Welcome and good morning to Mike Ferry TV. It is the week of September the 9th. I had a great conversation this past week with one of our good clients, who lists a lot of properties six, seven listings per month. And I said to him, “Do you ever get involved in multiple listing presentation conversations?” To which he said, “What do you mean?” I said, “Well, I’ve had agents tell me that when they’re driving to a listing presentation, they’re reviewing in their mind what they’re going to say to the seller. And that is a defined presentation.”

Then they get to the house and the seller asks a few questions, and they get off track, and they make a separate listing presentation to the seller. And whether they get the listing contract signed or not is going to be up to their skill set.

But then they make a third listing presentation in the car on the way back to the office, which is the one they should have made inside the house in the first place.

Well, he started laughing and I said, “What are you laughing at?” And he said, “I do this about 50% of the time.” I said, “Okay, on the 50% where you use the scripts and dialogs that we teach you to use, what percentage of those people list with you?” He said, “Oh, 90%.” I said, “So 50% of the time you follow the script, and 90% of the time they give you the listing.” He said, “Correct.” I said, “On the 50% where you get off track, you get distracted. The seller starts getting too involved, taking control. What percentage of those do you get listed?” His head kind of dropped and he goes, “30%.” I said, “Well, think about this. Your average commission check is $15,000.” He said, “Correct.” I said, “Look at how much money you’re losing by not staying on the program.” And the conversation we were having ended very quickly at that minute.

You know, the Mike Ferry Sales System for listing property is not complicated. And we’ve gone through it time and again on Mike Ferry TV. And let’s review it one more time.

1) Prequalify 100% of the prospects 100% of the time, no exceptions

So step one is always the same. And that is to make sure that you prequalify 100% of the prospects 100% of the time, no exceptions. “Well, Mike, what about …” No, no, no exceptions. If you go to your family doctor for just a regular physical, they take your blood pressure, your temperature and your pulse. There’s no exceptions. If you are sitting down with an attorney with a legal problem, they’re going to ask a certain series of questions to see if they can handle and solve the case for you. No exceptions. The pilot gets in the cockpit and they do a preflight checklist. No exceptions.

So therefore, why would we make exceptions to understanding who the seller is, their motivation and their desire to get it sold, hopefully through you. So step one prequalify 100% of the people 100% of the time, using 100% of the questions, no exceptions.

2) Mail or deliver a professional business pre-listing package

Then step two is mail. Mail or deliver a professional business pre-listing package. There are so many documents. There’s so many forms that we have to use today. When I started in Real Estate, a listing contract was one page, mostly blank, and we would fill in most of it, their name, their address, etc. on the contract. Today, depending on the state, depending on the board of Realtors, depending upon your company, a listing contract could be 3 to 5 to 15 pages. Legal size. Tiny print. Well, what are the odds of you really reviewing all that with the seller? And the answer is zero. So we say send out a pre-listing package with all the documentation that you would go through with them live if you had the time, and put a stamp on the front of the package and say, please review and initial these documents before I get to the home. Well, if you get to the house and they have gone ahead and signed off and initialed all the documents, you got the listing. But the most important thing is you’re going to find out what’s important to them by having the documentation in their hands 24 to 48 hours before the listing presentation.

3) Call back and confirm they’ve read the package

So number one prequalify. Number two, a professional business pre-listing package. Good. Step number three is call back and confirm they’ve read the package. “But, Mike, what happens if they haven’t?” We change the time of the presentation. We move it back for a day or so. We ask them why they didn’t have a chance to review it. We ask them if they’re going to review it. And, you know, I have had, as I’m sure some of you, a seller that wants to play the dominant role in the presentation. And they say we’re not going to read through this stuff until you get to the house. Well, I’m sorry I can’t attend the presentation without you reviewing the material. So let’s just go ahead and cancel the presentation. The real quality, high professional, scripts-oriented Real Estate agent is not afraid to stop the presentation, smile, shake their hand and say, “List with somebody else.” And you’ll find out the real motivation to list with you. When we get to step three, call back and confirm.

4) Show up at the house 15 minutes early

Step four is one that most agents are not comfortable with, and that is simply show up at the house 15 minutes early. Now show up at the house. I didn’t say go to the front door. I didn’t say, go start your presentation. You get to the house 15 minutes and events. Why? Because traffic, you get behind schedule. You know, your assistant has something for you to do at the last minute, and then you finally get on the freeway and it’s backed up.

Well, the one thing we have to understand as a prospective buyer, prospective seller is going to feel a lot of stress and tension before the agent arrives. I wonder if they’re going to like our house. I wonder if they’re going to want to give us the price we want. I wonder if they understand the importance of what we’ve done to the home. These are common things going through a potential seller’s mind before you get to the house.

So I get there 15 minutes early. I spend about ten minutes reviewing my script. I spend a few minutes reviewing the package I’ve sent out. I checked to make sure my tie is in place for the ladies. Your hair is combed and shaped the way you want it. Your makeup is on and then five minutes till you knock on the door and you are there and prepared as a professional to make the presentation.

5) Use the script

So step number five is probably the most difficult. And that is take the script we have. And if you don’t know it well, which is understandable virtually say to the seller, I’ve written down some very important questions I need to ask. I need to ask them now may I start and you just read the script? Because if you look at the Mike Ferry script, it’s all questions. There’s no real conversation. It’s a series of questions.

If you follow the presentation five step the way we give it to you and you’re doing 25% to 30% closing ratio with your average seller, you’re going to start moving that number up. And each time you move that number from 30% to 40% to get up to the 70% to 80% ratio, which all the top agents do. All you’re doing is adding a lot of production, a lot of transactions, and a lot of income to your checkbook.

Consider looking carefully at what you’re saying on the way to the house. Inside your head, really consider carefully what you’re saying inside the house so you don’t have to make your best presentation in the car after you’ve left the house. Thanks for watching Mike Ferry TV the week of September 9th. Talk to you next week. Have a good week.