Congrats! You landed a listing appointment and you’re well on your way to (hopefully) landing a new client. But getting the opportunity to pitch a seller on why they should choose you to represent the sale of their home is only half the battle. To win the listing, you’ll need to prove yourself and find a way to stand out against other agents that may be competing for the same listing.

According to the National Association of REALTORS® 2022 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report, the top three most important factors for sellers in choosing an agent to sell their home are:

1. An agent with a good reputation
2. An agent who is honest and trustworthy
3. An agent who is a friend or family member

As you can see, sellers want a real estate agent they can rely on and trust to get the job done. Considering this is one of the largest financial transactions they’ll make in their lifetime, it’s no surprise why. When it comes to delivering a standout listing presentation, trust is critical. If you can instill confidence and evoke trust, you’ll be on the right path to winning a new listing. The first step to doing so? Preparation.

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1. Be prepared

The first step to nailing your listing presentation is pretty simple—show up prepared. How do you ensure this happens? Research, research, research. You need to put in the time and effort to understand the client, their property, and the neighborhood, and it needs to happen before you ever step foot inside the door. If you want to win over a potential listing client, you need to earn their trust, and one way to do so is through expertise.

When it comes to preparation and research, there are three key areas you should focus on:

• The sellers: Who are they? What is their motivation for selling? What do they really want out of the sale? If you’re able to, it’s a great idea to try to get answers to these questions ahead of time. You can work this into your process. As soon as a potential new client reaches out to schedule a listing appointment, send them a short questionnaire or follow up with a phone call to learn more about them and what they’re looking for.

• The property: Even though you might not have seen the property in person, you should gather as much information about it as you can beforehand. How many bedrooms and bathrooms are there? What’s the square footage? When did it last sell and for what price? Has there been any work done on the property since it last sold? Many of these questions can be answered with a search of the MLS and local property records.

• The neighborhood: You might not be an expert in the neighborhood, but you should be knowledgeable. How are prices trending in the neighborhood? What kind of activity is it seeing, are there a lot of homes for sale or new construction happening? Are homes selling for over asking? Have there been a lot of price reductions? Aside from the housing activity, what can you learn about the neighborhood itself? How are the schools in the area? Is there any upcoming commercial development nearby? Any new transit plans in the area?

When you take the time to research these things, not only will you feel more confident, but so will the sellers in your potential to sell their home. Remember, knowledge is power. 

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2. Make a great first impression

It should go without saying but first impressions are everything, especially in the real estate business. Just like a home needs to make a great first impression to prospective buyers, so do you to your prospective clients. So, how do you make a flawless first impression?

Be on time: Showing up late to a listing appointment is the easiest way to lose a potential client. While some sellers may be understanding, others might not be. Give yourself an ample amount of time to get to the appointment. Being punctual is a sign that you respect and value their time, just as you do your own.

Show an interest: Ask questions about what they do, compliment their decor, let them know how cute their dog is—find ways to make connections. Showing a genuine interest in your potential client will help build connections and trust between the two of you.

Highlight your experience: There’s nothing wrong with showing your potential client you have what it takes to get the job done. As a part of your listing presentation, it’s a great idea to include some stats related to your recently sold homes, including:

• The number of homes you sold in the past year
• Similar homes you’ve recently sold
• The average days on market for your recently sold homes
• How the closing price compared to the list price
• If the homes sold over asking and by how much

By following this advice, you’ll be starting your agent-client relationship on the right foot and hopefully inch a little closer to securing the listing.

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3. Present local market data

It’s time for your preparation to pay off. After you’ve introduced yourself and showcased your home selling experience, the next step is to educate your seller and show them that not only do you have the stats to back it up, you have the knowledge too.

Start by painting them a picture of the overall housing market in their area and particularly in and around their neighborhood. Share market statistics like:

• How fast homes are selling
• How much homes are selling for
• How many homes have sold in the last 3-6 months
• The median price homes are selling for

Once you’ve set the scene, your potential clients should have a good understanding of what the current market looks like and confident that now is the right time to sell their home. At this point, they’ll likely be anxious to hear your thoughts on how you would price their home, which brings us to your pricing strategy.

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4. Set forth your pricing strategy

Although money may not be the seller’s primary motivation, it’s likely a pretty significant one. What home seller doesn’t want top dollar for their home? As the agent, you need to show the seller that a well-priced home is better than an overpriced home. How do you do that? With a robust comparative market analysis.

