KGCI: Real Estate on Air - How to Turn Showings into Closings

Episode Date: June 20, 2025

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And since then, I've built a top performing team and I've sold over 1,700 homes. and $400 million in sales volume. In this podcast, I keep it real, and I tell you exactly what I'm doing to sell tons of houses, lead my team, market my brand, grow my social following and database, and maintain incredible work-life balance. I'll never shy away from sharing my biggest mistakes, as well as the juiciest parts of my secret sauce. Pull up a seat and get ready to learn and be inspired. This is the high-performance agent podcast with Tina Beliveau. Welcome back to the high-performance agent podcast. I'm your host, Tina Belivow.

And today we're going to talk about how to turn showings into sales. And I'm here today with a special guest. And you may know this by now, but my best podcasts are inspired by questions that I get from agents, as well as inspiration that I get from my inner circle in business. And today's guest, Jill Wooten, is part of that inner circle. And she has so much wisdom to share on today's topic, which is how to show a house like a seasoned pro. Say hello, Jill. Hello, audience. So I just want to say, Jill is incredibly humble to tell you all of this. So I just want to give you a sense of her

credibility of who you're listening to today as far as her expertise in the art of sales. She is one of the most accomplished sales people I know. She started selling new construction for Ryan Holmes in 2012 and absolutely slated there. So in almost a decade in her time there, She was consistently in the top 10 in the company out of about 500, if not more sales reps at a given time. And cumulatively, she sold over 400 units and $160 million in volume. However, one of the many reasons that I love Jill isn't just because she's a high achiever. She also has really high standards, which is why I would say she's probably like in my inner circle, because we just have very, very similar values about doing things at a high level, but doing them with style and with kids.

and with relationships at the forefront. So she was recognized at Ryan Holmes for this a lot with her customer service ratings, earning into this thing called the President's Club, which basically means not only did you beat your sales quota, but you also maintained really high customer ratings. So I just want you to know who you're hearing from today and how much credibility there is behind that. So Jill, did I forget anything and or have I embarrassed you? I'm blushing.

But thankfully, this is a podcast, so none of you can see me. Can I just say that's why I love podcast? You just, you have no idea what I look like right now. Beautiful. It's a beautiful thing. So yeah, you know, just to kind of wrap up the backstory, Jill pivoted from new construction into resale about 18 months ago. By the way, she already has sold $20 million in sales volume in that year and a half since

her pivot. So what's funny about it is she's now being exposed to the quote other side of the real estate world where all of us regular real estate agents didn't, you know, necessarily get top of the line corporate sales training like she got it Ryan Holmes. So we were having like a fiery text conversation about kind of her observations being in the field on the resale side. And I was like, you know what, Jill, this would make a really awesome podcast episode. And I love to find business hacks that make you even better at what you're already doing. Like I love when there's just one tiny thing you can do. And one thing that I say to agents a lot in

my academy is that if you can just convert the leads you already have at a higher level, like that's the way to really win. Like, if you can convert 10% more of your active buyers into contracts and not even do more lead generation to hit your goals or grow your business, that's such a win. So do you have any thoughts about that when it comes to conversion to kind of lay the groundwork today? A hundred percent. We're all here to work smarter and not harder. And your clients, who are also very busy, will appreciate it too. And I love that you pointed that out that people are busy. they don't want their time wasted. So I don't even want to go into a spoiler alert, but I think like when we waste people's time showing them homes that aren't a good fit for them, it really detracts from

their respect for us. I couldn't agree more. Yeah. And you know, what's funny is we're in a really tricky market right now. There is very little inventory to show people. You know, when there's a lot of homes to show your clients, it's a little easier to maybe stumble around and eventually happen upon the correct house with like that smaller, less refined skill set because just eventually you can help them find it or they might even just find it by scrolling online. That could not be more true. It was very easy a few years ago to say things like, oh, no problem. Let's just keep looking. And like you said, eventually you will stumble upon that home, most likely. But to succeed today, you need the skills to really understand what fits your clients needs and help them problem

solve to make that happen within the limited inventory that we're seeing today. And I love that you said problem solved just now because I think that is where you go from being a helper to a fiduciary, to someone that is really like a trusted advisor that helps people see things beyond. Like no one needs you to walk them through a house and say, here is a kitchen, here's a bathroom. But we do need to help people kind of think beyond the situation they're in and see the potential and really unpack what it is that they really want when they don't even know it on a conscious level or can't find the words to say it. So we're going to break this into a few topics. So we're going to talk about preparing before the showing, specific things you can do during the showing to be a better consultant. And then some really powerful mindset and thought process tips to cap it off. So Jill, I want to give you the floor for pretty much the rest of the time here. Let's talk about the first piece. What can you do to prepare for a really good showing?

