So often, buyers and sellers interrupt the flow of even the best presentations with very difficult questions. However, memorized scripts, delivered in a conversational style, are effective tools that help agents keep control of a sales situation, no matter what the customer’s state of mind. It can be a witty answer, a story or an example you use to help a client gain perspective, factual information your client needs to make a decision, or a carefully phrased question that helps you understand your client’s needs. Here are a few scripts that every Realtor should have in when working with sellers.
The Kodak Moment
“This is my Kodak moment for the house. This is your opportunity to present the house to me. I need to be the most educated individual about your house, second only to you. This is your opportunity to guide me through the house and tell me everything you have done during your tenure in this home to create value for your property. I want to know everything from the can of paint to the new roof, to the new central air or heat or whatever you have done. I want to know four things: the work you have done to the house, when you did it, who did the work and what you spent. I want to be able to show to the buyers, and the other Realtors, the actual dollar value that your home is offering over the other opportunities that are in competition with your home. That is how we are going to create that extra value that we are looking for in this market.”
Permission to Sell Quickly
“One of the things I need to ask you is permission to sell your house today. As a real estate agent, I’m darned if I do and darned if I don’t. If I take six months to sell the house, you’re mad at me and think I didn’t get enough money and you don’t want to pay me. I’m in a dilemma because I know you want me to sell the house. If I have an agent who has a buyer tomorrow, I need permission from you to tell him to go ahead and sell it, because I don’t want you to be mad at me. I would rather wait six months so you’re happy with me, then we’ll bring in the buyer. I don’t want to be paid until you are happy with me. Can we sell tomorrow?”
Your House Must Sell Three Times
“Mr./Ms. Seller, when we put your home on the market, it has to be sold three times. The first sale is to my peers, the other Realtors, who are in the market every day. They need to be excited about the price or they simply ignore the listing because it’s often a waste of their time to show it to buyers who won’t pay that price. The second sale is to the buyer, and they compare your home to the others they’re looking at in the marketplace. The third sale is to the appraiser for the bank. Even if we’re lucky enough to get a higher than market price from a buyer, the appraiser compares the sale with these same past sales we’ve reviewed and their appraisal usually hits right at the market price. Now I’ve got to ask you, if you bought a home and the appraisal came in lower than what you paid, what would you do? (Response) I’ll tell you what normally happens. The deal falls through and we fall right back to the drawing board and begin the process again. How would you feel about that?”
The Dollar Bill Analogy
(Lay two dollar bills out–one wrinkly and old, and one crisp and new)
“If you could only take one of these, which one would you choose?”
(It’s always the crisp, clean one).
“That’s exactly what happens with your home, Mr./Ms. Seller. The buyer will choose the cleaner one, because it looks better, and has more functionality (pop machines, change machines). We’ve got to get your home dressed up and looking good. Does that make sense?”
“Why Is There a Transaction Fee?”
“What this does is allow us to have someone who’s specifically assigned to close your home. The most difficult time in the process of selling your home is from the time it goes under contract to the time it closes, and we have someone who watches that every day. This allows us to do that.”
Using the right words in a selling situation is like using the right prescription for a patient–it works. If you would like to add more scripts to your repertoire, you can sign up for a free script-of-the-day at www.GoStarPower.com/Resource.
Howard Brinton is a real estate sales motivational speaker and the founder and CEO of Star Power Systems, a sales training organization that offers tapes, books, videos, conferences and a club that distributes selling techniques from the nation’s top producers.
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