All agents are at different stages of their career and different levels of production. Each has their own philosophy for running their business and different levels of staffing for accomplishing it. I get asked constantly, “How do I compete with agents that have more listings, staff and production than I do?” That is certainly a valid question since there are a whole lot more new agents, inconsistent agents and average agents then there are mega-producers. How do you compete against a mega-producer? Before I answer that let me give you some rules of how you don’t.
1. Don’t compete on numbers or production (The number of listings or sales).
If someone does a whole lot more than you, you don’t want to point that out to the client.
You do want to question the client if that is an issue for them. A great question to ask would be, “Is a certain production level of the agent important to you?” or “Provided that an agent clearly demonstrates their ability to do an outstanding job for you, does it matter the size of their operation?” or “What are the top three items that you are concerned about when selecting an agent?”
2. If you are newer, don’t compete on years in the business.
We need to level shift that discussion to a job well done or satisfied clients. When competing with mega-agents, make sure you have testimonials handy. Clearly demonstrate the success you have achieved with satisfied clients.
3. Focus on per agent productivity if it’s a competitive point of difference.
I have seen far too many mega teams that do a lot of business only because they have a lot of bodies on the team. One of the first things we look at when working with a mega-agent team is the production in units divided by the number of people on the team. This number really demonstrates the skill level of the people on the team. Too often those mega-agents only have warm bodies.
I recently talked with a mega-agent that had a large ego. He was only a mega-agent because he had lots of assistants. He had 10 people on his team with 150 gross units sold – that’s only 15 units a person or only 1.25 homes a month per person! The truth is that’s pretty poor production for all those people. He is also fooling himself that he is making any money. You could easily explain to the seller that with all those listings and all those leads they are working with, they only get 1.25 transactions a month – which is not right; the conversion rate on leads is extremely low. You can do much better than that and not waste opportunities to sell their home and actually increase their probability of sale.
If a mega-agent has 20 active listings with an average of 10 calls a month per listing – that’s 200 calls a month. To only convert 1.25 transactions a person from over 200 inbound calls a month shows there is a problem. You then assure them that you personally take all the calls on their home; you are not passing it to someone who is obviously not prepared to convert the call to an appointment – which is the key to sales- and that your conversion ratio and production ratio is much higher.
The fundamental argument for any agent competing against a mega-agent is service based. A mega-agent cannot provide the personal service themselves that a singular agent can provide. They can provide great service through others on their team, but not themselves. When I was selling 150 homes a year there were only so many touches I could provide my clients in a personal manner. I had to rely on my transaction coordinator or marketing coordinator to do more touches than I did. Since the biggest complaint the consumers have toward Realtor’s, other than they falsely believe we make too much in commission, is communication.
When competing against a mega-agent, we must sell personalized service and personalized communication. “You won’t hear from three other assistants, you will hear from me. You aren’t listing with these assistants, you are listing with me. Who better to handle all facets of the transaction than the agent you list with … the one that you trust.” Doesn’t that make sense?
As a mega-agent it was my job to be prepared for this discussion by the other agents and show them the benefits to my system or business model. What it boils down to is who has the best presentation and sales skills. Does the need for personal service carry greater weight than more production? Did you convince the client the production part is easy, the service part is hard? Did you share with them you could run your business like the mega-agents, but you decided your clients were too important? You decided that you don’t want to take the risk of a dissatisfied client. (Provided you really believe that and can demonstrate that to the client or prospect.)
It is better to position yourself with a competitive advantage. There is an old adage that we must define our competition before they define us. When trying to grow your business and compete with mega-agents take the right steps and make a strong belief-driven presentation. More often than you think, you will come out on top!