This may sound obvious, but show up early. You should not be pulling up when your clients do. And you need to turn on the lights and open the blinds and windows before the showing. It is very distracting to enter a room and fumble around for the light switches and have to try to process what you're seeing as you're turning the lights on. That's why every time you go to a model home, every light is on in every closet, every hallway, every bathroom, and the blinds are wide open. That way the client can enjoy the space and not focus on where the switch is hidden behind some door. So obvious but very important. I love that you said that I'm just going to insert one little thought here. I think, you know, obviously we all know that we should be early and have the lights on, but I think it's just easy to slip and get tired and distracted and let things just get in the way of that like level of professionalism. So I say this with like love for myself and anyone else who's listening. Like if you feel like there's just like a little bit of sloppiness and it's time for like a wake up call and a sharpening of the skill set. I would start here.

Like, how can you just prepare more? So how do people, like, what's your tip for familiarizing yourself before you're even there so that you can come in sharp and not seeming vague on answers? Yeah, I mean, you're the expert. So you need to familiarize yourself with what you're showing before you show up. Basic things that agents don't do. Like, has the home bit sitting? It's really important to familiarize yourself with the homes you're going to show

before you show up. Sounds obvious. But knowing things like that. like, has the home been sitting? Was it just listed? When was it built? Are there any agent remarks? That way, when the buyer says something like, ooh, this roof looks old, you could maybe say, actually, this home's been sitting for over a month. That might be something we have a shot at negotiating a credit for. Or you could say, oh, it actually said in the agent remarks it was just replaced three years ago. I'll reach out to the listing agent and see if I can get a copy of the

invoice to confirm. How much more educated and impactful is that type of knowledge than saying, I don't know. Yeah. And I think a lot of the complaints or things people say, like, oh, the roof looks old. That is often a bid from the client to help them see past that. Kind of what I was trying to say is like they, they don't know what to do with that. And it's our job to show them what to do with that. And like, leaving it up to them to draw their own conclusion is generally never going to be as productive as putting yourself squarely and confidently in the expert seat in the car and driving them through the house from that place. Obviously, you don't want to like problem solve every last thing they say. But I think a lot of those fears and concerns that people, you know, some clients don't verbalize

anything. But when they do, those are opportunities to demonstrate that expertise. A hundred percent. So, and you kind of just said this already. But one thing you shared with me as we were preparing for this episode is coming from the new construction world, you were just shocked at how unprofessional some agents can be when showing homes. Of course, none of our listeners are unprofessional. But speaking about, you know, just generally what we see out there, you said that when you worked at a builder, they either bought that floor plan that you were showing them in the model home or you just made zero dollars. Like there was way more pressure on you to have an effective showing because there was no second, third or fourth chance to go, as we said, like stumble around at other

houses to figure it out later. So what are some tips you can give for agents to really up their professionalism and skill set. It comes down to just saying it. Verbly establish yourself as a trusted guide. So I begin showings by telling clients that our goal today is to figure out if this home works for you. I'm also here to help take note of repairs that might be lurking, things that could hurt or really help the value of this home, and mostly keep track of how it fits your needs

based on what you've shared with me. And I'm going to help you focus on the big picture. So that just kind of sets the expectation. before they walk in, what your role is, and that you're there to help them. In my 10 years, working in a model home, selling for a builder, I watched probably hundreds of agents show their clients' homes. As you said, it was sometimes like mortifying, for lack of a better word to witness. So many agents would open the door, they would stand at the front, and they would say, take a look around, let me know if you like it, which is wrong because you're not leading and

controlling the process at all, which is not a service to your client. Or they do the the opposite and they hover. In case you missed it, high performance agent Academy is officially open for new students and we start on May 1st. Do you feel frustrated by making slow progress, sick of your systems and CRM being a mess, lonely and tired of figuring out how to grow your business on your own, and are you ready for a breakthrough in your sales, marketing, and lead generation? First of all, you're not alone. I have been there and I blazed the trail to solve all of those problems. I've assembled every single system, template, and marketing strategy I use so you can copy and paste them right into your business. If you're ready to transform everything about your

