present a value package to the consumer that will explain to them the benefits of listing their property. As a result an effective listing presentation must answer these questions. To be most effective, they need to be answered in order, so the answer to each question (though they will vary from company to company and agent to agent) supports, leverages and prepares the consumer for the next question, reminds them of the earlier benefits posited and helps them walked through the mental process of choosing the presenter as the real estate professional to represent them. Why can’t they be answered in a really snazzy template? Because the answers to each question differs more and more as the presentation becomes more and more supportive of the strengths of the brand , the company, the office and the agent are developed into a logical presentation.
Answering the first question is the closest to generic, since we assume everyone making the listing presentation is a REALTOR or real estate professional. But even that one needs to be customized to the needs of the consumer. The conversation might be need to stress the benefits of third party negotiation. It might be about the additional safety a consumer receives when potential visitors to their home are screened through the qualification process. If the seller is considering listing the home privately, it might be about the additional exposure that is obtained by utilizing the network of MLS members as opposed to the one sign, one ad, one website approach of a FSBO. Or perhaps the benefit that needs to be stressed are the legal, financial and title expertise the real estate professional brings to the process.
The second question has far wider variations. The Brand may be independent , regional broker, or a national franchise. Each one has things to recommend themselves, and therefore the presentation of each one would differ. But the benefits of the specific brand need to be added to the already demonstrated benefits of the use of the real estate professional.
The specific company benefits are then added to the mix, with the value package being further refined. For example of you are a multi-office firm with a large national franchise, your value package is different than if you are a large regional , or perhaps a national firm like the NRT. Then the benefit of the local office location, or neighborhood experience, or history comes into the mix.
The final question, answered only after you have answered all of the above questions, is why use the specific agent, and the reasons for this and the value package involved varies from person to person. Perhaps the benefit is that the agent is new and aggressive and the listing will be an important part of their inventory, providing the seller with more attention, and more effort. Or it might be that the agent is older and more epxperienced, with an in depth knowledge of the area and the property type. We could go on and on, but I’m sure you see the point by now.
There have been attempts to create generic listing packages for years. From simple flip charts, to customizable multi-media laptop presentations to PowerPoint and Pdf table presentations, someone always seems ready to provide a template for real estate agents to use for a small or reasonable fee. None of them are complete, and none of them are really more than templates for salespeople to use after extensive customization. Butas long as there are people that don’t understand the purpose of the listing presentation clearly,people will look for simple answers to the complex questions that consumers need answered. And while they do that, people that answer the questions above will be out making presentations to answer those questions, and them listing the properties they want.
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