This is the sixth article in my series on powerful listing presentations. So far we’ve covered pricing, communication, technology, and marketing. This week’s topic is home presentation & photography.

Humans, by nature, are visual creatures. What we see with our eyes is what tugs at the strings of our heart, and engages us emotionally. Because of this, visual cues are extremely important in real estate – it’s the way we first connect buyers to homes, and it’s the way those buyers ultimately move beyond simply looking at homes, to mentally creating new memories in that home … before they even live there.

When you have fabulous home marketing materials to showcase at your listing presentation (remember — these are your “props”), you’re not only reinforcing the positive way the sellers feel about their home, you’re also visually showing the importance of reaching to the emotional side of buyers through home preparation, beautiful photography, and engaging video.

Sellers tell us over and over that home presentation is critically important to them. It’s one of the reasons they choose one agent over another. If your home presentation tools aren’t up to snuff, you’re going to lose business!

When you have “props” that show potential sellers what your home presentation tools look like, your ability to “wow” the sellers and get the listing goes up very quickly. This is especially true if sellers are comparing you to agents who have either poor quality – or very few – tools.

If you know you need to step up your game, but aren’t sure where to start, here are some ideas to get you started. None of these ideas are terribly expensive. But they will give you a huge return on your investment in building a long-term and sustainable relationship with your sellers, and in attracting potential buyers to every one of your listings.

Photos, photo galleries, and video: I’ve talked about these three items in previous Zebra Reports, including a recent Zebra Report titled Powerful Marketing – the Signature Virtual Tour, but I’m going to say it again. Unless you are also a professional photographer or videographer, hire professionals who specialize in showcasing homes. Your home presentation tools should include incredible photography that draws buyers in from the first time they pull up the listing. When you show sellers what kind of photography you invest in, they’ll instantly understand the value you bring to the table.

The Home Photo Book

This is different than what I call the “home book” (a book where you include items such as home care and warranty records, the most current inspection report, tax and appraisal records, and neighborhood and community information). The home photo book is a photographic tour of the home that draws the buyer in and allows them to envision living there. This is where you tell the story of the home!

Here’s how to build the home photo book:

• Start with amazing photos. These photos must be very high resolution and print-quality. They should be so good that when you print them at 8”x10” they look even more amazing.
• Many agents use an online company like Shutterfly to build their home photo book. For about $30, and just a little time, you can create something quite stunning. All you do is pick your style, pick your cover and upload your photos.
• Other agents buy what I call the ‘wedding album’ book. You can find these at any craft or photo store. If you buy the version with the die-cut front cover, you can insert a beautiful exterior home photo for the cover. Print out high-quality photos on glossy photo paper and mount them to the pages. If you’re making this version, remember to keep it in great shape – it will get worn out as you show it to more and more potential sellers.

When you’re showing your sample home photo book to your sellers, be sure to let them know that you’ll be creating a book similar to this for their home. That book would be prominently displayed in the home (perhaps next to the flyer stand) for buyers to look at when they’re touring.  And don’t just make one of these books!  When you create the book, order (or make) two!  After closing, one can stay in the home for the buyers, and you can give the second copy to the sellers at closing. They will love having this beautiful book to remind them of their former home.

Home Staging

Be careful here, because sometimes sellers think that when you offer to stage their home you are actually going to change their home so much that you make it unlivable for them. Or, when you say you stage a home, you are offering to spend hundreds of dollars to get their home ready for the market. Make sure you are clear in what you are going to do, so your expectations of service will match your seller’s. Some agents are now calling this service “home merchandising” rather than “staging”.

Here’s how it might sound as you talk to sellers: “One of the things we need to consider is how to merchandise your home properly to engage potential buyers. I know you might have visions of us drastically changing your home. Don’t worry!  We don’t need to change the way you live – we just need to help buyers see how they might live in your home.”

Be sure to use your home merchandising props – the before and after photos that show sellers exactly what you mean by merchandising, and the value that it brings to them. If you have statistics that show how your merchandising efforts lead to a shorter days-on-market number, or a higher sales price, use them in your props! Create a visual board that has some beautiful “before and after” photos, and a flyer that displays the statistics to back you up.

As a wrap-up to my six-part listing presentation series, let’s talk about where we started and where we are ending. I’ve talked about everything you need in your listening presentation – the powerful tools that will set you apart and really build your business. You need pricing tools. You need communication tools. You need technology, marketing and home presentation tools. The reality is that you need them all!

However, I don’t want you to feel so overwhelmed that you never get started creating your listing presentation props. So – start small if you need to, and create one or two pieces from each of the categories I’ve covered. Once you see the value (and I guarantee the value will be BIG), you will be ready to create more and more visual props that reinforce your professional skills as a listing agent. Your goal should be to have a very compelling, very professional presentation … one that is so impressive that sellers hire you on the spot.

Want to get hired every time you do a listing presentation? When you have powerful listing tools that’s exactly what will happen.

Based on the feedback we’ve gotten from this series it sounds as though many of your really like a multi-part format. Well, here’s some good news!  Next week I’m beginning a brand-new four-part series, sort of a “how-to” on holding highly successful open houses.  In fact, I like to call it the “unforgettable open house”. Stay tuned – this is going to make you think about open houses in a whole new way!