real estate business, this is your golden opportunity. I will walk alongside you for the rest of 2024 and help you plug these systems directly into your business. And we will customize every element to your market, your brand, your voice, and your goals. High performance agent Academy starts on May 1st and I don't want you to miss the boat. Head to the show notes to get the link or DM me on Instagram at Tina Belavow and I'll send you everything you need. See you in the Academy. So obviously both ends of those spectrum being like really passive or overly controlling and not really in a productive way isn't the way you want to go. So you said something really wise. You said establishing yourself as a trusted guide. What is your system for demonstrating and actually

doing that for people saying, you know, you're going to track how it fits their needs. Are you making notes somewhere? Are you keeping it in your head? Is it something that, you know, I feel like when you're an expert at something, it becomes very intuitive when you've been doing it for 10 years. But in the beginning, sometimes you have to really like specifically come up with your own process. So even if you could like think back to early on, like, what is your process to track for people? And then what do you do to follow up afterwards? So I would say because they know that my goal is for them to explore the home and see if it's a good fit and then I'm going to help with all the things I mentioned above. I usually just make notes on a piece of paper as we're going through.

That's what I used to do in the model home all the time. And sometimes it would be something to circle back to after we finish the tour. And I'm not tackling it like right on the spot because I need to see overall if the home is like somewhat of a good fit before we dive too deep into any one specific thing. So I would make notes on a piece of paper or now as an agent if we're touring multiple properties. I will usually make notes on my iPhone to reference later. and then I will say after a showing, like, hey, when is a good time for you to hop on a call and review everything we've seen today? And I'll talk more about what I dive into on those calls, but I will rehash everything with them to make sure that I have a really solid understanding of what they liked, what didn't like, what worked, what didn't work. Why? Why not? That type of thing.

you just hit on one of my biggest passion points. So one of the things that I found was really helpful on the listing side, this is helpful anywhere. But with the listing side especially when I would go to look at a house and have a listing appointment, and then we would end where maybe it wasn't completely clear. And I think there are a lot of valid reasons to not always close at the listing appointment. Sometimes they are still interviewing other agents and they're just not going to like, I know there's that like hardcore sales tactic of like trying to get them to cancel all their

interviews like that's not really my style. So like sometimes we would end on a vague note because of that or because after seeing the house, I felt like I did need to sit and look through comps for another like chunk of time to really refine the exact price strategy and send them the list, send them the listing agreement later. Yes. So it became my ninja tactic to never leave the appointment without defining a clear next step. And ideally a next step where I'm actually going to connect with them and not create an opportunity for them to blow me off. So an opportunity to blow me off would be, oh, I'm going to send you an email. Let me know your thoughts.

And then, you know, what happens? I send them. I know I'm going on a seller tangent. But I feel like you can say what you want to say about this, Jill. But like sending someone, you know what, I think we should list your house at, you know, X number $100,000. They read the email. They don't like it.

They don't feel like taking the time to tell you that or have that dialogue and they just hire someone else versus having a phone call where you can actually walk them through the thought process, gauge their reaction in real time, calibrate, back pedal is needed, you know, come up with other solutions. If, you know, they really want a certain number, well, then these are the other things you're going to need to do to prepare your home, et cetera, et cetera. So I think one thing that I learned is when I would have these like missed opportunities to convert and close, it was often because I was moving from face to face or voice to voice to a more passive kind of system where there was no dialogue. So ending with a

scheduled phone call or something very concrete where they know that kind of I'm in charge, I'm driving the process. People actually appreciate that as opposed to feeling like you just sort of, I don't know, threw spaghetti at the wall and hope they figure it out and get back to you. Yes. People want to be taken care of and they want a capable expert to tell them what to do and show them how to do it and make it easy for them. People crave that. Yeah. And I think a lot of people, they're hiring us to do the thinking for them. I feel like that sounds. I feel like that sounds. a little strange, but, and I'm, like, I'm a busy, tired mom. Like, when I think about the service providers that provide things in my life, like, we talked about this with my CPA, where I'm like,

no, like, he makes sure that I don't miss my quarterly tax payments. Like, I am leveraging people to do that think, people I trust and have vetted to do that thinking for me so that I can put my head in the places where I have areas of expertise. So, okay, let's move on. So you had repeatedly said that hovering is not helpful. What is the difference between hovering and then being that trusted guide that's really facilitating? Glad you asked, because there definitely is one. And I think agents accidentally confuse the two often from what I've witnessed. So hovering would be standing over your client and inserting your own opinion into everything, preventing the client from being able to form or express their own opinion. They're just not letting their client experience the property.

you might walk into a kitchen and say, ew. And they might have walked in and said, ooh. So it's just wrong. Your opinion does not matter. This is about your client and their needs and it needs to stay about that. Yeah, I feel like I can think about times where I've seen like a very vintage kitchen or bathroom with like certain colored tile. And I'm generally like, ew. And some people are like, oh my God, this is so cool.

