WHAT TO SAY TO LISTING AGENTS – TRY THIS IT WORKS

Have you ever gone after an agents business and had them give you a lame excuse as to why they “can’t” use you? Of course you have , we all have and it’s extremely frustrating.

So in this article I want to break down some of the best excuses I have heard and show you some responses that break thru that clutter. But before we go into that conversation you need to know that I firmly believe that YOU need to control your income.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Simply put it means that you must have you own marketing systems in place to generate deals where YOU can refer the Realtor and thereby control your own income.
Please RE – READ THAT LAST SENTENCE- I’ll WAIT !
Of course I understand that this may be foreign to most originators since we are all so used to getting our business from referals and realtors/builders. But there are ways to generate your own business.
One of those ways is to market to renters and get to them first. Another way to generate new business is to market to the 7.3 million Boomerang Buyers that everyone else seems to be ignoring.
I cover both at www.toporiginatorsecrets.com

LET’S GET TO YOUR MEETING WITH THE AGENT.
There are generally 3 reasons that an agent will give you as to why they can’t/won’t work with you. Please understand that each of these is generally a lame excuse and simply means that you have NOT shown your value.

Here are the top 3 reasons they will give you and the responses you should think about when you are meeting with them.

1.” I AM JUST A LISTING AGENT.”
I remember when I first heard an agent say this to me. I almost laughed out loud but I thankfully was able to control myself. I responded by saying , “Gee , I am so sorry to hear that and more importantly I am sorry to have wasted your time and mine. I work with a lot of buyers who I am able to get pre-approved and often times they are in need of a Realtor which is why I wanted to meet with you. But since you are ONLY a listing agent I guess we won’t be able to work together. Do you have any suggestions on any Realtors in your office who might be interested?”

The response is always priceless with the agents back tracking and explaining to you that they do work with buyers after all. Now you should not try this until you truly have generated buyers on your own who you can actually refer right on the spot.

Trust me , nothing will impress them more and nothing is a more powerful relationship builder. I generate these deals from renters and boomerang buyers that I market to and you can too.
There are also other ways to deal with this objection. I use a system that allows the agents to promote their listings and has my information on it. You can offer a similar program that helps them promote their listings with mobile sites and social media tools.

You could also offer to provide open house forms and even co-sponsor a brokers open. The possibilities are endless with the tools you can help a listing agent with. One last idea is to offer them a daily list of expired listings and FSBO’s they can market to. There are a number of providers of these lists if you search Google.

But I have also asked these so called “Listing Agents” what do they do if their sellers are looking to buy a home? Do they refer them to “Buyers Only” agents. Of course the answer is no. But instead of just making them feel bad about being caught in a lie it’s better to offer them a service.
“Would you like me to pre-qualify your sellers for a mortgage or answer any of their questions. I know that many sellers are very concerned about their move and want to nail the financing down before they even list their home for sale. So I would be happy to speak with them if you like.

2. WE HAVE OUR OWN IN-HOUSE LENDER I HAVE TO USE.

3. I ALREADY HAVE A GREAT LENDER I WORK WITH .

I have combined responses 2 and 3 because your response to these objections should be the same.
This is probably a true statement but the national statistics show that on average the in-house loan officer generates 23-25% of the business in that office. That percentage is in spite of the fact that the manager of that office is often incentivized based on the capture rate for that lender in that office.

When you hear this response always compliment that company. But ask some probing questions about what deals they have recently closed with that lender and how the process went?
Are there any buyers you interacted with that your lender could not help with ?
What would you improve about these transactions if you could?

The key here is to be quiet and listen! ( Please re-read that although I do know how hard it can be to not say anything). Often by just listening they will tell you exactly how to sell to them and help them meet their challenges.

Have they had any buyers who were turned away because of credit issues?
You could assist by working with some NON QM lenders. Maybe their overlays are not as strict as yours?
Have they had any buyers turned away because of income/self employment?

There are programs available with just bank statements – no tax returns.
Have they had buyers turned away because they did not have enough money for down payment or closing?
There are programs available with grants that could help that their current lender or the in-house lender may not currently offer. Maybe you could provide a lender credit for closing costs, most agents are not aware of this option.

The bottom line is that you must ask probing questions and listen. Find the opportunity and let them know you can help them grow THEIR business with the tools, knowledge, and expertise you have.

Now go out and start making some relationships with LISTING AGENTS !

Brian Sacks is a nationally-renowned mortgage expert who has career closing of more than 5,924 transactions for more than $1 billion. He has trained, consulted and coached, tens of thousands of loan officers and company owners over the past 31 years on how to close more loans, make more money, and still have a life. Brian is the host of “Top Originator Secrets,” which can be seen weekly on Mortgage News Network and on his blog. You can get more information and grab your free report on “How to Get Agents Chasing You” at TopOriginatorSecrets.com