eXp Executive Masterclass: 2 Ways To Close A Buyer

0:00Hey, hey, everybody. I'm Beth Adams. I'm VP of brokerage operations here at ESD Realty. And I'm super excited to be sharing with you a couple of buyer strategies. I've got two easy ways to help you secure and close buyers. I know today we are many times having to really move quickly when we get a buyer lead and we've got a lot to cover now when we receive buyers. We have to talk about buyer agreements. We have to talk about our fee with our buyers. And some of us may not be quite as comfortable doing that as others. So I'm going to provide with you with a couple of strategies around buyer agreements, helping to close your buyers. And I give you some tools to stick in that tool belt that you can hopefully leverage in your business moving forward.

1:02So let's dive right in and talk about a couple of things that I want to first lean into is our buyer statistics. I think when we make a plan and we start to strategize around how to do something better or different. I'm always one to look at statistics and data. So let's really get to know who our buyers are. And then we can hopefully leverage these tools and resources I'm going to share with you today. So this is from the NAR home buyers statistics guide that comes out every year. You can go to NAR dot realtor and look that up and get these statistics. This just came out in January for last year. It's all of 2024 stats. But this is really helpful. I think for us to really get a really big overview of buyers today. Who are our buyers and how do we work with them? What's best to provide our buyers.

2:05So 86% of buyers used a realtor that was in 2024. That's a huge number. And that should make you feel really good because that's a huge statistic. Most buyers are using a realtor in their purchase. So here's another statistic. I want you to file away, which is out of those 86% of buyers. 69% of them started their search on the internet. But they used not a computer. They used a mobile device, right? Either a phone or a tablet. So our buyers are busy like we are. They are constantly on the go. They're busy working too. And they're doing everything on that mobile device. So whatever we do, we need to make sure that it is mobile friendly and that our buyers can access it on the little screens that they have in their pockets.

3:08Now, something that I want to note is the next two statistics. They are both newer because they both hit records. The first one is the age of our buyers. The average age of our buyers went up. It's the highest age of our buyers ever since NAR has started taking those statistics. So the average age of our buyer is now 56. So in the past, our buyers maybe were a little bit younger. Now we're looking at a population of buyers in their mid 50s. So we want to take that into consideration when we're thinking about the things that we're providing to our buyers. Another thing to note is that 73% of all buyers last year, all buyers did not have children under the age of 18. So they may have had adult children, but they did not have children that they were moving with them in their home.

4:10So all that tells us is that perhaps they are purchasing for themselves or for themselves in their partner. And they're not having to make purchases around having children in the home. Now one thing I did want to note is that 17% of all of our purchasers last year did have parents or adult children living with them. So those multi-generational family purchases, having either your parents live with you or your children are living with you, that was 17% of home purchasers last year or home buyers last year. So some good stats to keep in our back pocket as we think about who our buyers are. This one I wanted to highlight because I think this is the most telling about how we get to leverage ourselves as buyers. What is the most difficult part of buying a home?

5:10And in that survey that NAR did 53% of buyers needed help understanding the process. So the whole home buying journey buyers felt like they really needed help understanding that process from start to finish. 49% of buyers said that they needed help finding the right home. How do they find the right home? The need to understand a local community and where that home sits in that community is really of utmost importance to buyers, especially if we're dealing with buyers that are coming in from another area, they're really going to need our help. The good news is this is where we get to leverage our expertise, our local knowledge about the real estate market in our area. So keeping those two things or all of those statistics in mind, I am going to share with you two things that I think are some strategies that you get to leverage as you start working with buyers.

6:11And that is show them and give them so show them we're going to talk about buyer intro videos and then give them we're going to talk about buyer books. So we are going to dive into how to really work with our clients and how to leverage some technology to be able to capture those buyers. And depending on the type of buyer which one we might leverage best if the buyer is just a cold lead, perhaps they're coming in as a lead from a sign call or a lead gen system or maybe they're a sphere of influence and maybe we're going to treat those buyers just slightly differently because we've already established a relationship with them. So let's talk about the two first thing I want to dive into is buyer intro videos. So let's talk about what happens when you get a cold lead, right?

