Seminar Lead Generation – This is how you get listings

Seminar lead generation. No, not lead generation seminars. We’re talking about using a seminar to get listings and make connections here.

First, are you done pulling your hair out and screaming obscenities about the current state of the real estate market?

Good.

It’s time to act and it’s time to fight back

Let the other agents in your market beat up the FSBOs and expireds. For just a little extra work, go after homeowners who are considering selling and definitely want to hear from you.

Attract these needles in the current market-haystack with a spectacular, brilliant, best-ever home seller seminar.

Yes, it takes some time to organize and plan for a seminar. Once you have all the processes in place, however, it becomes easier and you’ll find yourself holding series of these things – and listing like a maniac.

Name that seminar

Headlines matter. Blog post titles matter. And, so does whatever it is you choose to call your seller seminar.

One successful seminar-holding agent suggests that you consider the biggest pain point for local homeowners when trying to come up with a name.

In the current market the most obvious pain point is that, although they aren’t worried about selling their current home, thinking of having to join the hordes of other homebuyers when shopping for their next home keeps them awake at night.

So, skip the basic “Joe Smith Realty Home Selling Seminar” and go for something a bit more specific, such as “

“FREE Home Seller Seminar: How to Sell your Home and Buy Another in this Crazy Market”

 

The when and where of seminar lead generation

We know a California agent who, as a newbie, held her first open house on a Sunday, not realizing that the city’s beloved pro football team was vying in a home-game NFC Championship.

And, if that wasn’t bad enough, it was the weekend of a very popular local festival.

Open house attendees?

Zero.

Check your city’s event calendar and, if you aren’t an avid pro-sports fan, check the TV listings to ensure that nothing huge is happening before choosing the date for your seminar.

Then, you’ll need to find a location. It’s tempting to choose your office, because it’s free. But, do that and you’ll give off the perception that you’re trying to sell something.

Yes, you are trying to sell something, but the last thing you want to do is come off as overtly salesy. Look for a place that’s less intimidating to attendees. Somewhere in the community where everyone will feel comfortable.

Agents we’ve spoken with use a variety of venues for their seminar lead generation event:

• Hotel conference rooms
• Local library
• Private dining room in a restaurant
• School multi-purpose room

Enter “meeting space for rent in [name of your town]” into your favorite search engine and see what pops up.

 

Partner up

Take a tip from your colleagues who’ve had great success with seminars for buyers and include guest speakers at your seller seminar.

Ask your favorite lender, title rep, home inspector and stager to speak and offer to include their marketing literature in the take-away packet.

Topics of interests to sellers that they might want to address:

• Lender: Should I buy my next home before selling this one, or should I sell first?
• Title rep: What should I expect at closing? Should I order a preliminary title report before placing my home on the market?
• Home inspector: What does a home inspection involve? Do I have to be home when you inspect? What if the report reveals problems in my home?
• Stager: Do all homes need staging? Can’t most homebuyers see beyond my stuff? How much more money can I expect to make off the sale if my home is staged?

Each of these partners most likely has a list of questions they most frequently field, so they can use those to put together their presentations.

 

Design your presentation and script (if you need one)

First, come up with a seminar agenda. Outline the topics you want to cover, what your guest speakers will talk about and how long you expect each element to take.

Some of the topics we’ve seen other agents use for seminar lead generation include:

• Current market condition
• Should you buy your next home before selling your current home?
• How to stage the home to appeal to its most likely buyer
• How to choose a listing agent and what to expect from the agent
• Their role in the sale process
• Ways to increase the value of the home
• How to deal with buyers’ contingencies and requests for repairs and concessions

Once you understand all the various components of seminar lead generation you can draft your presentation accordingly, timing it so that the seminar doesn’t run overly long.

Speaking of time, NAR offers an excellent timeline for seminar preparation. Another valuable resource is the “4 Step Guide for Successful Homebuyer Seminars” that can easily be adapted for seller seminars.

 

The invite

Now it’s time to put all those brilliant ideas you’ll be sharing into a compelling advertising piece.

Let potential attendees know what they can expect to learn during the seminar, from the pros and cons of a pre-sale home inspection and how to choose a listing agent to the steps required to prepare the home for the market.

Ask your guest speakers to offer some incentives to put in your handouts, such as a complimentary CMA compiled by none other than you, coupons for a free credit report or discount on mortgage settlement charges from the mortgage guy or gal or a complimentary staging consultation (if you don’t offer free staging) from the home stager and use these in your advertising.

Use the ads on your blog and website, in your newsletter, as part of your drip email or snail mail campaign and, naturally, on social media.

Your call to action should be a compelling invitation to register for the seminar.

 

Don’t be salesy

The goal of this seminar lead generation strategy should be, of course, to get listings. But, that doesn’t mean you should beat the folks up with a sales pitch. Be natural, be a resource that is offering genuine value.

The subtle approach, if done right, will show off your expertise in the market and help attendees get to know, like and trust you.

And that is how you win listings

 

Have more money than time?

Lucky you.

If the whole seminar lead generation planning process is just more than you can take on right now, consider hiring a pro. Check out White Glove Workshops. No, we don’t get a kickback from them. It’s the only company we could find that provides real estate seminar planning.

Let us know how your seminar goes!

Ready for a real estate website that works as hard as you do? Learn more about LeadSites.

Looking for even more lead gen ideas? Check out these 53 tips to get more leads!

Create this seller’s guide, and start getting more seller leads today: