Meryl Hawk Talks Listings at Platinum Top 50 Real Estate Event
About 350 real estate professionals gathered at the Big Tex Auditorium near The Domain for the Austin Platinum Top 50 15x30 Education Symposium, an energizing day of learning, connection, and industry insight.
When the doors opened at 9:00 a.m., the room was already buzzing. Austin Realtor and listing specialist Meryl Hawk took the stage to share practical strategies and hard-earned perspective on marketing and successfully managing listings in today’s market. Her presentation brought high energy, enthusiasm, and actionable guidance to agents looking to strengthen their listing business.
Watch this video for highlights from Meryl’s presentation at the Platinum Top 50 Education Symposium.
Video Transcript:
Good morning. Am I on? Yes. Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay, great. So, we want to win all the listings, right? I know. I know. Uh that is something that every agent wants. So, that's what we're talking about. And I think I'm ready. So, we can kick off we can kick off the slides.
Okay. So, the decision, it starts early. Okay. It it doesn't start when you walk through the door in your designer suit with your perfectly styled hair and your Gucci belt and your smile, right? It doesn't start then. And it doesn't start when you when you sit down at the table and you have that great conversation. No, it doesn't. It starts at your first initial contact with the seller and everything you do after that that either builds confidence or creates doubt. So today we're going to focus on building confidence.
So we're going to pause before you book. Okay? So I know that we want to book that appointment, get over there, shove the listing in their face, tell them how much their home is worth, and then get it on the market tomorrow, right? But that's not what we want to do. Yes, we want to book that appointment, but then we want to ask all of those questions that we need to know as the advisor that we need to have, you know, so that we can have a great conversation, a meaningful experience with them that compels them to, you know, sign that listing agreement and work with us.
So, we're going to research the seller, right? So, the first thing we want to do is we want to make sure are they on the tax record, right? Are they actually the seller of this home, the owner? And then we want to know like is this owner occupied? Is it an inherited property? Uh that's different. Or is it an investor property? That's also completely different conversation. And then we want to know how long have they owned this property because somebody who's had it for 3 years or just 30 years that's that's also, you know, going to change everything that we do.
Now we want to know the property story. So this one is can be very interesting, right? So, we want to know everything about the property that's outside of the MLS, right? We want to know everything the seller does, right? Because they're going to know all the little things like trash day and stuff. It's great if you can know that, but you want to know school information. Is this like a private school neighborhood, public school neighborhood, rating of the schools, how close are they, amenities within the neighborhood and outside of the neighborhood. You want to know that area just like they do. And then renovations, permits, etc. We want to know all that. And has it expired six times?
Okay. So, we want to ask three questions. Okay. So, why are you doing this right now? Right? That's their motivation. And then what needs to happen and by when? So, what needs to happen for this move to happen and by when? And then, you know, who else are you talking to, right? Like you want to know like what's my competition? Do I need to send flowers tomorrow when the next appointment, you know, comes in? Uh and then this tells us motivation, timeline, decision making criteria, and of course, competition.
Okay. So, we're going to build around their answers. So, whatever that seller, whatever they tell us, that's so important because we can expand on that, right? That's what they want to hear about. So, if they really want a quick sale, you know, tell them, "Hey, I just sold three homes in, I don't know, 10 days, 7 days, and 21 days, and here are the addresses, and here's how I did it." Right? Because that's what that's what they want. You need to you need to show that you can deliver on what they actually care about instead of talking about your virtual staging. They don't even care. All right?
We're going to send an advanced value package so that you stand out. So, right after that first conversation that you have on the phone and you book the appointment, you're going to send out your pre-listing package and it's going to answer three things. It's going to tell them how you market - What is your marketing plan or program? And then, what do you know about their market, right? Because you're about to try to list their home. And then, what results have you produced? So, days on market, you know, average days on market, listed sales price ratio, all of that good stuff.
And then make it about their home, right? It's all about their home. My home. Tell me about my home. So, you need to put their name on it, their property address, a beautiful photo of their home, and then maybe a little market snapshot, and then give them some, you know, some some of your advice about positioning their home, right? Give your two cents as the advisor. What sets you apart? Give them some value there. And then just personalize the the heck out of that thing. Make it so so personal and make sure that it arrives promptly.
Okay. Curate the proof. Put some put some stuff in there. They're going to want to see like the some tactile stuff like if they really care about virtual staging, virtual Twilight, well, put put a bunch of photos in there of, you know, your examples of virtual staging and twilight. If they care about brochures, because I know a lot of sellers care about those property brochures, like where are my brochures, right? Put a put some brochures in there. Put some examples or some mailers that you send out and then quick sales is always a big one. So maybe have some examples of a few quick sales. How quickly you did that and how.
We're going to name the four concerns. So I know we can all relate to this. What are these? So commission, right? I know we've all had a commission objection. Price. Price is always a big one. And then maybe not so big is the uh marketing. And then your track record is also kind of a big one. So, we're going to build calm, credible answers into our pre-listing packet that answer these questions so we don't have a defensive seller across the kitchen table like, "Hey, what are you talking about?"
And then we're going to a spend a little extra time on reframing fee and price. So, commission, we need to connect that to their net. That's how much they're going to make, right? The commission that you pay, you're you're investing in your property and the service that you're getting. And then you're going to net more, right? Commission means you net more. And then price. Well, that is connected and related to market response. So, it's like, you know, do you want 20 showings or do you want one showing, right?
Then show that system at work. How do you do this? You know, what is your system? You're the professional. We're the professionals. So, I say it's like this is our system. We have the listing agreement, Mr. and Mrs. Seller, and then in two days, we're going to grab some photos and then I'm going to edit those photos and then we're going to do coming soon. We are going to build some momentum for your property and then we're going to go live and we'll do a broker open open house, you know, and then I'll have the brochures. Those will be in the home. You know, you need to set this up like this is how I've done it. I've done it a million times and this is how we're going to do it again.
And then use the warm close after that first conversation or on the first conversation. You're going to say, "Oh, well, this is what this is what a warm close sounds like." They say, "Hey, it was so wonderful talking to you. I know you want to maximize your sales price, minimize the days on market, and then time this with your next sale." So, that's what we'll do. And when we meet, you know, we're going to tour the home, we're going to review the marketing, and then we're going to agree on next steps, which is probably going to be you signing a listing agreement. And then you're going to show up, and you're going to have a great time.
Okay, we’re going to confirm with a micro agenda. So, who likes calendar invites? Go ahead and send one of those and send a maybe a text if you don't like calendar invites. Hey, uh, Mr. Miss Seller, so excited about meeting you tomorrow at 1. It's going to be about an hour, not three. And we're going to you know make sure the decision makers are all there and then we're going to discuss well we're going to tour the home first and then we're going to review marketing and positioning and then we'll you know agree on next steps and I really look forward to meeting you.
Then you are going to arrive as the advisor and you're going to get the listing. I know you are. And the listing it's not one by one brilliant line at the kitchen table. Not not for me. I think that's rarely done. It's won with preparation, right? Personalization, make it about that seller and then purposeful, very purposeful communication. That series of small signals that builds confidence and doesn't create doubt. I know you are going to win your next listing. Thank you so much.