Like I think my takeaway in hearing what you say is like it's so much more important to listen thoughtfully than do. the talking and find those moments to really just insert yourself and add value instead of making it about you and verbalizing everything you're thinking and feeling as we walk through the property. 100%. Because like what is a good fit for you might not be a good fit for your client and therefore your opinion does not matter. And the reason that there are thousands of different floor plans and layouts and styles of homes and finishes and locations and lot sizes, there's a reason for that. Your client's needs are different than yours and your job is to understand their needs. and not insert your own needs into their home search.

So I'm going to boil this down. Talk less. Listen more and come from a servant's mindset. It's not about you. It's not. Period. I'm talking to myself too. It's not about me.

So let's move into things that you can do at a showing that really serve the client to be like specific. What would you say are your three favorite tactics? One that's super tangible and easy is always let the client walk ahead of you. That way, they can experience the home for themselves and not just look at your back the whole time. This is also for your own safety if you're showing your home to essentially a stranger. Second would be set expectations about price, meaning like if they love the home, you're going to

help them figure out a competitive and strategic offer after the fact. This kind of helps table the questions like, how much do you think this home is worth? How much over-asking price do you think we're going to have to go? Are there multiple offers while you're walking through the home? Because that's just a waste of time and mental energy if they don't love the home and want to buy it in the first place, I want my clients to be able to focus on like touring and figuring out if this home works and then I'm going to help them figure out like a price and an offer. So kind of tabling like the price questions while we're touring the home has been really helpful

for me. And the last tactic, I would say this is like an easy and obvious one that I do the entire time. It's so important. Asking open-ended questions that truly help a client picture what living in the home would look like for them. I'm really glad you brought this up because words can be very powerful and it's easy. I think kind of what I was trying to say earlier about, it's easy to slip into being late a little bit or just like showing up by the seat of your pants. It's easy to not prepare. I think it's also easy to become unconscious about the words that we're using and underestimate the power that we wield with how we position things. And even like painting a vision for people when they just don't have that because I think a lot of buyers just aren't built

that way, their brains aren't wired that way. So you can be a good example about like Christmas. And I know that's like very specific depending on your client, like whether they celebrate Christmas. But can you just give an example of how you help people paint the picture for themselves? Yeah. So instead of just asking a client, do you like this house? They're just going to shrug and say like yes or no. If your client has told you that they love hosting and their annual party is really important, whatever, you could say something like, can you picture your family hosting next year's Christmas party here? And they might pause and look around and really consider what that could be like. And that's what people buy based off of. it's funny a lot of people coming to me come to me like asking for sales scripts and I have very conflicting feelings about that but like if you were looking for a script I feel like this would be like

a fill in the blank like can you picture dot dot dot dot and what would be really wise would be to do a buyer consult before any of your showings which is something that most skilled agents do but it's again that's easy it's easy to get sloppy even with like past clients where you just go and start showing them houses. And again, like, it's easy to just sort of realize, oh, you know what, like, I have a process for a reason. And I think about our buyer consult is an online form that people fill out. It is so detailed. And I think it would be really wise to like re-review the consult before showings, especially if it's been a while or you've, you know, had trouble finding something and come back to center on what is actually important to them. Like if they mentioned the Christmas party or

having a really big breakfast bar in the kitchen where the kids can sit and do homework or whatever that is to really bring people back to that because it's so easy for them to get overwhelmed with the thoughts you brought up where they don't stay present. They're walking around the house and they're starting to worry about whether there's going to be a bidding more instead of whether they really like it. So I think coming back to our tools and having a clear thought process, we can help people stay in logic instead of emotion and make their decisions that way. Yes. Okay. So last piece is mindset and communication. So this is huge and it takes some self-awareness. Again, I think it comes back to that conscious thinking before you speak.

