Your Differentiator Is The Key To Listing More Homes

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Wondering how to stand out and differentiate yourself from other agents? Brad McCallum, founder of the McCallum Group in Calgary, Ontario, sets himself apart with high-quality, cinematic listing videos, and it could be the difference you’ve been looking for.

McCallum came into real estate knowing there had to be a better way to sell real estate than what he had experienced. “I thought all Realtors got paid too much, did too little, and that they were all the same. I had even sold a few of my homes with the supposed ‘top producers’ and ‘luxury agents,’ and ultimately those experiences felt really lacking value. I knew if I was going to be successful as an agent, I’d have to figure out a way to do things differently.”

His search for a differentiator led him to create cinematic videos that would tell the story of the homes his clients entrusted him to sell. Telling these stories through video has helped him and his team consistently close in excess of $100 million annually and build a YouTube channel with over 48,000 subscribers.

His focus on listing videos not only helps him sell his current listings but also helps him present a compelling difference from his competition in listing appointments. In this article, he shares his easy-to-follow listing appointment process that can help you take more listings.

Define a minimum level of care

To distinguish the McCallum Group from other agents, he begins the listing presentation by defining the activities all agents should perform. He said most agents are taught to highlight every little thing they do in the listing presentation, but that none of those activities are actual differentiators.

He suggested a dialog with the seller like the following:

“Because I believe our time is precious, I don’t want to come in here and talk about all the things we are going to do for your listing that I believe you should be expecting from every agent you interview.

Here are a few examples of what I call a minimum level of care: continual communication, great feedback from showings, open houses, advice on staging, and preparing your home for sale. You should expect more than drone photography, social media, a sign in the yard, or even professional photography. These are things some agents will come in and describe as part of their standard of care.

In my mind, these are the minimum standards of care in 2024. So, what I’d like to do is spend most of our time discussing the things that make our team different from any other agents you might be meeting with.”

This framework does two things: It allows McCallum to minimize all the things most other agents boast about doing. An example is another agent might say, “We do drone photography,” and the seller is thinking, “Well, of course you do, Brad said that should be expected as a minimal level of service.”

It also helps you return the focus to the very thing that got you the appointment. For McCallum, it is usually his videos. For you, it may be your geographical farming or involvement in the local community. Whatever it is for you, focus on that as your differentiator.

The value of video as a differentiator

He then shifts the conversation to his differentiator of providing high-quality listing videos. He talks about how the platform they’ve built gives them the ability to reach the main audience that every marketing piece should be focused on: prospective buyers.

He then shares the following with prospective sellers:

“The biggest mistake most homeowners make is thinking they are hiring someone that will be selling their home. But 97 percent of the time, the listing agent doesn’t speak to the buyer. In 97 percent of the sales, it is the buyer’s agent who communicates with the buyer and sells your home.

But a buyer’s agent doesn’t have any skin in the game, whether they buy your home or another home. That buyer’s agent is going to sell them the home they want to buy. So, through video, we’ve found a way to bypass the buyer’s agent and speak directly to that prospective buyer.

I want to be the one who tells the story of how the sun comes through that window in the morning, what it’s meant to your family to have a yard this size, or how remodeling that kitchen increased your family’s enjoyment of the home. You tell me the stories and then I will communicate the stories in a seven-minute video.

The video we record is your words coming out of my mouth, speaking to the prospective buyer’s ears. This bypasses the buyer’s agent and gives us the ability to sell your home through speaking directly to the buyer.”

Share ‘inside ball’

“Inside ball” is a reference to sharing something that the public may not be aware of, but the people in an industry understand. McCallum said they invest a lot of money in marketing a home, so he only wants to list homes that are going to sell. He shared the following “inside ball” story he often relates.

“Mr. and Mrs. Seller, have you ever heard the term ‘buying the listing?’ It is sort of an inside-the-industry term, and it references agents that will tell you whatever you want to hear regarding the list price so they can get the listing to then turn around 30 days later and tell you that you need to reduce the price to get the home sold.

So, here’s the thing: at the risk of losing your business today, I want to choose honesty and have a real dialog about the price of your home. Here’s an example of why I would like to discuss this before we go over the valuation analysis of your home.

If you tell me your home is worth $1.2 million and I tell you it’s worth $1.1 million, you will immediately think I’m just trying to get you to price your home low to get it sold quickly. A lot of agents will tell you whatever you want to hear, so make sure you let them tell you about their thoughts on value before you tell them yours.

That way if you tell them a higher number and they say yes, I think we can try it at that price, then you’ll know they could be, as we call it in the industry, ‘buying the listing.’

When I go over these numbers, they may be higher than you thought or they may be lower than you thought, but before I start, I want to assure you that these numbers are based on comparable sales and that it is my honest opinion on where your home needs to be priced to maximize the sales price for you.” 

Naturally move into the next steps

Many agents stumble when it comes to asking for business. McCallum believes moving forward should be the natural next step. This is an example he gave of how this transition happens naturally:

“So listen, if you guys want to move forward, it does take some time to get our media team scheduled.

We can probably get on their schedule as early as the middle of next week. It then takes them three to four days to do their best work to create something special through the editing process and to prepare our marketing. With that in mind, we could be on the market by two weeks from now if that works for you.”

The flow of this listing presentation is natural and clearly communicates how the McCallum Group helps their listings get sold through their marketing. What is it for you? What makes you different from other agents? Your ability to clearly communicate the differences between you and your competition will lead to more business.

Connect with Brad McCallum on Instagram and see examples of his listing videos on his YouTube channel.