The goal of a buyer presentation is to convert a buyer into a client. When you go into a real estate buyer presentation, your goal is to prove that you have expertise, that you can provide value, and that you are trustworthy to represent a buyer in a transaction.
It can be difficult to prove your value, expertise, and trustworthiness in a single presentation, but it is possible! Here are some tips to win a buyer with a buyer presentation every time.
1) Prepare
You absolutely can’t just wing it if you want to win a buyer. They’ll see right through it, especially in today’s age when buyers have so much information at their fingertips to figure out if you’re telling them the whole story.
First things first, determine the key points you want to address in your presentation. You may want to focus on your overall real estate experience, you may want to focus on your market knowledge, or you may want to keep the focus on your buyer’s needs.
Whatever tactic you choose, you’ll need to keep your focus on meeting those key points in a way that answers your buyer’s questions so that they feel that you will meet their needs if they choose to work with you.
It’s okay if you’re nervous—you’re walking into unknown territory here! Practice with family members and friends if you need a little extra support and time for preparation. It’s totally understandable and a great idea no matter how many presentations you’ve done!
2) Be Confident
No matter how many times a homebuyer has purchased a home, they’re still not experts in the real estate process and they’ll still need reassurance. They don’t have unshakeable confidence based on their experience, so YOU need to bring that confidence—just don’t be arrogant when you’re doing so.
If you know the answer to a question the homebuyer asks, answer it confidently. If you don’t know the answer, don’t be afraid to say so, but with confidence that you’ll find the answer. Say something like “I don’t want to speak out of turn, so let me get with my team [broker, fellow agents, etc.] and get back to you. Is there anything else about that topic that’s important to you?”
At the end of the day, buying real estate is tough, especially in this market. Make sure your clients feel at ease with you and can trust you to help them get things done. If they trust you, winning them over as clients should be easy.
3) Be Up Front
Don’t hide information just to get people to sign the paperwork. In the end, such a dishonest tactic will only backfire!
Honestly inform your homebuyers of the challenges you’ll face in the market—avoid becoming the “yes man” or “yes woman” who only says what clients want to hear and ends up disappointing them.
There are some important steps that you’ll need to ensure your clients walk through before you can actually start working to look for a house. Make sure they know these three things:
- They MUST get pre approved.
- They need to prepare to offer over the asking price.
- They are not in control, especially in today’s seller’s market, but even when things change, they still won’t be in control of how the market works.
If you find that a potential client is just too unrealistic in their expectations, don’t agree to work with them out of desperation. In the end, they’re likely to be disappointed if you don’t meet their unrealistic expectations and you’ll be frustrated with them too.
No one will be happy if you aren’t upfront with the pros and cons at the start and ready to meet challenges with your clients no matter how they occur.
4) Connect Then Educate
The first step to winning a buyer is to connect with them. You can’t just educate them into an agreement, especially if they don’t really understand or care about the market information you’re offering.
This took me a long time to figure out. I used to be the “stats guy” in transactions—I’d vomit all kinds of analytics and expect clients to fall at my feet. Instead, clients were always going to other agents. When I asked what I could have done better, the typical response was:
“It’s nothing personal, we know you could have helped us, but we connected better and felt more comfortable with x agent.”
So, yes, you want to inform your clients and show them that you know the stats they need. However, first of all, you have to connect with them and make sure that they trust you as a person. It’s the connection they feel that will get you the job, the 5-star review, and the referral to more business in the future.
5) Commit and Deliver
Finally, make commitments during the buyer presentation and ALWAYS deliver on those commitments! If you promised to send homes, to send a contract, to follow up with an answer to a question, etc., make sure you do what you promised.
Make sure that you’re not the type of agent who overpromises and underdelivers. There are plenty such agents out there, but there are also plenty of good agents who will actually help your clients. Make sure that you are the trustworthy agent who delivers on their promises and has a good reputation.
A good reputation is what will get you what you need to earn more referrals and clients. Every time you make a commitment to a client, your reputation, your business, and your family’s welfare are on the line! Don’t be afraid to be an honest agent who always follows through no matter how challenging it may be.
Winning Buyer Presentations the Right Way
So, we could have gone into all kinds of technicalities on this. We could have discussed the perfect slides, the perfect infographics, etc. But I chose not to dive into that stuff because I know that’s not what wins over a client in the end.
Even if you don’t have a digital or physical presentation, you can still win buyer presentations. If you share valuable information, connect with clients, and provide them with honest, straightforward, answers and guidance, you can and will win the clients you need.
In the end, just be yourself. Come to a presentation prepared, confident, upfront, and ready to connect, educate, commit, and deliver. If you can do these few things, you’ll earn buyer representation from your presentation every single time.