What would be the ideal mindset to get into when serving your buyers? Kind of like I referenced earlier, do not assume that your opinions are the same as your clients. By far the biggest error that I watched other agents make. You need to let the client decide what's important to them and how that property meets or doesn't meet those needs. Some examples that come to mind from past experiences, like you may love wooded lots, but they might creep out your client because they are home at night alone while their husband works. You may love a main floor owner suite, but your client doesn't because they have kids and they'd like

to be near them at night. So just basics like that. Yeah. And I think again, it's like pulling yourself out of the process, making it about them. And it's funny, we had talked about that it's easy to make assumptions based on sort of these vague adjectives that you hear in real estate all the time. Like, I want to be somewhere safe. I want a large lot. I want, you know, good school, like these adjectives that are very, very subjective. And some of it's really tricky with fair housing, especially, right? Safety. Sure.

All of that. So I think helping people drill down to understand what they mean and the best ways to figure that out. Can you give it a couple examples of how you help people drill down and get more specific? Exactly. Yeah. So my client might say, like, I want a walkable community. I need to be able to understand and reiterate back to them exactly what they mean by that.

Do they envision walkable meaning there are sidewalks because they like to go on daily walks? Or did they actually mean that they would like to be within walking distance of a nice coffee shop? Those two things could be completely different. A client tells you, like, I want a nice yard. Does that mean half an acre? Do they mean it is private? Or do they mean that the yard is within a homeowner's association that allows them to put up a fence for their dog? Like what does nice mean for them? So you need to make sure you can understand and reiterate back

to your client what their needs are. Your client confirms. And then you know that you've got it and you can help them find it. And the other benefit to that is your client feels understood. Yeah. It's so, isn't it amazing, like just basic sales 101 of like repeating back to people what you heard them say. And using their name and just showing that you're paying attention. Yeah. It's huge. Then you're a team. Everyone's on the same agenda. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. exactly. And I think one thing I would add, too, is like in either of the examples you gave about like walkable and what that means or the nice yard, also clarifying what are deal breakers and what aren't. And I found that it's like really helpful to use that term. In fact, in our buyer consult, we have a question, what are your top three deal makers or deal breakers? I need to look back and see how I worded it. But that really tells, because people will give you their wish list of a thousand things. And then, you know, in the slow inventory environment, you can, you know, read or learn that in your leg. Oh, yeah. So coming back to boiling down to the deal breakers is huge. So, so yeah, just a little

tidbit there. So a couple other thoughts. When we were preparing for this, you mentioned not shopping through your own eyes. So what do you mean by that? Not things like stating this is the kitchen because I don't mean that to let them see it. I mean like in order to shop through your client's eyes, you need to understand your client's needs, but not just understand their needs. You need to know the why behind those needs. And how you can do that is by asking great questions. Okay. So we've touched on this already. Open-ended questions are really the win. So what are some of your favorite open-ended questions that maybe we could use as like a fill in the blank script for everybody? Oh, I have so many. I could go on for hours. How would you use this space? How often?

What does that look like? What don't you like about that? Why not? what would you rather see? What type of changes would you make? What did you love most about that yard? Why is that important for you? How would this work for you? And if you're out of questions, you can also just pause and say something like, hmm, I can see the gears are turning in your head. Tell me what you're thinking. And then you just shut up and you just let them talk. So love all of those questions. I almost feel like I should write those down and put them on the show notes. I'm going to do that. I'm committing to that right now. So, and you know, we've kind of danced around this throughout this whole conversation is a lot of this does come down. to a solid and thorough buyer consultation. And we see this especially when we're on the listing agent side and you have an active listing and you get feedback where they're like, they didn't like it or these, again, the vague statements. And when we ask, you know, what didn't work for them, the agent has no ideas. Do you have any further thoughts on getting specific? This is my biggest pet peeve as a listing agent. And I almost feel like a mix of infuriation because I'm like, how did it not cross your mind to ask your client what they didn't

like so that you don't take them to another home that has the same issue. And then also, I almost feel like I'm in a weird power struggle with the agent because the agent inevitably feels kind of silly when they don't know what to say when I ask, what didn't your client like. It's normally followed by a big silence while they realize that they have no idea. So that's just like one of my biggest gripes. I think agents are too quick to say, okay, cool, we can keep looking if you don't like this. But by understanding what it was that didn't work, we'll save you and them time. the next time that they asked to see a home that you know will also have the same deal breaker.

