World Class Buyer Work

But I've got to tell you , john , the buyers are still out there , the vendors are still out there , people want to transact and I'm really excited because today we're going to spend 15 minutes talking about the art of buy work and I'd love to tap into a lot of the stuff .

Like John , if you remember when we were both doing real estate decades ago more than now when they were just our main role , private inspections was actually more than half the deals you would get done were done , meeting people at properties Monday to Friday .

The open for inspections was the bonus and I just think that maybe we should go through about five or six great things agents are doing that have mastered the art of buyer work .

He asked me , he said could you just give me 15 , 20 minutes , just advice , I'm just a bit lost where I'm at , this guy's writing 2 million and he probably will write a lot more . Anyway , I was talking about buyer servicing . I said what's your strategy there ?

He said oh , john , we've been taught just to get the listings , and the buyers will find the listings and that's it . And I think a lot of the industry is being taught or has started to think like that , tom . And I reckon that buyer

servicing is one of the great hidden opportunities to dominate your market . Because guess what ? Buyers become sellers .

Buyers talk to sellers , buyers are related to sellers and if you become the only agent that a buyer can rely upon to follow them up , call them back , offer them properties you know , work with them , encourage them , you're going to be , you're going to start dominating the listing side . So , yeah , breswick Whitney's been very good .

I remember Ivan and Shannon when they left us sadly . I wish they were still with us because they're great agents , but anyway they decided when they were with us .

They were extraordinary at buyer servicing and they made that very much a mark of theirs when they went out and they started Bresic Whitney and I think that's been for Bresic , that's been one of the keys to success has been very , very good bioservicing .

So opportunity for everyone listening today to say , okay , probably I've been neglecting , at best I've been suboptimal and let's discuss . You know what are some of the things you can do to become an expert buyer service .

Then you've got another market where it's more like there's a lot of sellers but there's not a lot of buyers . You might have less number of buyers to work with at any one time , but let's make the assumption that we're going to define a hot buyer as someone that's going to buy a property within the next 30 to 60 days At any one time .

John , how many buyers do you think an

agent should be sort of working with ? Have they in there , whether it's a spreadsheet on their CRM system , they're just top of mind with a bunch of buyers . How many do you think ?

So , whatever you're doing , the answer is double it , unless someone's out there and they've got like 100 buyers they're working with weekly or a really chunky number . Most people I talk to I say how many buyers have you got on speed dial that you're talking to at least once a week , absent of them being interested in the property ? Just following them up ?

Most people come up with a number between 5 and 15 . And I'm saying to them you should have 40 to 50 , at least 40 to 50 in most markets . Maybe not every single market . I mean Kenny Jacobs , whose average sale price is 100 mil , is not going to have 40 , 50 buyers .

But for most of us that's an achievable number and I recommend that you should be in touch with your hot buyers every week . Now , if you break that down , it's not that many per day or every two or three days .

But , tom , I think it's really critical because not only is it going to bring you listings in the future when you step into a listing this afternoon and you know when you look around that you've probably got at least five to 10 ready to go .

Walk up starts people that you can ring on your way back to the office if you've got a contract and say , hey , I think I've just seen the home for you . When can we get through and see this ? So I would be saying you know , whatever you're working with , double it . If you're working with 20 , go to 40 . If you're working with 30 , go to 60 .

If you're working with 10 , go to 40 . Anyway , I think it's really critical . And you know who's our dear friend that says volume negates luck . I don't know if it's Jocko Willink or one of those guys , but it's very no , it's Homozy , alex Homozy . And I think that's very true .

The more buyers you're working with , the more luck you're going to get and the more bad luck doesn't matter , because you've got choices .

Panos alert , the Troy Malcolm alert , and I'd put in what you're looking for and every single time a property matched of mine . But I should be ahead of the curve there . But another agent , I'd be ringing you up . Hey , tom , have you and Sula seen that property in Kingston that really looks like it's got your name on it ?

Unfortunately I'm not handling it , but I reckon you should go and have a look at it . I'll send you the link . Unfortunately I'm not handling it , but I reckon you should go and have a look at it . I'll send you the link . For me that's great buyer servicing .

It's displaying an abundance mentality , it's showing that you are actually more interested in helping them find a home than transactionally gaining 2% out of that process and you are building an incredible bond with that buyer . An incredible bond with that buyer .

So I think , creating an alert for your top 20 , 30 , 40 , 50 buyers and then letting them know when something comes up is just a great thing to do . So I would . I mean , the first thing I'd do , tommy , is with your buyers , when you've identified , certainly the ones that are .

