When we evaluate selling our views on why someone would hire us, we really only have two options to sell. We can sell features of our service, or we can sell the benefits the client will receive.

When I listen to Agents sell their services, most spend far more time discussing features than the benefits or the outcome the client will receive: the features of years in the business, membership in the Million-dollar Club, a certain company production award, number of homes sold, sales value, and all features of the Agent's service. Most Agents use these exclusively to answer the nagging question, why should I hire you? The problem is these are merely features of your service. A certain level of production or years in the business doesn't leap out at the prospect as a benefit.

We have to be able to connect the benefit of security, reduced risk, smooth transaction, higher probability of sale, and high sales price to the feature we provide. Then, and only then, will we be the Agent who is able to defend and increase our value and answer the question of why someone should hire me.

Benefits of working with an Agent

Most Agents will talk about their marketing services, ads, and Websites. Those are merely features of their service. Many even describe the hits, unique visitors, or ranking of their or their company's websites, for example. The problem is, for most Sellers, you are speaking a foreign language. You might as well be speaking in French. What does this mean to them? What is the benefit they receive? How does that create an advantage for them? Why is this information so important? Most Agents talk about features of their service rather than the benefits the clients receive.

I frequently ask two questions at seminars. The first is: Why should I hire you? I get immediate feedback of thought on this question. I usually get responses like: customer services, size of company, communication, follow up, experience, and honesty and integrity. I want you to look at this list. How do you feel about them? Do they separate you from the others who are interviewing for the job to represent someone's interest? What do you think?

Let me share a story with you. When I was writing Success As A Real Estate Agent For Dummies®, I had a couple of tussles with the technical editor they hired to review the manuscript. I didn't mention honesty and integrity as something to say when on a listing presentation or Buyer interview. The reason is because I don't think it is a competitive advantage or a reason why someone should hire you. Now, before you draw the wrong conclusion, read on. I do think that honesty and integrity are paramount characteristics to being a Champion Agent. When does a customer or client really find out that the Agent they selected lacks honesty and integrity? I believe it's usually after it's too late. It's after an agency relationship has been consummated. They have to be working with the Agent to really find out.

Another reason is many people have differing views or standards about honesty and integrity. The threshold is different for each one of us. We had a President in the past who claimed, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." For many of us, myself included, that whole fiasco in our history was caused by a lack of honesty and integrity on his part. I can say that my definition of what sex means is clearly different than his was. I think his wife had a different definition, as well. I am not making a political statement here. I am merely trying to illustrate a truth – that honesty and integrity are interpreted terms.

My last point, which I made to my technical editor, is you would not be making a presentation to the Buyer or Seller if they didn't feel you had honesty and integrity. To exclaim during the presentation that they should hire you because you have honesty and integrity is a wasted argument. If a prospect thought you lacked those characteristics, they wouldn't have allowed you to make a presentation. Would you knowingly interview someone to represent you like an attorney, financial planner, accountant, or Real Estate Agent if you knew they lacked honesty and integrity? Of course not, and neither would your prospects.

If you try to express that your honesty and integrity is greater than another Agent they are considering, you have just denigrated your argument that you have honesty and integrity. The honey and integrity argument is weak, and you will lose this position more often than not.

I want to share with you one last piece of counsel in this area. Having been a business owner of different businesses for more than twenty years, I have created a rule that has proven truthful throughout my career. I have discovered the more someone talks about their honesty and integrity, the lower the level of honesty and integrity they posses. People who do business and live life with honesty and integrity don't go around talking about it. They just go out and do it.

The problem with all these reasons that most Agents list is, they are nebulous. There is no proof and no real tangible benefit to the Seller. They are also what all other Agents are saying. To be a Champion Agent and join the Champion Performer ranks, you have to be different. Being the same only means that you have no reason for them to hire you over the cheaper option. Being the same allows them to select Uncle Fred, the referred Agent from their boss, or the discount guy down the street. If you are the same, your value is reduced. The reason that Pavarotti, Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, Jack Welch, Jim Carey, and Oprah are paid at the highest level in their fields is because they are different. They can explain why they are different and why they are worth the extra investment of money. They are not ordinary or the same as the rest of the people in their fields.

Published: October 29, 2010

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Dirk Zeller is a sought out speaker, celebrated author and CEO of Real Estate Champions. His company trains more than 350,000 Agents worldwide each year through live events, online training, self-study programs, and newsletters. The Real Estate community has embraced and praised his six best-selling books; Your First Year in Real Estate, Success as a Real Estate Agent for Dummies®, The Champion Real Estate Agent, The Champion Real Estate Team, Telephone Sales for Dummies®, Successful Time Management for Dummies®, and over 300 articles in print. To learn more regarding this article, please visit www.realestatechampions.com.