I know. I think it's such an important point because there's a foundation of trust that we're building with our clients. And when we violate that trust by wasting their time or seeming to like miss the point, even if they aren't able to articulate or be as conscious of like what the point is, but they know it's not working. And I think this is a huge hot button in this low inventory climate we've been in for the past couple years. there's just a lot less room for error in every part of the process. So say that you're, you know, standing in a showing and the clients saying, oh, we just don't like it and you're having trouble pinning them down. What is your favorite debrief question to help pin it down? Or is there any sort of process that you help them think through if they can't even find the words themselves? Sometimes I would ask like, what would you rather this space looked like? Because if they know they

don't like what they're seeing. If they can articulate what they would have loved to see, it might help you figure out the juxtaposition of the two different things, asking things like, what bug do you about that? Why didn't that work for you? What about this turns you off? Like, just asking more questions to try to help them, you know, narrow down. And sometimes, like you said, if they're not able to articulate it on the spot, I will usually, like I said, just schedule a call with them to review everything we toured that day. Even if it was one home, I might say I'll call you later to review this home and a couple others that I have in mind that might work based on your feedback on this home today and just position those homes against it and ask them those questions

so that maybe in hindsight after they've had like some time to talk just the two of them in the car maybe they can better articulate what it was that didn't work and why that was so I can figure out like is it a drawback was it just a deal breaker for them and they hate split foyer's and we should not go see a single other split foyer was it a misunderstanding like they thought the property line ended at the fence, but actually it goes like 60 feet past it and the owner just didn't fence in the whole thing because they wanted to save money or whatever and just address accordingly from there. And I think this is so important, the feedback loop of getting back with people later that day or the next day. Like I think about, you know, whether it's showing a house or even like we've been

having meetings with our contractor about our house renovation, like sometimes I just need to go eat a snack or sleep on it and then my thoughts are clearer the next day. But if there's no feedback loop where the person in charge comes back and says, okay, do you have further thoughts? How are we going to keep moving forward? How are we going to make progress instead of like staying in this loop? Then you just stay in the loop. And then there's this other piece to it. You know, we are in a climate where there's very little homes to choose from. Things are competitive. And we sometimes find ourselves in patterns with clients who just have expectations that cannot be met. And I think it can be hard to stomach how much the cheese has moved in the world of real estate of how competitive. It's

is, how high prices are, how high interest rates are. So I think one of the hardest parts of our job right now is talking people into acceptance of the reality that we're in. So how are you setting expectations in this crap storm that we're in? It's hard. It's hard to be a buyer and it's hard to be an agent right now. Yes. I would say just a huge part of being successful right now is being able to tactfully express that to your client. Otherwise, you will continue to waste your time and their time. And your client is also only going to become frustrated and discouraged that they aren't finding homes they like in their price range. Okay. So let's do a little roleplay here right on the spot. So let's walk through that. Where would you start with this conversation?

If you've got a client where you feel like you're circling the drain, can't figure it out. So like let's say we go out and every home they look at, they're like, this home needs to much work, that home needs to much work. We don't like this kitchen. This bathroom needs to be renovated. And you're like, okay. Hey, guys, it sounds like we've determined. you are not comfortable taking on the work in any of the homes that we've been seeing. Is that right? They would likely say. Yes. Yes. Here, I'm going to be your client. I'm going to put you on the spot and have you roleplay with me. Keep going. So if you're open to expanding your search to South County, I'm really confident we can find you a similar home that in a way more move and ready condition.

What do you think about that? I just don't know if we want to go to that area because we really like the school district that we've been looking in. Sure. I understand and appreciate that. And I want to set you up for success and find you that home in the school district that we're targeting. Other options I can think of would be to maybe increase your price range or we could try looking at some smaller homes that are more renovated. Would you be open to considering either of those? I'm open to increasing my price range, but I'm concerned about interest rates. And I don't, I don't know, honestly. But if we could go a little higher, I think that would help. Yeah, I understand. It's a really tricky balance, especially right now. But basically, we just have to look at all the

different factors that are going into the price for these homes, things like location, price, size, and condition. Let's try looking at a few that are a little bit smaller. And if they don't work, we'll pivot again from there. But I want to help you guys find the right balance of those things. And I think it's definitely worth taking a look at. I have a few in mind that we can go see. And if they don't work, we can move on. That's okay, too. Okay, we'll pause the role play. Thank you for doing that with me. So one of the things that I was thinking as we were like talking through that conversation is boiling down the issue to the couple of of options that there are, right? Going up in price or going, you know, down in house size so you don't

have to do so much work, which I feel like that's kind of the crux of it with almost all buyers. And it can be very awkward giving these uncomfortable truths to our clients, but it's necessary. So, you know, a foundational piece to building and keeping that trust that I talked about is to not beat your head against the wall and walk people through these conversations. I think you had a recent example of how this played out with a client where you ended up turning it into a huge win for them. And this is where being smart and detailed and thorough to really paint options out for people can be a huge win. So walk us through that. Yeah. So I had a buyer consult with a past client the other day. We go through everything she wants, why she wants it. And she is describing a $600,000 home.

