Agents tell me all the time that they don’t know why they said a certain thing when they were in front of a potential seller. We all have been there. Why did I say that? What’s the key to eliminating that sentence from “popping” out after a presentation?

Be Prepared

You cannot underestimate being ready for the presentation. The sellers will know if you threw something together as you dash out the door. They will know when you cannot present the pages of your presentation or proposal. Being prepared makes you confident. Being prepared makes you look good. Being prepared makes you a winner!

How do you prepare? First of all you put together your presentation for a listing in such a way that you practically could recite each page by rote. You know what is on the first page without even looking at it. You know what order it is in because this is the order you put all your presentations in. If you use company prepared pages, you can tell the statistics, you know what every word should mean to the seller. How do you prepare? You study. You understand what each page means to the seller.

Practice

You have all the material learned and in your memory bank. Now you practice. You do this over and over until you can present your material to someone without having to read the material. Practice the presentation sitting down in front of a mirror and watch yourself. Are you confident, do you hesitate, do you move around a lot, are you constantly looking down at the pages to remind you where you are at, and so on? After you feel good about knowing the material, practice on a friend or spouse. Ask them for feedback.

When you are making a presentation to a seller you are performing. Do you think that Garth Brooks just wings it? He says that he plans and practices his performances for weeks before he tours. The old adage that practice makes perfect is applicable for the real estate business. The more you practice what you are going to say the better it will be. And, the seller will never know that you have practiced the same words over and over.

Anticipate

The next step is to anticipate what the sellers might ask. If you know the questions ahead of time it is so much easier to respond. Write down what you think a seller might say; such as, “my house has a lot more curb appeal than the ones you show as comparables, and I know that my house is worth more.” You are going to have to handle this objection in a way that it won’t offend the seller, but get your point across that the comparables are the right price. When you anticipate what will be said you will be in a better position to immediately respond without hesitating. Another good one to anticipate is, “will you cut your commission?” Write down how you are going to respond. When you think about it, you will have many statements that you have heard that required “quick thinking” at past presentations. Use those as a learning tool and write a response. Then practice again.

Visualize

Before you make your next presentation, visualize yourself in front of the sellers and go over in your mind every word that you are going to say. It is amazing how this works! See yourself shaking their hands as you arrive, sitting down at the table, and going over your presentation word by word. When you get there it will be like deja vu because you have already been there in your mind. It will just flow! This was my favorite technique for getting me over the “jitters” of presenting to total strangers. I felt that I had spoken with them before and they were my friends, it is fabulous!

To be professional in any business you must prepare, practice, anticipate, and visualize. The ones who do this are the best in their fields. Can you imagine going to a dentist who has never practiced putting in a filling, and doesn’t know where the filling material is? What would you feel about this person? Would you want him filling your cavity? Imagine what the sellers feel like when they are dealing with their most valuable asset, their home. They want someone who is professional—prepared, practiced, who anticipates, and has visualized success.

Published: June 26, 2000

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