Listing Appointment Mistakes That Happen Before You Walk in the Door

Raise your hand if you don't want more listings. Nobody? That's what I thought.

Every agent wants more listings, but a lot of us lose them before we ever ring the doorbell. On a recent Tuesday training, Mike Pillow from our team and I talked through the listing appointment mistakes we see most, and many of them happen days before the appointment. Scott, an agent from San Antonio with more than 50 years in the business, joined us and added some great points too.

Here's what to get right before you walk in the door.

Preparation beats experience

When I asked Mike Pillow what he thought the first mistake was, he didn't hesitate: preparation. If you're not prepared, you're sunk before you start.

That's true whether you're brand new or have been doing this for decades. Years ago, Mike and I were at an event where Greg Harelson, a broker from Myrtle Beach, brought an agent on stage who was about 22 years old. He looked like someone's grandkid. He'd taken something like 50 listings that year.

He told us he rarely got the "how long have you been in the business?" objection. He showed up so prepared with data and so confident that his age never came up. Preparation is how a new agent shows expertise they haven't had time to build yet.

Know the data, and know the people

Data matters, but it's only half of preparation. The other half is learning a little about the people you're meeting.

Between social media and AI, you can find out a lot before the appointment. Where do they work? What are they into? Are they Ohio State fans? Are they data people, or would a stack of spreadsheets bore them to tears? Knowing that shapes how you run the whole conversation.

Mike Pillow pointed out that a lot of this also happens when you arrive. Veteran plates on the car in the driveway, and he's a veteran, so there's an instant connection. Photos and decorations on the wall. Team gear, even if it's for the school up north. A little friendly ribbing can build a real bond.

Turn rapport into the staging conversation

I'll never forget walking into a home full of Steelers gear. In the middle of the walkthrough I stopped and said, "Oh my gosh, I can't sell your house." They looked at me, dead serious, and asked why. "Well, you've got all this Steelers stuff on the wall."

We laughed, and it built rapport. It also gave me an easy opening for a more serious conversation about staging.

Buying a home is emotional, and buyers need to picture themselves living there. Neutralizing a home means taking down personal photos, religious items, and anything that creates a strong feeling one way or the other, including sports teams. Some buyers will love your Steelers room. Plenty of Browns fans won't.

Send a pre-listing package

Years ago at an event, I heard a coach describe sending a pre-listing package to sellers before the appointment. He went as far as tying a helium balloon to it and having it delivered to the seller at work. Picture the whole office watching the delivery walk by. "What's that for Fred?" And Fred says, "Oh, it's from my realtor."

That's the goal. They start thinking of you as their realtor before they've even met you.

You don't need a balloon, and you can ask AI what belongs in a pre-listing package and tailor it to what you do. But I'd include at least:

• Comparable sales for the area.
• Your written marketing plan. And you'd better have one in writing.
• Information about you, your team, and your brokerage, built around what makes you different.
• Reviews and social proof. Scott suggested this, and he's right. Include your sales, or your team's or brokerage's if you're newer.

Why the package matters: it frees up the appointment

Do you really want to spend the appointment walking through your bio and your marketing plan? Or would you rather spend it learning about the sellers and letting them tell you what they need?

As Mike Pillow put it, if they've already reviewed your marketing plan and your sales in the area, you're not handling those objections at the kitchen table. You get straight to the good stuff: how can I help you, and what are your goals?

The pricing mistake that cost me a listing

Here's one I learned the hard way, and not years ago. This year.

I had a listing appointment scheduled and thought I was being smart. My pre-listing package got a little too specific on price, without me ever setting foot in the house. The sellers looked at it and decided I didn't know what I was doing. The home ended up selling for about $100,000 above the range I'd put in that package.

Now I keep pricing in the package general. Comps, yes. A high-level conversation about the neighborhood, yes. Something like, "Homes in this neighborhood are selling from the 400s to the 800s depending on these factors. Until I see your home, I don't know where it falls."

How wide that range should be depends on what you know. If you know the area and the house well and it sold recently, your range can be narrower. The longer since it sold and the less you know about its condition and updates, the wider the range should be.

Find out what they think it's worth

Sellers have access to more data than ever, so they already have an opinion of value. Ask "What do you think your home is worth?" and you'll usually hear, "I don't know, you're the expert." But you need to know where their head is.

Here's a trick I use. If I think a home is worth somewhere in the high 200s, I'll throw out a number on the high side: "If by some miracle I could get you 350, you'd probably take that, right?" "Oh yeah, we'd take 350." Now I have a sense of their range. If they say, "No, we're thinking 400s," I know we have a very different conversation ahead.

You can do this during a pre-appointment call. Worst case, you find out at the appointment.

Walk in ready to listen

All of this preparation has one purpose. It lets you spend the appointment on the sellers instead of on yourself. That's where listings are really won, and it's the subject of our next post on what happens once you're sitting at the kitchen table.

If you want to practice this with other agents, Mike Pillow and I run a roleplay session on Zoom most Saturday mornings at 8:30 Eastern. It's open to agents from any company or region. Email me at mike@21mike.com and I'll add you to the invite.

Want to see the full session? Watch our Tuesday training on listing appointment mistakes.

Mike Ferrante
The Mike Team at LPT Realty
www.21mike.com
Google Business Profile: https://g.page/r/CSQoYzel0Z68EAE
+1 (216) 373-7727