When presenting a comparative market analysis to the sellers, start off by explaining what it is and why it’s useful in determining a home’s list price. Point out which factors contribute to pricing—like square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, updates or renovations, proximity, and current market trends—and which factors don’t. After you’ve presented the comparable properties, share your proposed list price and explain why it’s the right price for their home.

At this stage of the listing presentation, your goal is to (1) educate the seller on how homes are priced and (2) show them that your proposed price is well researched and the right price for their home. Be sure to explain the importance of getting the price right the first time and that a well-priced home will only attract more buyers and sell faster.

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5. Explain the sales process

Remember, the listing presentation is all about building trust with your potential clients. If you educate them on the steps and timeline of the home selling process and present a well thought out plan for selling their home, they’ll see you as someone who has what it takes. Walk the sellers through a typical sales process and what they can expect along the way:

• Prelisting: Talk to the sellers about the importance of preparing their home for the market and how decluttering and depersonalizing can make their home more attractive to buyers. This part of the process can sometimes be overwhelming to sellers so show them just how easy you make it by providing them with checklists and recommendations for cleaners, handymen, and home staging, if those are needed.

• Marketing: After walking them through the home prep process, share your marketing strategy and your plan for getting their home in front of buyers and sold quickly. Walk through the different forms of marketing you’ll do for the property including photography, virtual tours, listing on the MLS and syndicate websites like Zillow and Redfin, direct marketing (mailers, emails, signage), digital marketing (social media, ads), and open houses. Don’t forget to emphasize your network of other agents either within or outside your brokerage that may have the perfect buyer for their home.

• Listed: Let the sellers know exactly what they can expect once the listing is live. Tell them how you plan to handle showings and open houses and how you can work with their schedule. Assure them that you will keep them updated on progress and be there to answer any questions they might have.

• Offers: Next, explain what will happen when they receive their first offer and every offer after that. Share how you will communicate offers, how they’ll receive them, and how you will help them in evaluating offers so they choose which is best for them. If they’re in a hot market and you suspect they could be dealing with multiple offers, explain what you’ll do and what they can expect in a multiple offer situation.

• Closing: Once they accept an offer, provide them with a high-level overview of what will happen when they go under contract and what will be expected of them. Be sure to share with them how you will support them through each step of this process.

During this part of the listing presentation, you don’t want to overwhelm the sellers with too much information, but you also want to show them you’re a seasoned pro who knows what they’re doing. Finding the right balance is key. Try breaking this information down into visual checklists or timelines that are easily digestible. Once you win the listing, you can always follow up with more information.

Tip: If you offer services or technology that make any part of this process easier, show it off to your potential clients. A concierge service that does all the heavy home preparation for them or a technology solution, like Jointly, that streamlines the process and keeps them in the loop can be great differentiators that help set you and your process for selling their home a step above the rest.

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6. Be ready for questions

Up until this point, you’ve shared a wealth of knowledge with your potential new clients, and although they may be more educated on the process and what you can do for them, they will definitely still have questions. Prepare yourself for what types of questions they might ask and be confident in your answers.

Aside from follow up questions, there’s a good chance you’ll also face some objections. After all, you are trying to sell yourself so it’s only natural to face some push back. These objections may come in many forms, whether they want you to reduce your commission or believe their home is worth more than you proposed. Prepare to confidently but politely defend yourself and your choices and back them up with data whenever possible. 

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7. Close the deal

Last but not least, it’s time to close the deal. You’ve made a great first impression, walked them through your process, and sold them on your expertise. Now, it’s time to make the ask. Be clear in what you’re asking and what the next step will be to make it official. Let the sellers know it was a pleasure speaking with them, that you’d love to represent them in the sale of their home, and ask if they’re ready to start the process by signing the listing agreement. You may feel as though you’re being too direct, but if you don’t make a ask, you could end up losing the sale simply because you weren’t clear about what happens next. 

Even if you felt things were going great and made a clear ask, there’s still a chance the sellers want more time to decide. If this is the case, respect their decision but don’t stop there. After the listing presentation, send a thank you note and be sure to take notes on what went well, what didn’t, and what questions they had. Hopefully your hard work will pay off! But even if you don’t end up winning the listing, learn from the experience and you’ll be even better prepared for the next one.