7:15It's someone that comes in off a sign call, someone that calls you from a lead gen system or perhaps you're prospecting and you get a hold of a buyer who's interested because you've called them. What you've had a conversation with them, maybe they're interested in a property, maybe they're excited about going to look at homes. What do you do next? What is your next step in the process? Do you have a system and process in place? Are you communicating with them immediately after you hang up with that phone call? What are you sending to them? Have you provided a video to them that you're texting to them, letting them know you're so excited to work with them, letting them know about your systems and processes, letting them know about your expertise. Is that something you're doing right now or is it something that you could be doing right now? A personal direct touch to a buyer right after you get off the phone with them. The beauty of this video is that it can accomplish so much in a very short amount of time.

8:18Let's dive right in and I'm going to talk to you a little bit about the things that you can put into your video and how you can leverage this video to best make connections with those buyers. Let's talk about what the video should look like. First of all, we're going to have to establish rapport and trust with that buyer right away. They don't know who we are. They have no idea. We just got off the phone talking to them. We may have set up an appointment to go show them homes later on in the afternoon or maybe tomorrow, but they don't know who we are. You're going to send a video. It's going to be a short form video. It needs to be quick. Two minutes or less because we all live in the age of TikTok and Reels. We want to make sure that we are capturing their attention and keeping it and we're not rambling on and on. You want to cover who you are that you're excited to work with them. You want to talk about what it takes to work with you.

9:20The forms that we have to sign now when we, prior to going and showing property, talk about what it means to be represented by you as the agent. And then you want to give them a call to action. How are you going to follow up that video? Are you going to send them an email where you want them to take a look at that email that's dropping into their inbox? Do you want them to reach out and call you? What is it that you're looking for from them? Keep that connection going. Keep them engaged. And then finally, two things we want to make sure that our video has is that it's got close captioning and that you can send it via text. Because remember, most of our buyers are using their mobile device. When they are out looking for homes, you just got off the phone with them. Let's make it easy for them to click and watch that video. So you want to make sure you can send it via text and it is a functional on a mobile device. Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, that what should I have in my video? What should I put in there?

10:23So I'm going to share with you with that for just in just a minute. But I want to also talk about making sure that with this video, you don't just make the video and then forget about it. I want to make sure that we're making it easy for you to leverage this in your systems and processes. So making sure that you're leaning into your CRM. If you have a CRM, making sure that you are systematizing it, putting it into your processes so that it's really easy and quick to send that video every time you get off the phone with a buyer lead. Every time you have that conversation about going and showing property or talking to a buyer that you've got it set so that you can easily drop it in immediately after you get off that phone. Sometimes we have the best intentions, but if we don't have the systems and processes and the consistency, it won't work for us. So I want to help you make sure that you can execute this very easily and quickly.

11:23If you have a CRM, leverage your CRM. Make sure that you've got systems in place that once you capture that buyer lead and you've got them into your CRM, it immediately automates it so that it's sending texting that video to your clients and then following up with that email that you're going to follow up with. Or let's say you don't have a CRM, that's okay, some of us don't work with with CRMs, but maybe you've got it so that you can set it that as soon as you get off the phone, you've got a short text shortcut, you can text that shortcut and it'll automatically drop that link into that buyer and then you can follow up using a templated email that you've got in your email account. So make sure you've got systems and processes to leverage that video once you make it now. Let's talk about what, what should you have in that video? How do you create it? What do you say even? I'm not comfortable. I don't even know what I should do. Let's talk about that. I've got a buyer intro script for you.

12:25I worked with my favorite chat GBT to create this script for you all. It's quick, it's less than two minutes long, it covers who you are, your excitement about working with the buyers and it talks about the things that are needed for you to work with them. The forms that they might need to sign, it sets some expectations and it conveys your professionalism. So scan the QR code, take that script and make it your own and create some buyer intro videos to send out to your buyers immediately once you get off the phone with them. So that's one way to strategize capturing your buyers. Let's talk about the next way and that is through a buyer book, something to give your buyers. Now, we all probably have, or maybe some of you have, buyer consultations, right? You might sit down with the buyers, you might talk to them about the process.

