I strive to do this thing I call “World Class Opens” so its imperative that when you’re there on a Saturday you look sharp, act personable, you have all the information, you have all the knowledge and when that person walks out the front door they go “wow, that was the best experience I’ve ever felt in real estate”.
My philosophy is ‘you never get a second chance at a first impression’, so you want to make sure that everything is perfect. I make sure that myself and my team have all the information required, so that when a buyer is asking me or one of my team a question, there is nothing we don’t know about the product. I’ve also got an office policy that we’re not allowed to use any brochures that come off the printer – it’s all outsourced through either PrintForce, Rogue or whoever you decide to use. I also have water on display and I offer water to all of my clients. I ensure that I have all the information on myself available for buyers. There’s contracts on display. We sometimes even get professional furniture package put in. Every single thing you need about the property will all be there.
It’s important that you get there early, or you do it the day before if the property is owner occupied or vacant. You need to make sure the property is shining when buyers are coming through that front door.
I want buyers to feel comfortable and relaxed straight away. So if I’m not on the front door and I’ve got one of my team on the front door, I always make sure my team come in and introduce themselves with their name and give them something as well. So it’s “Hi, my names Matt Lancashire. Thank you so much for coming to the open home, it’s an absolute pleasure for you to come through. Here’s a brochure on the property and some recent sales.” You just want to make sure people feel comfortable, so they’re going to give you as much information as possible as well.
What I try to do is float around and not sit in a corner, not sit on my phone, not text. Instead, go and talk to people and ask them if there is any questions they have.
I try and tip toe around the pricing. I will never ask a buyer in front of other buyers what they think about the property, because the first thing a lot of buyers are going to do is if they’re really interested, they’re going to try and talk the property down infront of other buyers. Or, on the flip side, if they don’t like it, they’re going to say all of these comments that are going to be detrimental to the property.
So, if anyone does ask you an aggressive question about price, just make sure you say “the owner specifically asked me not to talk price at the open home. If you’ve got an interest, if you don’t mind I can give you a call straight after and we can talk price then.” Then disengage straight away. If they start being negative about the property, for me personally, I think that can be a positive because if someone brings it up after the open home, I turn it around and tell them that’s my highest bidder – be quick on your feet. However don’t forget that the one thing you need to do and focus on is floating around and not to spend too much time with one person.
Incorporate some of these tips into your next open home, and it will run perfectly. Good luck at your opens!
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