This article was originally published by Inman.

It’s a seller’s market. Inventory has declined sharply, resulting in a severe shortage that data from Inman shows stems from a combination of factors: a decade of underbuilding, low-interest rates that are driving demand, millennials who are hitting home-buying age, and the pandemic, which spurred many people to move to bigger houses or new locations.

In typical markets, if there aren’t enough homes, prices go up and incentivize people to sell, but times have changed. There’s 46% less housing inventory today than a year ago, so real estate pros need to get inside prospective sellers’ minds and lead them to list.

Inside Real Estate, which powers over 250,000 top agents, teams, and brokerages, just launched CORE Present: the first fully interactive pricing and presentation tool with intelligent behavioral tracking that helps agents secure more deals in less time. Here are the top 3 strategies agents are seeing success with in this hyper-competitive market:  

1. Tell a compelling story with data

‍You never want to lose a deal over price. Now more than ever, agents need to build trust with their clients around their pricing strategy. The way to do this? Be interactive! With CORE Present, you can view and select comparables in real time, incorporate feedback from your client and drill in on what’s most important to them - all live, in an interactive dashboard that combines 20+ pricing perspectives into one simple view. 

 “My goal in a presentation is never to say ‘let me get back to you,’” explains Karen Abram, Product Director at Inside Real Estate, who also created dashCMA.  “A prospective client will find the answer on their own before you get back to them. You need to be nimble and address one-off questions with the client.”

Let’s say your client mentions a home down the street that’s listed for $100k over theirs, but it has a pool. You can use CORE Present to instantly bring that property into view and see, on average, how much more homes with a pool are being listed and sold for.  Together, you decide which comparables are a perfect match and which features and trends are most relevant 

“The ability to pivot is key,” says Alissa Harper, EVP of Marketing & Enterprise Sales at Inside Real Estate. “There is no shortage of information and data available to consumers today. To win their trust, and ultimately their business, you need to help them interpret that data. You can go into a presentation with a game plan, but being able to adjust in real-time and not just tell, but show them the answers to their questions - that’s where the magic happens. That’s when you become their trusted advisor.” 

2. Address your client’s personal situation‍

Every client is unique, and an “out-of-the-box” presentation isn’t going to cut it. Are clients ready to sell and “shopping you” or are they holding out for top dollar value?  Are kids living in the home?  First impressions are key. You need to ensure your presentation structure and style matches the unique circumstances of your seller. A traditional presentation that’s more playful will entertain the kids. A luxury option that’s compartmentalized and clean will appeal to high-end buyers. CORE Present makes tailoring your presentation easy with presets for each seller ‘persona’ and full customization control to make sure it fits both your brand and your seller. ‍

3. Leverage behavioral insights to seal the deal‍

You’ve built an interactive pricing dashboard, tailored the presentation to your client, and it’s in their hands. Now what? Don’t use the same generic follow-up tactics as everyone.  Respond intelligently based on cues from your client. Did they just open your presentation? Spent their time viewing the highest price comp? Or the average days on market?  Leverage rich behavioral insights and instant notifications from CORE Present to know exactly when and how to follow up - and seal the deal.   

Agents who can tell a compelling story with data, interactively adjust their presentation to fit their client's unique situation, and showcase their expertise on the spot will out-present their competition and gain that critical trust with the seller. By removing all of the “what if’s?” from the seller’s minds, agents can show every reason why NOW is the right time to sell.

Learn how to out-present your competition with the most interactive CMA and presentation builder on the market.