Take 5
5 Steps to Getting the Listing
With Katey Dallosto, real estate coach
eXp Realty California, San Francisco



Katey Dallosto directly addresses camera:  Real estate is a sales job, plain and simple. Many real estate agents overthink the listing presentation. They think they need 47 slides and a two-hour presentation to seal the deal. Wrong. It's actually quite simple.

I'm Katey Dallosto, a coach for eXp Realty California. Let's take five minutes to go over the five steps to a successful listing presentation. 

Your listing presentation is how you sell yourself and your services— but everyone knows that. So many times, agents complicate the process. But it's actually very easy. There are five steps: 1. build rapport. 2. develop a needs analysis. 3. present the information. 4. handle objections and 5. close. Let's talk about best practices for each step.

The first step is about building rapport. Between this and your need analysis, this should be the lion's share of your presentation. This is the part where you build a connection with the sellers. If they don't feel some connection, how will they trust you to handle the sale of one of the largest financial investments of their life? You want them to know that they can trust you, that you're going to guide them through the transaction. How do you do this? By telling your story. Get curious. Tell them about your family, your passions, hobbies, etc. Look around, do you see a photo of a child playing soccer? Do you have a child who plays as well? If so, bring it up. A level of vulnerability is necessary at this time. This isn't the time to talk about your awards and how you're the greatest Realtor of all time. They want to know that you're flawed just like the rest of us. Then, ask questions about them. Let them tell their story and find the connections. 

Be careful to set a time limit on this or you could talk for hours. I set it up ahead of time and say, “The purpose of our time together is to get to know each other and explain the process with you. I reserved an hour for our meeting. Does that still work for you? If so, we'll spend about 25 minutes getting to know each other first.” Then, honor that. Pay attention to the time you spend talking about yourself. 

At the same time, you can conduct your needs analysis. Why do they want to go through the hassle of packing up the house and moving? What do they love about their house? Ask questions to determine their motivation. My favorite question to ask is: If you had a magic wand, what would this experience look like? This helps you understand what they expect of the process. Then, figure out motivation. The clearer you are on motivation, the better you can handle transaction speed bumps, because no matter how good you are, there will always be speed bumps. And, when things get tough, you can remind them of that motivation, such as, “Remember when you said you were climbing all over each other because this condo is too small?” 

The third step is the presentation itself. This should be really short. You don't need a big binder to go through along with a 50-slide Power Point presentation. You just did a need analysis. So, pick the three things that they identified are important to them and discuss how you will address those needs. Then, pick two bonus things that you want to make sure they know you do. Remember, chances are they did their research on you before the appointment was made.

Step four is handling objections. They will likely ask questions about pricing the home, showings, marketing, etc. Answer these questions and handle any potential issues. Questions are good. It means they paid attention. 

Finally, step five, closing. Once you've handled objections and answered questions, ask for their business. Say, “OK, so the next step would be for us to sign the listing agreement. Would you like the house to go on the market this Monday or the following Monday?” Then, slide the agreement over to them along with a pen. 

That's it – the perfect listing presentation in five steps. The key: ask the right questions, answer questions, ask for the business and then stop talking. The person who talks first loses.