You know , we're calling them hot buyers today , some people call them A buyers or whatever . We're just talking about people that don't have to sell . They've got their finance approved . They're out every weekend looking . They're displaying the traits of someone who is keen as to buy , as opposed to someone that once a month turns up and opens .

You know when you're doing that , have a deep dive , just say you know , tom , it's too busy .

What are the must-have , non-negotiables , what are the like-to-haves ? But they're not essential to have because we've got a budget . We've got to move within a budget . What's the reason that you're moving ? So I really get into a deep conversation and I want to know everything about the driver of the move , how they're feeling . Can I ask you ?

You know the makeup of your family . You've got kids and pets and you know what are the priorities .

So by the time you've done that and of course , taking notes and capturing the notes is helpful because if you are genuinely working with 50 active buyers at any one time , you're going to need some prompts when you ring them up , because it's a fair number of people . And so I just do that . I don't do it necessarily to impress people .

Well , not necessarily at all . I do it because I like helping people . I know I'll pick up hints and the conversation as we go forward . I'll get hints from what they're looking at and , yeah , that's what very helps .

But you sort of threw another question , because a lot of the times I mean I know people use the term buyers are liars , right , and I think what they're really saying is that what they've said is not the truth , right ? But I just that sometimes an agent hasn't dug deep enough to qualify , to find out where really a buyer's at yeah , no , it's clear .

It was just John , it was just too early , Like it was the first weekend we were out looking and we saw it , so then I would say so , Tom , can I ask you , if that came up right now , would that be something you'd buy today ? Now , of course , then you would have probably said , well , it's a bit more . Anyway , We've only got 4.85 .

But I'm always peeling the onion , as I call it . I want to get to the core , the center . What's exciting you ? What's disappointing ? You ? Do you have to sell or not ? Can we help you ? Rent your place out , all of those things ? And you only get there through questions and by being in the moment . It's not about having some list of questions on your list .

You've actually got to be there , focused in the moment , talking with them and , as they give you something , ask them . If there's a question to be asked , ask it .

Can I just touch on the art of keeping a buyer interested in an auction property , sort of staying close with a buyer , making sure that buyer sort of knows what price is going to be competitive at auction . Any tips on , you know , working with buyers leading up to an

auction ?

Have you got any questions about it ? There's a strata report , you know . Do you want me to send you a link to buy it ? So again with questions and observations and curiosity . And then I'm just saying , you know , since we last met , tom , you know , just want to let you know I've had another three or four contracts out .

Haven't had any offers , but I actually think people are sort of starting to say that they'll pay five or more for the property . I know we were speaking about high fours , but I don't want you to arrive and be disappointed .

If you're able to get just above the five mark , I think you'll be competitive on the day , but I think at $48.50 , it might just go above you . So anyway , you guys have a chat about that .

I don't want you to overspend or overstretch yourself , but I genuinely think it's probably going to come up and end with a five in front of it and people appreciate that . You know they say thank you , thanks for letting me know , because the number of people that are quoted high fours and it goes to 6.5 , it's just embarrassing .

And he goes . And there was a vendor bid put in at 1,450,000 , right , probably got passed in , right , that's terrible . And he said to me Tom , I'm letting you know , how do I go about getting my $800, ? You know , because he's paid for a Peston building . I said I don't know what to say . Call the agent . I haven't heard from him and he goes .

If I don't get it , he goes . I'm sending that email to the Office of Fair Trading . I said well , what do you want ?

But when they're quoting a figure and then they take a vendor bid $50,000 to $100,000 above that figure a vendor bid that's inexcusable and , by the way those that are listening from New South Wales , it could be happening elsewhere . There's a big crackdown as we speak .

I know at some of our auctions on the weekend in the inner west of Sydney there was a number of OFT inspectors . You know there's lots of talk around about a few people at the moment that have got the OFT breathing down their neck . Please do it for good business practice and ethics primarily , but even just to keep your licence .

Please do not swim outside the flags when it comes to price quoting . Okay .

of showing a home . Is there a way , like at an open for inspection , buyers come through , but hypothetically speaking , let's assume you're taking a buyer there , like any tips , suggestions , a way that you should actually be talking about the property ? I mean , I can't help it . I look at people say , oh , here's the kitchen .

I mean we know where the kitchen is . Well , here's the bathroom .

So you've got to sit down with the seller up front , do a deep dive , understand exactly what they love about it , the details , any potential that hasn't been realised yet . You really have to spend time up front getting and then capturing it and knowing it .