We get to price and her budget is max $400,000. So I told her right away, I said, hey, Stephanie, I hear everything you're saying and I think we can find it for you. However, What you're describing is a $600,000 house. And if we go out and see $400,000 houses, you are going to be totally disappointed and you're not going to find what's on your list. And I don't want to waste your time. How can we problem solve through this? It actually turns out, and most buyers will be this way.

She had been looking on Zillow at random homes for weeks before even reaching back out to me. So she, in the back of her head, knew that her price point was unrealistic. But sometimes buyers don't know. Anyways, when I told her, like, I want to find you the home you want, but that's actually a $600 a $1,000 home, we wind up discussing turning her current townhome into a rental to offset the higher mortgage payment, which she was not a fan of. By using the cash flow from her rental, she's going to cash flow $1,200. She's a very low rate. And we are now shopping in a range that is appropriate to find a home that she really loves. So you need to be upfront about that and not just

take her out to go see eight homes that I already know she's not going to like before we've even gotten there. Yeah. And even like, I don't know if I should say this, but like putting yourself aside where maybe you thought you were going to list their house and help them buy. And instead, like, putting your needs aside and being like, you know what, don't sell that house. Rented or let me help you rented if you want to get into that with someone. I was totally ready to sell her home. I bet. That would be the easy side, right? That's the easy side right now is the listings. Yeah. So let's bring this home. The thread that really, in my opinion, runs through everything we've talked about today is blending a stronger mindset with stronger habits.

So let's give some takeaways. What is the ideal mindset shift that you suggest for a listener of today's episode who is struggling with the dynamics we've talked about? I would say a mindset shift would be treat your clients like your friends. What I mean by this is that you would ask your friends a ton of questions if your mom called you and said, we're moving. The next thing you would say is why. And then she would give you an answer and you would probably say, oh, that sounds crazy. I thought you loved XYZ neighborhood. How come you want X, Y, Z. And then she would answer you and you would probably have more questions. So when your client say, we need a bigger house, don't just take that and start sending them bigger houses.

You need to understand why they need a bigger house, what they're using that space for. What space are they doing that in right now? What does that look like? How is that affecting their life? Treat your clients like your friends in the way that you would ask your friend a ton of questions and not just say, okay, and then just move on. So kind of mindset shift with how you talk to your clients. Yeah, and like a confidence thing too, right? Because I think sometimes I hesitate to ask questions if I don't want to seem intrusive. But what I've learned is if I don't ask those questions, I end up learning the answers to those questions later through that unprofessional fumbling around process where I could have just gotten that information up front. So for me, it was a shift of like doing buyer consults that are more detailed and doing prequalifications before listing appointments so that I can really give the right advice and understand as much as possible of the whole picture for people, right? Exactly. And if you position that so that you're coming from a place of help, people are actually willing to share a lot with you, even when it's uncomfortable, like very early in your relationship. Yeah. And then that's sort of that, you know, that snowball effect where that builds even more trust and then that builds on itself. And then when it's time where they need to listen to you and take your advice, it's not a struggle. So it's so interesting, right, how like mindset feeds the habits and then the habits feed the stronger mindset and the higher confidence. And it goes on from there.

So let's give some tips on how you can actually shift your habits. What do you recommend for our listeners to affect change in the way they're doing things? Nobody is going to like this answer and a few people will actually do it. But for those who do it, you will be grateful. The answer is to role play. It is awkward and uncomfortable and silly and just like seems ridiculous. But it really works. Like you wouldn't show up to a concert as a pianist and just perform.

