The pre-listing strategy introduces your value to your potential clients and helps overcome objections before they even arise, such as “why should I use you over a competitor.” A pre-listing strategy also utilizes the philosophy of “time spent,” which is the idea that the more time you can get people thinking about you before the appointment, the less likely they will be to want to spend time on anyone else.
Our pre-listing strategy is broken up into three essential parts (in this order):
Initial Client Consultation
Property Marketing Plan
Client Welcome Kit
Initial Client Consultation
The goal of the Initial Client Consultation is to understand who your clients are and begin to build trust with them.
This consultation always occurs on phone, before the listing appointment, with enough time to get all of the information needed to help create the rest of the pre-listing packet. (We’ll go over everything we include in our pre-listing system in this blog!)
Garry created the Initial Client Consultation template to ask the appropriate questions at the appropriate time. It’s designed to start with very generic questions to open up the conversation and gain trust with your client, then you can go on to the deeper questions like what their concerns are and the reason for buying/selling.
For this part of the “Discovery Phase” we recommend scheduling out an hour. The Initial Client Consultation itself can take anywhere from 30-45 minutes, so you want to make sure you have enough time so you and your client are not feeling rushed.
Property Marketing Plan
Everything from putting a sign in the yard to the social media campaigns to all the places (online and physical) where that listing will be displayed and promoted.
Pro Tip: It’s very important that everything you’re going to do to market the property is listed! Differentiate yourself from your competition and build trust right off the bat by telling and showing your clients what you’re going to do for them.
Our "High-Performing Property Marketing Plan" lays out, every step of the way, how you'll market their home for maximum success – it’s broken down week by week for 8 weeks to build trust and reassurance with your clients that you’re going to do what you say and continue marketing their property for more than just a couple of weeks.
This will be irrefutable proof to them that you know what it takes, that you have a rock-solid plan, and that you can deliver on your promises...
Use these "stealth strategies" in the same Marketing Plan to ethically sabotage and eliminate the competition – and pre-empt and prepare for answering any objections on fees (everything you do for your clients will position your fees as a complete "no-brainer" for them and that you should actually charge more for all you do!) Keep reading for a role-play example of how to handle objections.
You’ll deliver your Property Marketing Plan after the Initial Client Consultation but at least a day before the Listing Appointment. We email our Property Marketing Plan out, but if your sphere of clients would appreciate a print out version instead, don’t be afraid to hand deliver it!
Client Welcome Kit
I know what you’re thinking… why would I send out a Client Welcome Kit when they aren’t a client yet?
Treating a prospect like a client shows them your level of expertise and begins building trust before you even step foot in the door for the listing appointment.
Client Welcome Kit Format:
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By providing prospects with this resource they now know all the services you’ll provide as well as the advantages of being your client. This campaign helps you set yourself apart from other agents and prevents prospects from falling through the cracks. Set expectations, benefits and advantages of working with you right from the start!
PLUS, they now have a tool to refer you to other people in their sphere that may be thinking of buying or selling a home themselves. The referral opportunity alone is reason enough to send out the Client Welcome Kit.
How to say “No” to discounting your commission
...then comes the dreaded question, “Will you discount your commission?”
As agents, we know how much time and effort we put into each listing we get and how much we’ve earned that commission, but it’s hard to say “no” when you’re that close to signing the agreement.
We always recommend responding with a simple yet thorough answer. Explain why you can’t discount your commission and go back over a few of the advantages their getting by listing with you in the first place!
Check out the video above for a role-play example of how to handle objections.
If you're interested in our full Initial Client Consultation template or any of our Pre-Listing Strategies, check out our Marketing Club and get a FREE two-week trial!
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Where can I find a market plan?
When is the Initial consultation done? Is this during the prospecting call with a seller or if a seller contacts agent first?
We do the initial consultation on the phone before the listing appointment - this can be done either when a seller contacts you or during the prospecting call with a seller! :)