Swap out your hard sales tactic for a serve-before-selling strategy

Gone are the days when there were limited numbers of high street agents for vendors to choose from. Today, there are online, hybrid and high-street agents all vying for clients. And social media and online tools have given clients a voice like never before. They want dialogue and trust, results and clarity. Hard-core selling no longer has a place in sales growth.

You may have heard of the tactical sales strategy of “serving before selling”. Practically speaking, it’s about first offering value, establishing your agency as a resource, building trust, and then seeing these churn results.

What questions do vendors have when thinking about listing their property on the market? Answer common – and more niche – questions on your website. Become a valuable resource of trustworthy and up-to-date information. Content on your website should also cover industry and regional, relevant information.

Now that the content is on your website, recycle it by posting it on your social media platforms too.

Somewhat a lost art, listening is an integral part of selling. Listening builds trust, values the other party and helps establish a relationship. Listen to understand a vendor’s needs, concerns and plan. Can you summarise back to them accurately what they have said? Listen to what they’re saying – and not saying. This will help you to...

Once you’ve understood what they’re saying, it’s time to offer some solutions on how your agency can help. This is about serving them, focusing on their pain points and needs, and helping them along the process. Once you’ve listened, you can solve their problems by utilising your Estate Agency’s services.

If you’re in a hard-core sales mindset, you just want to land the sale and then move on to pursue the next lead. Serving is different. Serving means following up and caring for the client before, during and after the sale.

But make no mistake, it’s more than just an upsell opportunity. It’s about caring for that client – and being genuine about it. People can easily sniff out the difference. Continue to offer sincere support and stay in touch. The natural outgrowth may be that they refer you to another vendor, engage with your brand online positively or even use your services again in the future.

Don’t know where to start? Here’s how to?keep leads warm?over time.

The most important takeaway is that you need to listen to leads and clients, building a rapport to engage them in what you have to offer.