13:27But do you have anything to give them? Are you leaving them with anything? Are you sending your presentation to them after the fact? Are you, you know, do you have something to leave them with? Let's talk about real life scenarios, right? Let's follow this process of that buyer lead that comes in. You've gotten a phone call, you've set the appointment to meet them at the property, you sent them the video, you sent them an email and now you're meeting them at that property. What do you have in your hands? What do you have to give them? So let's talk about the buyer book and the power behind the buyer book. It is going to have information not only about you, but about the home buying process. It might have information about the neighborhoods and communities that they're interested in and we'll go into a little bit more detail about the things you want to put in the buyer book. I want to tell you how powerful this book is and it doesn't matter your buyer. You might say, oh, I only work with a Gen Z buyers and they don't want anything to do with with books.

14:32They just want everything digitally sent to them. Maybe that might not be true though. A lot of people crave the ability to hold on to something to give them something to reference back to as they walk through the home buying journey with you. So a buyer book is a really powerful tool. I'm going to tell you a quick story and it's going to hopefully show you how powerful a buyer book can be. Now, I want to tell you about Ron. Ron was a buyer that came in to myself and my husband when we were just working just the two of us before my husband established his team. But Ron called it was a lead that came in through one of our lead generation sites, took the call, talked to Ron. Ron was interested in moving to our area. So, of course, we met with Ron. We gave Ron a buyer book and we walked with him through the home buying journey, helped him find a home to purchase and he was super happy, loved his home.

15:35And as all good agents should we continue to follow up with Ron. We would touch base with him, connect with him, check on him, make sure he was happy with his home, find out if there's anything that he needed, maybe provide recommendations to service providers. If he had any issues with his home, we continued to touch base with Ron long after we sold him his home. A couple of years went by and our communication with Ron was not reciprocated and sometimes that happens, right? Buyers fall off. They stop communicating whatever that does happen, but it was unusual because we had had a really good relationship with Ron. And after a few weeks of not communicating with Ron, I got a phone call and it was from Ron's daughter, Michelle. And Michelle said, unfortunately, she had bad news and Ron had passed away and I was really sad to hear that Ron was a really great guy. And she and I had had a conversation. We talked a little bit and I said, Michelle, I'm just curious to know, how did you get my information?

16:41I didn't have to contact with Ron, but I was curious to know how you got my information and she said, well, I'm here at my dad's house right now and I'm going through his things and I found the home buyer book that you gave my dad. And it was all your contact information. So that's how I knew to reach out to you. And when I got to meet up with Michelle because she asked us to relist her dad's home, I found the home buyer. She actually gave me the home buyer book and in the home buyer book, Ron had kept not only his home buying journey, but he had continued to keep information about his home. He had stuck repair receipts in the binder. He had stuck service invoices in the binder and all of a sudden, I had a book that not only told the story of Ron buying the home, it also told the story of the house. So it allowed Michelle when she sold her dad's property to have information to convey on to the next home buyer. So the buyer book can be really powerful. It can not only connect, make that connection with you and your buyer, but it can be long lasting long after the transaction has concluded.

17:52Okay, now let's dive into what you're going to put into that buyer book. Let's talk about the important things that you should have in that book. What you should give your fires. The very first thing, whether you're doing a tangible book or maybe it's a digital book that you're going to send to those clients. The very first thing that should have it in you is what makes you unique. Why should buyers work with you? What are the benefits of working with you as a buyer's agent? Whether it's a video or it's tangible, you want to make sure that that is colorful and exciting and it talks about who you are as a buyer's agent. And you want to make sure it highlights those things that make you unique, your strengths, the benefits of working with you, what you can leverage as a buyer's agent, the things that allow you to be the very best buyers agent. And if you're not sure if you're sitting there thinking, I don't really know what makes me unique. I know I'm good at what I do, but I don't know what makes me unique.

