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Exceeding Your Expectations, and Never Bothering to Ask What They Are.

March 10th, 2008 categories: About Us, Better Real Estate Practice, For Buyers, For Sellers, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, Listing Presentation

Real Estate Agents do not know what your expectations are... unitil they ask what they are.The Real Estate Agent as Clairvoyant… or One-Ring Circus Clown?

How many times have we all seen this one? You invite a real estate agent into your home for an interview and all the agent does is talk about himself. Sounds all too familiar, huh?

The agent walks in, says a few trivial, perfunctory things, sits down, and some time later finishes a  mind numbing monologue about him or herself. Throughout it you are only sub-consciously aware of, and then it hits you later, that you couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

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This is the agent as living room bozo, or kitchen-table orator, and what they’re doing is what we call The Listing Presentation.

An agent can not exceed expectations if he does not know what they are. The part of this agent-motor-mouth monologue we like best is when they get to the part where they say “I will exceed all of your expectations.” And they have never bothered to ask what they are.

We think it’s presumptuous for one to assume what your wishes are, what you expect of us, and what you’re really looking for about your home. After all, guessing your expectations is not a side show attraction; an agent is not clairvoyant. It’s just so simple to ask.

But all too often the agent is wrapped up in their presentation, making sure they remember it, and not forgeting anything they think is most important in it.  You do know it’s been rehearsed. Analyzed. Perfected. Many times. The show must go on.

The listing presentation is not about the agent, though, or the presentation itself; it’s a job interview. It is an exercise based on two parties seeking to find common ground to see if they might work together as a successful team.

It’s about questions, good ones from both sides, whose answers lead to better questions, not a safe return to a memorized script. It is not a one-ring circus, even if the agent is wearing oversized shoes and has a little red ball on the end of their nose.

Yep, it's a job interview, not a monologue. The Listing Presentation should be thought of as improvisational theater in a way. One never knows what the answers to their questions will be, and that’s where the improvisation part comes in. The next thing said is always predicated on the last thing said, no matter what it might be.

You want an agent who can think on their feet, and confidently handle any unanticipated question or off-script comment. That’s what they are going to have to do when selling your house, perform for you, and you might as well see the agent’s performance skills in form up front. It is part of a good interview.

Fundamentally though, the listing presentation is about listening. To You. And a whole lot of it. After all it’s your home. And your expectations.

Once we fully know what your expectations are, we will exceed them, count on it, but we won’t tell you about it, we’ll show you by behavior… with action.

And when we do exceed one of your expectations, you’ll never hear that we did from us. Serving you is not about getting a pat on the back every step of the way, it’s about the ultimate goal, which from the onset for you is to get your house sold within your time frame for the highest price possible.

That’s our goal too, but we also have another one. When we sell your home, and surpass your expectations, we have been helpful, and likely have made you happy. That’s the brass ring for us, and it’s one of friendship with you, and feeling the best we can about ourselves.

The Pre-Listing Package :
We often provide a pre-listing package that is sent to a homeowner before our first in-person interview. There are a lot of pieces in the package, but perhaps the most important part of it is our pamphlet  “Help Us Know You and Your Home.” This is where we ask you what your expectations are… before we ever meet you. (It’s worth previewing. Download it here.)

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at 7:50 pm and is filed under About Us, Better Real Estate Practice, For Buyers, For Sellers, Lake Tahoe Real Estate, Listing Presentation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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