So then when I bring a buyer through let's say , private appointment as opposed to open , because opens a lot of people do wander through by themselves . So I would say you know , tom , why don't I take you through ?

Because there's a few things I know about the home that I think are really important and I've had a chance , I've been here a lot over the last few weeks and I'll just give you , from my eyes , what I think is really special and some things that I think , if you want , you might be able to do and you might have some questions .

Then what I want able to do and you might have some questions , then what I want you to do is , if it feels good to you , feels like it could work , I want you to spend as much time as you need to here . I'm happy to . I'll pop out the front .

I can make some calls if you like and just give you the time , because I know that this is a big decision and I really want to make sure , if this feels right for you , you get the time to take it all in . So I do like to take them through and give them some insights , but I also like to then give them as much time .

Now , of course , it's telltale that if you take them through and then all of a sudden they spend half an hour there , which is gold , um , you know they're interested .

So I think you've got to , you've got to inform people , but then let them immerse themselves or , as maddie steinmobile say , get the vibration of the place , and I think they're both important john .

He said to me when a buyer comes through , simply ask them have you made any offers or bid at an auction ? If he says the answer is yes to one of those two questions , don't let them go . You stick to them like a stamp sticks on an envelope . That person is hot in the pathway of buying .

And then the second one is , he said , when you walk out of a property with a buyer and they look back at it , sometimes you've got to be the one that prompts the pathway to actually moving into a negotiation . And he'd said he'd look . He says look at them and say I can see you're looking back at this home .

Are you just interested in it or would you like me to tell you how you can own this one and start Great dialogue ?

I just jotted that down as you were saying that there were three categories of buyers when I was very active , especially the first half of my sales career , and funny enough , they were buyers from Wollongong and most people in New South Wales know where that is but those interstates about an hour and a half back in those days , a bit shorter now , an hour or

so south of Sydney , canberra buyers , you know , three hours southwest of Sydney . They were the two . If someone rang up and said I'm from Wollongong , I saw your ad and I went with Courier . I wouldn't make as much time because they were committed buyers . They would generally come to Sydney and they would look at everything , make a decision , then go back .

Same with Canberra buyers . The third one interestingly , interestingly was not geographic , it was doctors . I found doctors had a lot of money , very little time , their work , you know , 24 hours a day , literally on call some of them , and they're often in surgery .

I'm talking about , you know , st vincent's hospital which was right in the middle of my my patch there in paddington and darlinghurst . And I found that again , if I , if I put the time and attention into doctors as well , they would be particularly good buyers because they just wanted an outcome and they didn't have time to look for 12 months or six months .

They wanted to find something that's suited and buy it , and obviously well-heeled . So they were able to . You know they rarely had any problems with finance . So I think you know there were my little sweet spots . But just recognise , in your patch there will be some indicators that someone is a really hot buyer .

But as your old boss said , you know if they've bid or bid at a property at auction or made an offer on something , that's a damn good indicator as well .

And even if they buy through Robert R Andrew or through another one of the officers was LJ Hooker he goes as long as you've looked after that person . If they're a buyer , seller , your listing presentation is good buyer work . You'll be getting their business . So good buyer work can actually get you listings right ,

yeah , 100% .

Please allocate blocks of time in your idea week for buyer work , because a lot of people they spend all their time on listings and prospecting and four hours a day prospecting and three hours a day listing , put until they're sold , yeah , your job is not even half done , it's not not done at all . So please allocate time .

For me , it was always Tuesdays , thursdays and Saturdays were the big days , but then I had a flexible period half day Friday , so I had at least 50% of my week was dedicated to private appointments . I also had a much better strike rate at private appointments than I did at open homes .

The number of people I'd have 60 people through an open home or an open home or two or three , but I'd have six people through private appointments and I'd sell three of them properties and the 60 people I might sell two of them properties .

So I had a really good strike rate when I could be up close and personal , really gauge the body language , spend time , get them through unhurried . So ideal week .

Second thing is , if you and a team and many people that listen to this podcast are part of a team regular huddles whether it's a daily huddle , preferably , if not at least a weekly meeting , where you sit down with your team and you talk through who are the active buyers , who's entered the market in the last seven days , who's made offers that we've heard of

and you can do it as a group of agents . I mean if you've got four or five agents in the office and you trust each other , which hopefully you can do it as a group of agents . I mean if you've got four or five agents in the office you know and you trust each other , which hopefully you can and should do it .

But certainly , if it's your own team , make sure that you have on the agenda buyers , buyer activity and what's coming up for them as front and centre .

So signing off , see you next week , johnny .