18:57Reach out to your past clients. Ask them. What did you most enjoy working with me? What did I do to help you the most? Why did you use me? Ask them. And you know what? You're going to be really surprised at the answers. And then you're going to be able to have something to put in there that highlights what makes you unique because I guarantee you there is something that makes you unique, something that makes you an incredible buyer's agent. And if you're not sure, just ask your past clients. They're going to be able to tell you. What else did you put in this buyer book? Again, whether it's a tangible thing or it is a digital book that you're creating for your clients. There's some things that you definitely want to make sure that you're including. And that is market statistics, right? Anything that you want to share with your clients about the current market where they're looking. And then, of course, your statistics. Now, I've got a little paragraph here and it might be hard to read. But it's two comparisons. One talks about my strengths. I'm a fantastic buyers agent. I always negotiate really, really well with my buyers. I work really hard on your behalf.

20:09But it doesn't really tell the story of what I do for my buyers. It's just propaganda propaganda. I want proof, right? If I'm going to pick you as my buyers agent, give me some stats. Tell me what you're all about, right? So in your buyer book, you want to make sure you include things like how many buyers have you worked with? How many properties have you negotiated on? What is your negotiated list to sales price? Is it low? Do you work really hard to get your buyers the best price possible? What does that look like? How about closing costs and seller credits that you've negotiated for your buyers? What does that look like? How many transactions have you done where you have been able to negotiate closing costs or seller credits for your buyer? Is it 10% of your transactions, 50%, 75%, what does that look like? Go back and look at your past transactions.

21:12Put some statistics behind what you do so you can really thoroughly tell your own story about what makes you a rock star buyers agent. And there's power in that. There's power in those statistics. They tell your story and they also show what an incredible professional that you are. All right, what else should you include? How about client testimonials? You asked your clients what made you unique? How about asking them for a testimonial? How about putting that in that book? So when you're working with buyers and you've got something to hand them, there's a testament to them from your past clients about how hard you worked for them and the things that you did to go above and beyond to secure that home for that buyer. Buyer agent compensation. We have to talk about our fee and we want to make sure we can convey that in the best most professional manner possible. How about sample forms? The forms that a buyer is going to need to understand and work with during the transaction. Why not provide them samples ahead of time? How about checklist the home buying checklist? How about the purchase timeline? Right?

22:27What it takes to get from showing homes to actually closing on a property, providing your buyers those types of things is only going to help you establish yourself as a trusted professional and as the advisor to those buyers. Now, I want to give you something that's really cool and that is another QR code. If you didn't know exp has the most incredible buyer toolkit. It is a wealth of information. It also has a link to our buyer presentation and in it you will find templates for all the things that you could place into your buyer book. Our presentation is incredible. It's got lots of things for you to pick from and you can pick and choose. You can customize it and make it your own and then you're well on your way to establishing your buyer book. Again, whether it's tangible or digital, you can create and customize all those things for yourself and prepare something really quickly and easily because we have it all for you right there in your buyer toolkit.

23:35Go ahead and scan the QR code and link to that buyer toolkit. There is also video tutorials. There are scripts in there for you to leverage all the things that you might need to help you capture those buyers and help you tell your story as a buyer's agent and convey your your value as a buyer's agent and close those buyers. One last thing to talk about, which is how do we serve our buyers? Once we've captured them, we've sent the video, we've met with them, we showed them property, we've given them a buyer book. How do we keep them? What do we need to do? We want to make sure that we're continuing to engage those buyers, our new clients hopefully. So let's talk about follow up and consistency and systems. How many of you are sending buyer videos after you've met with the client and shown them their first couple of homes? How many of you are texting them a quick video? Hey, it's Beth. I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed our time together looking at homes.

24:40I know we haven't found the right one, but I know that we will and I'm so excited to continue working with you and your home buying journey. How many of you are sending videos to connect with your buyers during the process after you've written the contract? Letting them know the next step in the process. These are all things that we can utilize and we can automate. So we're keeping connected. We're doing the follow up and we're being consistent by leveraging the systems that we have and being able to continue to serve our buyers at the highest capacity possible and being that trusted professional and that trusted advisor. All right, that is all that I have for you today. I hope that I was able to provide you with two buyer strategies that you'll be able to implement and leverage in your business. Thank you so much.