Most agent pitches put salespeople to sleep, mainly because most pitches lack interest, utility, and structure.
To increase interest in your presentation, follow these tips:
o Share market knowledge. Become a student of the local market and share meaningful statistics. Also keep track of trends in the national market, both to enlighten your prospects and to distinguish yourself as a well-informed, well-connected and educated agent.
or Ask questions. Listen to typical listing presentations and you’ll hear the agent doing the talking 80% of the time, with the prospect only doing the talking on the fringes. I guarantee that the salesman finds that monologue uninteresting.
or View the clock. Don’t let your presentation go on too long, and don’t save the information the salesperson most wants until the end. If you place your price recommendation at the end of a 90 minute presentation during which you are 80% speaking, you can pretty well predict that your salesperson will tune out.
o What the prospect has to say is more important than what you have to say. Great salespeople do less than 25% of the talking. You already know everything you need to know about what you’re thinking. You need to know what your prospects think, know and want, so you can tailor your service to their wants and needs.
Keep it short and sweet. Let’s get straight to the point. . . a 90-minute presentation is neither short nor sweet. I have no idea what an agent finds to talk for 90 minutes, but I do know for a fact that salespeople don’t want to sit through a 90 minute appointment, and they certainly don’t want to listen to an agent for that long.
Within the first few minutes of the appointment, inform your sellers that their listing submission will take no more than 45 minutes. Based on my own experience, I can tell you that more than half of salespeople will thank you when you tell them your presentation will be short. Many times, I have had clients thank me again as I walked out the door with the signed contract, sharing their appreciation for not being there all night!
A good, short presentation is the result of proper structure, a clear presentation plan, and knowing what to say and how to convey it.
Many agents translate the terms structure and plan to mean “presentation in a can.” They say, “I don’t want to sound mechanical and scripted.” People sound mechanical and scripted out of lack of practice, not because they have a pattern or process to follow. In fact, most people require professional service providers to follow the plans. For example, when boarding a plane, you can bet I want the pilot to go through a pre-flight checklist, landing checklist, flight plan, etc. I want the attorney defending me to have well-crafted or planned legal briefs, questions, and arguments.
I’m not working to “power” anyone, but the need to plan your presentation is essential. You should have a framework that you are comfortable with, that allows you to deliver facts, findings, and key segments, using key phrases and dialogue, every time you present. I’d rather have an agent err on the side of “canned” than just “wing it.”
Other tips:
o Get to know your prospects. If you’re not completely clear about your prospect’s interests and needs, you haven’t qualified them well. Gaining knowledge of prospects is really the key to a good presentation. It is absolutely necessary to obtain the correct information before going to the appointment.
o Set a goal to keep your presentation to 45 minutes or less. Look at every piece of sales material you present. Does it demonstrate clear benefits to the seller? Does it need to be used? Does the seller understand? Does it create differentiation between you and the other agents? As the saying goes, “when in doubt, leave it out.”
o Limit the volume of color PowerPoint slides or presentation folder pages that consume your presentation time and your opportunity to engage with vendors. Typically, each page of your presentation, whether on a computer screen or on paper, accounts for two minutes of presentation time by the time you turn to the page, talk about it, emphasize key points, and ask questions to confirm your prospect’s understanding. Do the math: 30 pages consume an hour, which puts you well over your time limit before you hit the deal.
By following this tip, you’re on your way to making your presentation useful, structured, and engaging, which all salespeople appreciate, and will set you apart from the rest.