The Power of Presentation
You’ve heard me say time and again on Mike Ferry TV: selling real estate is relatively simple, it’s just not easy. There’s a person who says they want to buy a house. There’s a person who says they want to sell a house. Our job is to get in the center of that… to be the conduit that brings buyers and sellers together. It’s not complicated, it’s very simple… but it’s not easy because it requires that we learn a lot of different steps to make that happen.
The Key to Success
Several years ago I was invited to a national convention where there were 7000 – 8000 people in the audience. I was honored to be the keynote speaker, and talk for about an hour and a half on the last day. (which was great because this particular audience thinks a lot of Mike Ferry). so when I walked in the stage they’re very receptive and that was fun to get.
I started my talk by looking at the audience and saying, “I want to share something with you… there are only two types of people in the world. We have all the people that you do know, and all the people you don’t know. Which group is bigger?”
Well, they kind of laughed and said, “The people we don’t know”.
“You got it”. I said, “So let me ask you this question. Are you talking to the people you know all the time? Are you spending any time talking to people you don’t know?” Of course, they were looking at me wondering where I was going with this… I said, “Well, let’s do this. If you only want to talk to the people you know, and you won’t talk to people you don’t know, aren’t you technically out of business as we speak?” They couldn’t help but nod their heads. I said, “So the key to success then is talking to people.”
Technology Lacks Emotion
People say to me all the time, “Mike, why don’t you spend more time talking about social media? Why don’t you spend more time working with leads off the internet… leads coming from our website?” These are all good, but we have to understand—it doesn’t matter where the name comes from, at some point you have to talk to them!
Less than a week ago I had an email conversation with one of our clients. They asked if technology and technological advances are going to put realtors out of business at some point. I wrote back in capital letters, “NO… NO…”
Buying and selling real estate is always going to require human interaction. Buying and selling real estate is never going to be so logical that people like you and I are not going to be necessary to make it work. We bring the emotion of people together to create real estate transactions. We always have to remember that our inability to talk to people creates the inability to do transactions.
A couple of years ago at our Superstar Retreat I said, “Knowing what to say and do allows you to say and do what most people cannot do in real estate… which is have conversations and getting contracts signed.”
Why do we give you scripts and dialogues to follow? So you can learn what to say. Why do we ask you to role play? So you know how to say it. When you know what to say, you can do what you’re supposed to do. But when you don’t know what to say, you’re frozen… you can’t do anything!
The Importance of Prospecting
Many years ago, I started every talk the same way. I would have a whiteboard or a blackboard on the stage, and say “There are three primary steps in a real estate sale”. Then I would write the letter ‘P’ in big letters. Next to that I’d write another ‘P’. Next to that I’d write the letter ‘C’. Then I would say to them, “We’re going to do an honest vote as to which of these three is the most important step in selling real estate. The first P stands for prospect. The second P stands for present. And the C stands for close. I’m going to stop for five seconds to let all of you digest what I just said, and then we’re going to do a vote.”
I did this routine a thousand times, and a thousand times, 80 to 90 percent vote for prospecting… so I would write 85 percent under the first P. “Great! How many would pick the close as the most important step?” About 10 to 12 percent would raise their hands, so I write that down. I’d say, “Well, 85 and 12 is 97… so 3 percent of you pick the presentation”.
Then I would always ask, “Why did you pick prospecting?”.
“If you don’t have anybody to talk to, you can’t do a deal. If you don’t have bodies to present to, you can’t do a deal. You’ve got a prospect to get bodies, you’ve got a prospect to find people.” I’d say great, “Is a For Sale By Owner a prospect?” They say yes. “Every time you see one on the street, do you stop your car?” They said no. “Is an expired listing a prospect?” Yes. “Do you call them all the time and try to make a presentation?” No. “Are the names in your database good prospects?” Yes. “Do you talk to them all the time?” No. Then I put a big X through the ‘P’.
The Progression of the Close
“Okay, now 12 percent of you who picked the close and most important step. Why?” They’d shout, “You have to button him down. You’ve got to get a signature on the paper… get him to sign the contract. You have to be strong and tough to get them to do it.”
I’d say, “Great. Isn’t the close technically a natural ending to a good presentation? Isn’t the close the summarization of everything you’ve said so far?” They always nod their head. “Therefore, the truth is the 3 percent that picked the presentation were right. If I can present in a manner that stimulates the buyer and seller to sign a contract, the close is easy… but if I cannot present in a professional manner the close is very challenging.”
So I would cross out ‘close’, cross out ‘prospect’, circle the ‘P’ for ‘presentation’ and I would draw an arrow from presentation to prospect.
The Power of Presentation
You will prospect if you know what to say to buyers and sellers. You won’t prospect if you don’t. Then I would draw an arrow from the presentation to the close. The close is easy when you know what to say and you stimulate their senses… they understand the value you bring them, and want to do something with you because of your presentation.
The name of the game is the presentation… knowing what to say. Yet at the same time, we have to do a lot of lead follow up to get them to a presentation. We have to prequalify to get a presentation. We’ll have to handle some objections that come up before we can get that presentation finished. And once they close we have to negotiate a contract.
Focus this week on your presentation if you want to become a superstar in 2019. Even more basic, focus 100 percent on your presentation in 2019 if you want to achieve the goals you have set. This year is going to be a little tougher than the first half of 2018 because the market has slowed down. You’re going to have to improve your skills. Get involved in learning how to present and you win the game.
Talk to you next week. Thanks for today.
Mike Ferry is the global leader in real estate coaching and training. Watch Mike each week as he discusses a variety of topics to help real estate agents and brokers. Grow your real estate business by improving your mindset, developing your skills and creating a plan of action to increase your production!
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