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Celebrity agent Fredrik Eklund has sold more than US$2 billion worth of real estate. Here he reveals his trade secrets when it comes to pitching clients.
The charismatic real estate broker and star of television’s Million Dollar Listing New York admits that he “gets aroused” by pitching.
“I love pitching. People think that a pitch is an hour. To me, it’s really the first 10 minutes. Everything is decided in the first 10 minutes. That’s why they say the elevator pitch is so important. Can you pitch yourself and your business in the first 30 seconds? Think about that,” Mr Eklund said.
Ditch the pitch book
Speaking at AREC 2016 on the Gold Coast earlier this year, Mr Eklund revealed that he doesn’t t have a pitch book, nor does he have any pitch material when meeting clients. He doesn’t even have a business card.
“I don’t hand anything over when I go to pitch,” he said. “But it’s those first 10 minutes that are critical – how I connect with the seller or the buyer.”
Establish common ground
Whenever he meets a client for the first time, Mr Eklund establishes common ground immediately.
“I’ll scan the apartment for something we might have in common. And it has to be authentic. If I see some cooking books, I’ll strike up a conversation about how I love cooking too and then establish a common ground,” he said.
“Agents go in to pitch and they are so focused on the real estate transaction that hasn’t even happened yet that they forget that people want to do business with someone they like. Our job is to get people to like us instantly.”
Create urgency
Mr Eklund believes any salesperson must learn how to create urgency in order to be successful.
“You can’t lie and you can’t manipulate, but you need to create urgency in any sales situation. You can create urgency by saying positive things. For example, if you say to a buyer, ‘You’re so smart because you got in early’, that is creating urgency for the buyer.”
Tell your clients to meet other agents
Any agent sitting in a listing presentation knows that their client will more than likely be meeting a number of different agents. Fredrik Eklund actually suggests that they do.
“I know when I’m pitching a client that they will be meeting with other agents. So I tell them that they should meet more agents. I tell my clients, ‘I want you to meet more agents because when you end up choosing me, which I know you will, you’ll also know what you don’t want’.”
Point out the negatives
While he believes agents should always lead with the positive aspects of a property, Mr Eklund always points out a few negatives as well.
“Most people think this is very odd, but it is one of my trade secrets,” he said. “The worst thing is when someone pitches to you and they can’t stop talking about how amazing the property is, or how amazing they are.
“Let’s say I’m selling an apartment. Before the clients even come into the kitchen, I tell them that the granite is actually kind of ugly. But that’s a $3,500 improvement, and a fun project for the buyer after they move in.
“By pointing out the negative, it gives credibility to all the positive aspects of the property I had pointed out earlier.”
[Related: Million-dollar agent leverages social media for $100m sale]
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