Build Your Business: Sales Presentations to Realtors®

Welcome to Smart Tips, a monthly ASHI Reporter feature written by one of North America’s most successful home inspection firms, Carson Dunlop & Associates.  Each month, we feature a new article that provides some sound approaches to strategic business growth that have been field-tested for success by some of the most experienced home inspectors in North America. Whether it’s sales and advertising strategies, tips on making your business more customer-centric or how to evaluate public relations opportunities, our goal is to stimulate your interest to work on your business rather than just in it.

Last month, we looked at methods for booking a meeting with a Realtor to make a sales presentation. Now that you’ve got the meeting booked, how should you engage the real estate agent?

Consider using props. Some people like visuals, and a small flip chart or laptop PowerPoint presentation may be helpful. If you prefer to only have a discussion, that’s okay. But if you have built up the agent’s expectations by offering to show him or her a system that will sell houses faster and for more money, it’s best to have prepared a physical presentation. Also, you can give agents a copy of the presentation on a CD so they can view it again at their leisure.

Another presentation technique is to take the agent to lunch or breakfast. The format of this presentation depends on how well the agent knows you or on how good the referral was. For example, if the agent is your sister’s friend, you may be able to take him or her to lunch and make an informal presentation. Effective presentations are like conversations in any case.

Whether a presentation is formal or informal, remember the following:

• Consider everything from the customers’ perspective; it’s about them, not you.
  
  
• Describe benefits, not just features.
  
  
• Select only a few of the best benefits because the more you say, the less they hear; and
  
  
• Keep it short.

Once again, we have come to the part that distinguishes a successful home inspector from the average home inspector. You have finished your presentation and impressed the real estate agent. You now have two choices:

1. You can thank the agent for his or her time and say, “If you are ever in need of an inspector, please give me a call,” or
   
   
2. You can ask for the order. Asking for the order is sales terminology for obtaining a commitment from the prospect.

If you choose the first option, you’ve wasted your time. If you have earned the right to ask for the order, then you must do it. Here are lines some home inspectors use:

• “Can I ask you to add my name to your referral list?”
  
  
• “Can I count on you to give me a try?”
  
  
• “Will you refer me on your next inspection?”

It’s difficult to ask these questions because you may get a “No.” Also, it feels aggressive. Nevertheless, people make decisions based on emotion. If you feel as if you’ve made a good impression, now is the best time to ask for the order.

Here are three reasons you owe it to yourself to ask for the close:

1. You are trying to get an agent to refer you instead of someone else. You will not get the referral unless you ask. You have to be a little aggressive. One thing we can be sure of, at the end of the presentation, the real estate agent will not make “the close” for you.
   
   
2. Most real estate agents will not say “No” to your face. If they reject you, you are more likely to get a soft rejection that leaves the door open for the future. For example, the agent may say something like, “We’ll see, maybe I will give you a try when my regular inspector is unavailable.” You still can congratulate yourself because at least you had the nerve to meet the agent in person and ask for the close. If you had delivered your presentation over the phone, it would have been easier for the agent to flat out reject you.
   
   
3. When the real estate agent says “No,” remember rejection is part of the sales funnel. You can’t expect a “Yes” from 100 percent of the agents you meet. So relax and let them reject you. It’s just business. Remember one other thing: “No” means not now. It does not mean never. And besides, if you suspect they are not interested in what you have to say, this is a perfect opportunity to practice your sales pitch and closing techniques.

This article is based on content from “Building Your Home Inspection Business – A guide to marketing, sales, advertising, and public relations,” authored by Carson Dunlop and published by Dearborn Home Inspection. Carson Dunlop also authors the Home Reference Book, Essentials of Home Inspection, the Illustrated Home and, most recently, HORIZON, a unique Web-based reporting system. 

See www.carsondunlop.com or www.dearbornhomeinspection.com for more information.