What do you bring to the table?

I recently put our home for sale using a flat fee MLS listing service. I decided to forgo of the services of a conventional real estate agent and do it myself. Why? Simple. I have used real estate agents a few times and I was not satisfied with their services, so I figured I'd take a go at it (note: I don't recommend this! Real estate transactions are complex.) I WILL use a real estate attorney to help me with all the documents though. Legal help is always a good idea when doing home transaction.

The first day I listed the property I got three calls. My heart sank when it was from agents that had seen my flat fee MLS listing and were trying to coax me into using their services. I kept an open mind and heard them out - in part because I am always looking at sales techniques. For the most part, they were disappointing. Most used a variety of inflated adjectives to describe themselves (e.g. experienced, knowledgeable and even "powerful" (!!)) but none of it backed it with facts (e.g. 20 years of experience in real estate, knowledge of the condo market, closed 15 transactions this year). If you think about it - their test is that they have to sell me on their ability to sell my property. They all failed.

There is an important lesson for anyone selling a product or service (like factoring or purchase order financing). People selling things shouldn't just focus on inflated words - they should use facts. And remember, people (or companies) don't buy products - they buy a solution to a problem.


--- Looking for information on purchase order financing? Read the purchase order finance blog