When a seller cancels a listing with an agent or allows it to expire when do you believe that they start looking for a new agent to help them?
Think about that for just a moment.
Serious sellers, ones that have to sell their home, are completely focused on the goal of selling their home. They are the kind of sellers that ask their agent if there is anything that they can do to help sell the home. The professional agent, like yourself, takes this as an opportunity to advise their client and present them with information. The agent who has the listing expire ignores the call and doesn’t serve their client as they should.
Getting back to the question, when does a seller look for a new agent when they know their current agent isn’t doing the job? They start looking 10 days prior to listing expiring. We know this because we surveyed different groups of expired sellers over the last 12-14 months and the average number of days that they started looking was 10 days prior to their listing contract expiring.
How does this help you?
One cannot market directly to sellers currently under contract but you can have information on your website or blog that allows sellers who are looking for information to possible get help from you or maybe just help them resolve their current situation.
On your website or blog it is important to address the following:
Why listings expire – There are many reasons for this and it is important to list the reasons out for people. This will lead some back to calling their current agent and for the others they will call you when their listing has expired.
Identify the reasons why sellers who list with you don’t expire. If you have only ever taken 1 listing and it sold them 100% of your listings sell. This is a very important statistic for a seller to know and one that they should have asked their first agent.
Identify what your plan is for expired sellers
If you target expired sellers let them know what your plan is for your expired clients and that this is part of your real estate business. I call them “2nd chance sellers” and that I am always willing to help sellers and give them a second chance at selling their property.
You need to present to them:
- How you prepare them for the second time and why it will be different for them
- How the issues that they faced with their previous agent are guaranteed not to happen with you and that you put that in writing.
- A guarantee so overwhelming and so amazing that no “2nd chance seller” could possibly resist
By doing this you will generate more business for yourself and help sellers solve their problems. You will have already presold yourself before you take one step in their door.
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