Provided By Realty Times
Prospecting expired listings can be the core of anyone's business in the
real estate field. You can create a system that will give you repeatable
results for your effort. Let's look at these three very positive
characteristics in prospecting expired listings.
They are easy to find: Expired listings come up everyday, so you will
always have a handful that you can work with on a daily basis. They provide a
steady stream of new leads to contact for listing appointments. There are also
usually a few very heavy days each month. You will need to set your schedule to
take advantage of these heavy days. The end of the month is one of the heaviest
times for expired listings; up to 25 percent of the expired listings for the
month may occur in just one or two days.
They want to sell: Expired listings were on the market at one time,
unlike many other types of clients you will contact. The owners had a plan laid
out to sell and move. Unfortunately, their plan did not work out, but, in most
cases, they wish it had. There will be some expireds that were listed by
clients who are now tired of the process, but the majority of them still want
to sell.
The bulk of them are looking for an Agent: If the prospect still has the
desire to sell, as most do, then they are searching for a new Agent. They are
looking for someone who can solve their previous problem. Most do not know why
their home did not sell, but they are frustrated with their previous Agent and
sometimes all Agents. They will rarely return to their previous Agent.
The successful way to work expired listings is the CAP system:
Consistency Attitude Persistence
The first part is consistency: You must consistently work expired
listings. For you to achieve a large return on your time invested, you must
work diligently for a minimum of four weeks straight. Expired listings cannot
be started and stopped without losing momentum. There is a rhythm and a flow to
them. They must be a daily discipline that you work on. If you prospect them
for two weeks, then take a week off, you are back to zero. I did not prospect
weekends, but I did diligently call Monday through Friday.
Your leads must build, and your follow-up must grow. When you get down
the road 30 plus days, you will begin to receive calls for listing appointments
from your work earlier in the month as well as your appointments from new
expireds. You must work to create a pipeline of expired listing clients.
The second part is attitude: Your attitude plays a crucial role in your
success working with expired listings. You need to convey to the seller an
attitude of compassion and problem solving. They are not just looking for
someone to pound a sign in the ground; they are looking for someone to get
their home sold; they are looking for someone to solve their problem. They can
get even more resentful due to the high volume of Agents that may call them.
Many expireds feel that everyone else is the problem, when it is
actually them and their price. When it comes to expired listings, price is the
problem 90% of the time. You have to read the people you are meeting with
regarding their home. Too many Agents who work with expired listings hit their
prospective clients with a ball peen hammer between the eyes when it comes to
the price. That will work with some and will fail miserably with others. You
must be able to adjust your delivery.
You need to read the prospective clients, and, most importantly, you
need to exude an attitude of caring and compassion for their situation, while
conveying confidence in your ability to get the job done. Sometimes, the only
way to get the price down is to convince them you care, and it pains you that
they have to sell for less, but there is no other way. It is like the doctor
who tells his patient she has cancer. He does not like it, but he has to do it,
so he can cure her.
The last, and at times most critical, is persistence: Your persistence
or ability to stick with it can have the most positive results of all. Many
expired listings do not set appointments right away with Agents. Sellers will
wait a week or two, maybe even a month. The number of calls they receive about
their home drops dramatically as the weeks tick by. Do not be one of the Agents
who drop off unless the sellers have low motivation or are unreasonable. Be one
of the ones left standing at the end of a week or two.
Be persistent in your calling. Call them a few times a week. All you are
doing is trying to set an appointment. You are not doing a listing appointment
over the phone; just close for an appointment. That is what the call is for.
You just want to be one of the three or four they interview. If you keep that
as your goal, you will get plenty of salable listings.
Focus on the CAP system daily. Work both today's expired listings, and
the ones you gathered in the past. Effectively follow-up with your hot leads
daily. Remember consistency, attitude, and persistence are the keys to
prospecting expired listings.
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