You would practice for months on how you're going to play that piece and be comfortable with it. So the same way that if you're a listing agent and somebody asks you the question, what's your commission, I could spit my answer out in two seconds, even if I was exhausted and like half paying attention. You need to be just as confident with like what you're going to say before taking a new client out for the first time. Practice showing homes and asking open-ended questions throughout. A good exercise might be to write down 30 open-ended questions. And there are more than 30. Practice understanding and overcoming objections. Role playing is so awkward until you just suffer through the awkwardness.

become great at it. That's how everything is. So once you are comfortable with the discomfort of role playing, you will start talking to your clients with way more confidence because the words are going to flow very naturally for you when you've said them 50 times. Don't let the first time you say it be in front of your client. There's so much wisdom in what you just said. And I feel like this is the kind of advice that is so hard to take. But it's funny. Like I was just like ready to dive into a role play with you a few minutes ago because I did that so much at a prior brokerage. same but again i just know that if i hadn't practiced that in the past like i would have just skipped right over that thought and gone to something that wouldn't have been nearly as valuable

but practice is every we're in an industry where it's just not in our culture to do that because again coming back to what we said at the beginning of this like most of us didn't come from you know corporate sales training so it's kind of a foreign thought but if there's someone that you feel safe with or who's on the same journey as you or just i don't know works has worked in other sales sectors and gets it. Like, I don't know. How have you, like, tackled role play? Especially, like, when you switched into resale, is there a way that you got yourself back

into the roleplay habit to really bring the, you know, the new construction knowledge into resale and shift all the scripts? Because everything was a little bit different. Everything shifted. I honestly talk out loud to myself in my car all the time. At Ryan Holmes, they would break us into roleplay groups. So it would be like four people. and one person is the buyer, one person is the sales rep, and then two people are watching,

taking notes and giving feedback. It is incredibly awkward. You want to break character. You're, like, trying so hard not to. But once you just get through it, you become a little bit better. And then the next time you do it, you become a little bit better. And then that adds up to being really great at it. And soon the feedback is, wow, I love how you set the next step. I love how you ask that open-ended question. It gets less awkward. So I still role play. Fortunately, it's not like in a room where a corporate trainer is saying who are three volunteers that want to come to the front and my face is like bright red. I'm like, please don't pick me. But you'll get better at it from doing it. Another really easy tip because you don't need anyone else. This can be mortifying, but I would recommend

it, is to record yourself on your next buyer consult. I would just listen back to it and just take feedback on how you did. Did you listen to understand before you asked another question? Did you fully understand something before moving on? Did you gain commitment that you'd understood them correctly. Did you ask, have I covered everything? Is there anything I'm missing before continuing on to financing or whatever? It can be really eye-opening to hear yourself and how you sound. You just gave such valuable wisdom. So I hope that anyone who wants to really improve their skills, like, go and listen back to the last two to three minutes of what we just talked through, whether you record yourself or just talk out loud in your car or want to be brave enough to get a

role play partner, maybe even an observer to take notes. That would be like ninja level. So I just love that. And I love to end these episodes with hot tips. You've already given some really good ones right now. But can you throw in one bonus hot tip for our listeners who want to take and run and get better at closing? I would say be strategic about where you have conversations, especially like positive or negative commitment ones in a location that makes sense for what you're trying to accomplish. For example, if you are going to ask someone to commit to buying a home. You want to be in the room that is the most important to them with the best view where they'll spend the most time, not in the poorly lit foyer. So what I used to do at the

model home was when we were running numbers, I would say like, hey, it's crammed down here in my office. I don't want to sit in this like converted garage. Why don't we head up to the kitchen and we'll spread out and sit at the dining room table and run these numbers. And I would do that with people that I was planning to close because I don't want to ask them for commitment sitting in the dark garage, I want to be sitting in the kitchen where they're constantly being subtly reminded how much they love this house and how much their current home sucks by comparison when I ask the closing question. So just be strategic with not only what you say, but where you're saying it. Oh, so much wisdom there. Thank you for all of this great information. So for any of our

listeners that want to connect with you to continue the conversation, what is the best place for them to do that on Instagram and you can follow me at Jill Woot. It's J-I-L-L-W-O-O-O-T. Thank you so much, Jill, for being here with us. And while we're mentioning Instagram, if you haven't connected with me yet, make sure you've followed me at Tina Beliveau. And also, if you haven't followed the podcast yet, go to your favorite platform at Apple, Spotify, whatever it is, hit the follow button. You'll get notified of the next episode and we will talk to you soon. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the High Performance Agent Podcast. make sure to subscribe by hitting the follow button so you don't miss the next episode and check the show notes for links to all of my goodies including my newsletter filled with tips for ambitious agents you can also find me on instagram at tina bellivow talk to you soon